Elwill Louw: Solution architect and ethical hacker

Elwill Louw is a process improvement champion with a history of implementing new procedures and technologies to strengthen security posture, enhance operational efficiency and control costs.

As a solution architect and ethical hacker, he has a proven ability to develop and implement security strategies that protect data, systems and users from cyber threats and has expertise in information technology (IT) risk management, incident response, solution architecture and governance.

“Solutions architecture and ethical hacking are two different fields within the IT sphere, yet they work intertwined with each other, making them so interesting,” Louw said.



As a certified ethical hacker, he is a skilled security professional who understands and knows how to look for weaknesses and vulnerabilities within an IT environment. Thus, he is able to exploit those elements by running a proof of concept to demonstrate how a threat actor could gain access to their systems, information and critical databases. This may lead to costly damage to the company's reputation and potential loss of employment for the current workforce.

“I use the same knowledge, tools and techniques as threat actors (black hat hackers) to help improve the security of systems and networks while assisting businesses to implement effective response plans to address those vulnerabilities.

“However, I do it lawfully and legitimately governed by an engagement letter, non-disclosure agreement and scope of work that both parties need to sign before commencing the project.”

As a solutions architect, he practices technology architecture applied to an organisation and its underlying IT system.

These designs or architectures evolve, as technology changes rapidly every day, and need to be kept abreast of the developments. He adapts his mission according to the evolution of the organisation, its strategy and the market.

According to him, solution architecture is a powerful discipline that can completely shuttle an organisation towards being a market leader.

“It enables a cost-savings model and increases the productivity of the workforce with immediate return on investment for any size business.”

With this in mind, he leverages the skills developed over time in cybersecurity to design and develop scalable, agile and secure solutions for organisations.



Motivation and advice

Louw was inspired by his dad to follow his dreams and not stagnate. He set out on his journey to progress by applying his talents, which included learning from others, thinking and presenting opportunities for great collaboration with different backgrounds, cultures and minds, he said.

“Security and architecture can be related to art and present ways to release my creativity. I work closely with the DevOps (software development and operations) and DevSecOps (development, security and operations) teams to ensure a governed framework is followed for secure software development.”

He spends his days researching, collecting and gathering information related to architecture topics and studying them as this keeps the mind sharp.

He advised individuals who wish to take up architecture and ethical hacking to have a genuine passion for IT and ensure that they are always up to date with the latest developments within the technology landscape.

“Curiosity is key in this as I always wanted to figure out how different technology products and systems work and integrate with the use of application programming interfaces.”