Darren Kitchen
Founder at Hak5 LLC
Austin, Texas, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar
Top expert inCybersecurity and Penetration Testing Tools
Darren Kitchen is the founder of Hak5 and a seasoned security-focused engineer with 14 years of hands-on experience shaping practical pentesting tools and payloads. Based in Austin, he architects payloads and embedded scripts for notable Hak5 devices like the Bash Bunny and Shark Jack—contributions that span USB exfiltration, RDP checks, network reconnaissance, and device-specific automation. Darren blends product-minded leadership with deep low-level scripting and IoT/embedded system work, frequently refactoring and hardening community-facing payload repositories. Beyond the screen, he’s built tooling that makes complex offensive security techniques reproducible and accessible to both enthusiasts and professionals.
14 years of coding experience
Github Skills (20)
penetration-testing10
security-txt10
scripting10
hacking10
bash10
networking10
security10
ethernet10
script10
payload10
sh10
shell10
security-scan10
hid9
command-line9
Programming languages (5)
Github contributions (5)
hak5/sharkjack-payloads
Aug 2019 - Jun 2022
The Official Hak5 Shark Jack Payload Repository
Role in this project:
Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT Developer
Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT DeveloperContributions:1 review, 53 commits, 17 PRs in 2 years 10 months
Contributions summary:Darren primarily contributed to the development of Shark Jack payloads, which are likely scripts for a network pentesting tool. The contributions included creating and updating shell scripts for various purposes, such as network reconnaissance (Nmap scans, IP info gathering), utility functions (package installation, internet connectivity testing), and system interaction (SSH server management, LED control). The user also integrated functionality specific to the Shark Jack device, like serial output and NETMODE configuration.
payloadjackhak5sharkduckyscript
hak5/bashbunny-payloads
Feb 2017 - Feb 2022
The Official Bash Bunny Payload Repository
Role in this project:Security Engineer
Security EngineerContributions:2 reviews, 51 commits, 110 PRs in 5 years
Contributions summary:Darren primarily contributed payloads designed for the Hak5 Bash Bunny, a penetration testing tool. Their work includes the development of Windows-based payloads for tasks such as USB exfiltration, remote desktop (RDP) checking, and system manipulation (e.g., changing screen resolution). They also added a payload for exfiltrating data via FTP and Dropbox, along with shell script extensions to extend the device's functionality. Several commits involve refactoring existing payloads, and fixing bugs or improving existing code.
bashbadusbbashbunnyduckyscripthak5
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