From a fateful “failed class” to founding one of the most inclusive communities in cybersecurity, Marion Marschalek has built her career on turning challenges into opportunities. A reverse engineer, educator, and founder of BlackHoodie, Marion has spent over a decade empowering women and nonbinary people to enter and thrive in the field. In this interview, she shares how she got started, the pivotal moments that shaped her advocacy, and how BlackHoodie continues to grow as a global movement for skill-building, mentorship, and inclusion.
Marion: Let’s start with the school system In Austria - where I am from. Basically, at the age of 14 we can make the decision of which direction our career should go. At the time I had the choice of continuing in general education, economics or engineering. And I remember specifically looking at the engineering schools and hearing my brother tell me that I wouldn't be able to do that.
Marion: Yeah. I wasn’t sure at the time, but after he said that, I thought, “Well, let me show you.” We've always had a bit of a rivalry, and that comment may have been the best thing he's ever done for me.
So I looked at the engineering schools and found computer science to be particularly peculiar. I liked computers but at the time I had no idea how they worked. I was intrigued and back in the day the internet was still something new and exciting.
After that engineering school, I moved on to University and one of my previous teachers was heading the cyber security department. I thought, “Alright, I like him, I like the subject; let’s do that.” And that’s how I got into security.
Marion: Funny enough, what got me into reverse engineering, like malware, happened in my last year at University. I did an exchange semester and failed a subject. In order to gain those missed credits, I agreed to do a project with an antivirus company located in Vienna. And that antivirus company offered me a job after I graduated.
“That failure led to success. It was a string of lucky coincidences, I suppose.”
When I started at the antivirus company, I was a malware analyst but didn’t actually know how to reverse engineer. Other analysts in the lab knew how to, and I was very fascinated by it, but there weren't any classes or training available to learn.
Then one of my colleagues sent me a link to a women’s reverse engineering challenge, also with a smirk on his face. I joined the challenge, reverse engineered the sample, and sent in a report. And then I won.
The challenge was organized by Thomas Dullien, also known as Halvar Flake, a Google engineer at the time and veteran of the binary analysis space. The first prize was a trip to a conference in Singapore. That trip changed my life. I met Thomas, met others in the field, and found a community that was welcoming and supportive. Through those connections, I got access to more conferences, more learning opportunities, and eventually, a more profound job that kickstarted my career.
Marion: The women’s reverse engineering challenge was that moment. Somebody stepped up and showed me that I am wanted and needed in this community. The warm welcome I received when I showed up to my first conferences where people were excited that I was around… that showed me that the lack of women is not necessarily because there is no space for us. That’s just what we needed to give us this confidence to step into those spaces and claim our own spot.
BlackHoodie was inspired by this supportive community (and that challenge).
Marion: BlackHoodie is a women’s reverse-engineering community that started as a small experiment back in 2015. At the time, I was doing a lot of research and traveling to conferences. I was giving a talk at a conference in Austria about banking Trojans — showing how I reverse-engineered them and explaining how they worked. Afterward, a woman approached me and said she found it fascinating and wanted to learn how to do that herself.
I told her, “Let’s sit down for a weekend and I’ll show you.” I wrote a short blog post inviting other women who might be interested to join. I honestly expected maybe one or two; instead, fifteen women contacted me and showed up — literally traveling out to the countryside of Austria, far from anything.
We spent the whole weekend together, reverse-engineering malware, learning, talking, laughing, and sharing food. I kept in touch with many of them afterward — some became close friends, and a few even stayed in the field. One of those first-year participants recently started a senior engineering position at Apple.
I don’t like to take credit for their success; what I did was simply give them a place to start, show them the tools, and let them take it from there. But that first weekend showed me how powerful it can be to create a space where people feel comfortable learning together. That’s really how BlackHoodie was born.
Marion: The first year we had 15 participants and no plan of creating a series. The next year, we had 30. By year three, there were too many to fit in one room. In year four, we decided that we needed multiple events. That’s when we started regional BlackHoodie events, hosted at conferences or universities that offered space.
I think the goals and missions have reshaped over the years. Initially it was to teach women how to reverse engineer - and it still is. Then we realized we're building community - and we still do. And I think eventually I realized it's about opportunity as well. Participants were finding not just knowledge, but friends, mentors, and professional networks. It became clear that what we were really building was a community, a place where people could belong, learn, and find opportunities.
Marion: Honestly, I feel like people rolled out the red carpet when I came along. There was an interesting balance between difficulties and opportunities. And I think the red carpet experience started at the first challenge where people suddenly believed that I had a skill and thus a spot in this community.
Sure there are moments where people rolled rocks in my path, but with the support of the community, that was easy to navigate and I came to realize it's all about community.
Sure there are moments where people rolled rocks in my path, but with the support of the community, that was easy to navigate and I came to realize it's all about community.
It's about having friends and having that support kept me from being scared of facing challenges.
Beyond training, we started looking for ways to provide opportunities — free training seats, conference tickets, mentorship programs, job introductions. The goal is to ensure talented people not only gain knowledge but also have access to the spaces where they can use it.
Marion: They go hand in hand. Building technical skills often means long hours alone at your computer. But it’s hard to learn if you don’t feel comfortable in your environment, in your own skin.
So if you’re surrounded by people who look like you, behave like you, and communicate like you, then you’re automatically more comfortable. It's a complicated topic. I don't want to go too deep into it, but it's not just like that for women. It works the same way for men, people of color, and any other group, especially marginalized groups.
Marion: Success is in the community itself. People don’t just attend - they come back, they volunteer, they bring others. Many of our alumni stay active on our Discord server, sharing job opportunities, conference info, and mentorship. Everyone brings their own network, and when those networks combine, the result is powerful.
Seeing participants return as speakers, trainers, or mentors… that’s success.
Marion: The first thing that comes to mind is a company’s culture, it matters in attracting and retaining women in their workforce.
In companies like Intel and Amazon, inclusivity was built into the culture, and leadership enforced it. People treated each other with respect, and that created trust. I’ve also worked at places where certain behaviors were ignored or excused, and that eroded trust almost instantly.
If companies want to attract and retain diverse talent, they need to make sure that when people walk through the door, they feel genuinely welcome and safe to stay.
Marion: There are so many ways: hosting a training, offering mentorship, sharing job openings, providing travel support, or making a donation. Since we’re a registered nonprofit, financial contributions are tax-deductible.
But the best first step is simple, reach out. Every collaboration begins with a conversation.
Marion: Make this community a better place for everyone.
Marion’s journey shows how one opportunity — or even one “failure” — can open the door to an entire career. Her story captures the essence of what makes cybersecurity communities thrive: curiosity, support, and a willingness to lift others along the way. Through BlackHoodie, she’s turned that ethos into a global network where the next generation of reverse engineers can learn, connect, and belong.
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