Ongeziwe Mgudlwa
Say hello
Cape Town · IT operations & cybersecurity

Ongeziwe Mgudlwa

I've spent more than ten years on the ground, keeping technology running and people safe. Now I'm learning to work from higher up, without losing sight of the ground.

Start the descent Say hello

Off the clock, I fly a drone, take photographs, listen to a lot of deep house, and build things for the joy of figuring them out.

  • 10+ years in IT operations & security
  • MSPs, international support, enterprise IT
  • Moving into IT & security leadership
  • Security+ · AWS CCP · Google Cybersecurity
400mTransform

From up here, technology is about people and outcomes.

A drone teaches you that the same place looks completely different at different heights. Up high you see how everything connects: where the roads go, where the water runs, what's about to change.

That's the view I'm growing into. After a decade of hands-on operations, more of my work has been about the wider picture: coordinating procurement across countries, working with vendors on cost and contracts, and helping stakeholders make sound technology decisions.

  • Coordinated international technology procurement and managed vendor relationships.Vendors
  • Supported vendor negotiations and found opportunities to optimise technology spend.Commercial
  • Coordinated technology initiatives with stakeholders through planning, technical decisions and implementation.Stakeholders
  • Promoted an approachable IT service through clear communication, lunch-and-learn sessions and end-user enablement.Service

Technical enough to build, security-minded enough to defend, and ambitious enough to turn practical solutions into products that improve how people live and work.

  • IT operations & security leadershipLeading teams that keep environments reliable and safe.
  • Technology consultingSecurity strategy and practical technology change.
  • Security awareness productsTurning what I've learned into tools people actually use.
120mDefend

At the edges, security should build confidence, not fear.

At this height you can see the coastline: where the land stops and something less predictable begins. In security that edge is identity, email, and the moment someone decides whether to tap a link.

I've worked that edge for years: stronger authentication, email security, responding to account incidents, and an awareness programme I redesigned around one belief. People defend better when they feel capable rather than scared.

  • Configured and rolled out stronger authentication methods.Identity & access
  • Championed enterprise email security and responded to account security incidents.Email · Incidents
  • Redesigned the cybersecurity awareness programme, with awareness materials and phishing simulations.Human risk
  • Maintained security training records and SOC 2 audit evidence to support compliance.Compliance
Essay · Security philosophy

The Sandpit Principle

Why security should create confidence, not fear. Being a father taught me that the goal isn't to make children afraid of the sandpit. It's to make it safe enough to enjoy.

Security isn't about removing every stone. It's about helping people recognise them before they step on one.
June 2026
Read the essay
Try it · spot the stones

Which of these would you tap?

Tap a message to see what to look for. Getting it wrong here costs nothing. That's the point.

  • Stone. A small fee, a short deadline and a link that isn't the courier's own domain. Couriers don't chase fees by SMS link.

  • Probably fine. No link, no request for money or details, nothing urgent. Not every message is a stone, and confidence means recognising that too.

  • Stone. Fear plus urgency, and a generic look-alike domain. Open your bank's app yourself instead of following the link.

Example messages written for this page. Not taken from Smish-Aware.

Credentials

Held, and one still being earned.

  • CompTIA Security+CompTIACertified
  • AWS Certified Cloud PractitionerAmazon Web ServicesCertified
  • Google Cybersecurity Professional CertificateGoogle · CourseraCompleted
  • CISSP · exam preparationISC2 · not yet heldIn progress

I fell short on my first CISSP attempt. It showed me exactly where my preparation needed to deepen, and I'm back in structured study across all eight domains for the retake. I don't hold the CISSP yet.

30mBuild

On the ground, I like to make things work.

Close to the ground is where most of my career has happened: deploying offices, enrolling devices, automating the repetitive parts, and writing it all down so the next person doesn't have to guess.

Beyond my day job, I build things to explore ideas, test my understanding, and turn curiosity into something useful. These are two projects I've brought to life, each teaching me something different along the way.

  • Coordinated and contributed to office IT infrastructure deployments: procurement, network installation, workstation setup.Infrastructure
  • Built workflow automation in Apps Script and PowerShell; administered and automated devices through Jamf.Automation · Endpoints
  • Strengthened the asset lifecycle: procurement, enrolment, inventory tracking and equipment recovery.Asset lifecycle
  • Wrote technical documentation and knowledge resources so fixes don't live in one person's head.Knowledge
Independent projects · contact sheet

Built beyond the brief.

Independent projects where curiosity turns into working technology.

LiveSmish-AwareA privacy-conscious platform I'm building to help people recognise SMS and email phishing through realistic simulations and practical learning.smish-aware.com (opens in a new tab)RunningRaspberry Pi Home LabA small network I run myself, so I learn by operating, not just reading.Jump to the project details
Live website · features at different stages

Smish-Aware

Why I built it

Phishing doesn't stop at the workplace inbox. It reaches people through text messages, personal devices and everyday interactions.

I wanted to explore a more practical, approachable way to build awareness, without blame or unnecessary collection of personal information.

What I've built
  • A live public website introducing the platform and its approach to phishing awareness.
  • Working SMS phishing simulations, including automated message delivery and campaign landing pages.
  • A prototype message-scanning capability designed to help identify suspicious messages.

Working components at different stages of maturity, not a finished, production-ready platform.

Where it's going

I'm developing a more cohesive experience that brings together simulations, approachable learning and richer campaign analytics.

The longer-term direction includes a custom dashboard, improved click telemetry and stronger self-service capabilities, with privacy and security built into the design.

Illustrations drawn for this page, not product screenshotssmish-aware.com ↗
Running · personal learning environment

Raspberry Pi Home Lab

Why it exists

DNS filtering, private resolution and monitoring are easy to describe and harder to run well. The lab is where I break and fix them on my own network.

What exists today
  • Pi-hole blocks ads and trackers at the DNS layer for the household.
  • Unbound resolves DNS recursively, with no external forwarders.
  • Prometheus and Grafana monitor the services.
What's next
  • A public write-up and repository are planned, not yet published.
Illustrations drawn for this page, not product screenshotsNo public link yet
1.6m

And at eye level, hello.

I'm a husband and a father, and most of what I believe about learning I learned at home: people grow fastest when it's safe to try.

I'm happiest making something. A short aerial film, a photograph composed just right, a lab service that finally works at midnight, a project that starts as a sketch and slowly becomes real.

Open full size: Aerial view of the rocky Blouberg shoreline, waves breaking over dark rocks, with Table Mountain on the horizon under an overcast sky.
The View · Blouberg from above
Open full size: Ongeziwe Mgudlwa smiling, in a cream jumper against a red-brick wall.
The Pilot
Open full size: Ongeziwe in profile on a misty mountain trail, wearing a bucket hat and rain jacket, among fynbos and boulders.
The Explorer · a misty trail

Come down and say hello.

Open to IT operations and security leadership roles, collaboration on practical products, and good conversations.

I'm getting in touch because
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