about

Heyo! My name is Alex Leahu and I’m an application security engineer by trade with an interest in all things A/V production. I’m also the sound director at a church in Chicago and help out in other areas of media production and technology.

Computer Security

My journey into security started off through network engineering, network security, and eventually offensive security. I founded a security consulting firm called Forces Unseen where we helped our clients with application and infrastructure security. Before that I worked at Apple as a security engineer and at Bishop Fox as a security consultant. Day to day I spend much of my time reviewing source code and developing exploits. Naturally, I spend a good amount of time coding, whether it’s security tooling, A/V production automation, or other shenanigans when the mood strikes.

A/V Production

A/V production is something that I’ve been involved with for a long time. I was a co-founder of Last Decade Films, doing film production. At my church, I led a video broadcast team back when Video Toaster was still around, and I helped design and integrate the Blackmagic system that is used today. I’ve also worked with low voltage wiring, networking, and A/V equipment setup for home and commercial installations. For the past ten years, I’ve been involved with live sound, starting at a church called Reality SF, and today at a church in Chicago.

A Dash, Sprinkle, and a Pinch

Lonely Castle is a unique take on an A/V production blog, bringing the perspective of a hacker, tinkerer, and coder. I find the intersection of software, networking, and A/V production thrilling and I look forward to sharing my experiences, tricks, and projects with the community. Welcome, and I hope you stick around for a dash of A/V production, sprinkle of code, and a pinch of hacking.