Most people think cybersecurity is a visual field.They imagine glowing monitors, endless terminal windows, lines of code scrolling across multiple screens, analysts staring at dashboards, and hackers tracking packets in dark rooms illuminated by LEDs.I cannot see any of that.I am completely blind.And yet, cybersecurity became my life.My name is Juan Mathews Rebello Santos, and I am recognized as the first blind cybersecurity professional in Brazil specialized in Cyber Defense and Information Security.But my journey into technology began long before I understood what cybersecurity even meant.I Was Born Fighting to SurviveI was born prematurely at only six months of gestation after severe complications during my mother’s pregnancy. Doctors considered my survival a miracle.Shortly after birth, I underwent emergency heart surgery because of a serious heart murmur. Around the same time, doctors discovered that the visual pathway connecting my left eye to my brain was completely closed, leaving me permanently blind in that eye.For a while, I still had limited vision in my right eye. I could distinguish shapes, movement, shadows, and light. But as the years passed, cataracts slowly took away the rest of my vision.At only nine years old, I became completely blind.That moment changed everything.Or at least, everyone thought it would.People around me assumed my future would become limited. Many believed blindness automatically meant dependency. Some thought I would never have a professional career. Others assumed technology would always remain inaccessible to me.What nobody realized was that technology was about to become my freedom.Discovering Technology Without SightAs a child, I learned to interact with the world differently.While most people relied on vision, I learned to rely on sound, memory, patterns, logic, and spatial awareness.I discovered DOSVOX, one of the first systems designed for blind computer users in Brazil, and for the first time in my life, I understood something revolutionary:A computer could speak.That may sound simple today, but for me, it was life-changing.The computer was no longer an object designed only for sighted people. It became accessible. It became interactive. It became empowering.Soon, I started exploring everything I could.I played video games entirely through sound and became so good at audio-based gaming that I even won competitions. I learned how to navigate operating systems using only keyboard shortcuts, memory, and screen readers.At the age of ten, I was already independently using computers.Not long after, I started building websites and experimenting with software development.Technology stopped being something “made for others.”It became part of my identity.Falling in Love With CybersecurityAs a teenager, I discovered cybersecurity.And strangely enough, cybersecurity felt natural to me.Cybersecurity is fundamentally about invisible systems.Networks are invisible. \n Packets are invisible. \n Protocols are invisible. \n Exploits are invisible. \n Data flows are invisible.Most cybersecurity professionals interpret this invisible world visually through dashboards and interfaces.I learned to interpret it through sound, logic, structure, and mental mapping.In many ways, blindness forced me to develop a different relationship with information itself.I became deeply fascinated by:vulnerability researchmalware analysissystem hardeninginfrastructurenetworkingLinuxActive Directorycloud environmentspenetration testingDevSecOpscyber threat intelligenceBut there was a problem.Almost nobody believed a blind person belonged in cybersecurity.I constantly heard phrases like: \n “You can’t work in cyber if you’re blind.” \n “No company will hire a blind hacker.” \n “That field is too visual.” \n “You should choose something easier.”The more I heard those words, the more determined I became.Becoming the First Blind Cybersecurity Graduate in BrazilYears of relentless study eventually led me to something historic.I became the first blind person in Brazil to graduate in Cyber Defense and Information Security.For many people, that achievement alone sounded impossible.But for me, it was only the beginning.I continued specializing in multiple cybersecurity fields, completing postgraduate studies, professional certifications, and technical research involving:cloud securitygovernancecomplianceoffensive securitydefensive securityDevSecOpsSIEMvulnerability managementprivacyaccessibility technologiesOver time, I earned more than 50 certifications and became deeply involved in the Brazilian cybersecurity community.But one moment would completely transform my journey forever.Publishing a Vulnerability in the U.S. National Vulnerability DatabaseEventually, I identified and reported a vulnerability involving NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access), one of the most important screen readers used by blind people around the world.The vulnerability received an official CVE identifier: CVE-2025-26326.My research was officially published in the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), maintained by the United States government.That moment carried enormous emotional significance for me.Because this was not just another vulnerability.This vulnerability involved accessibility technology itself.As a blind person, I rely on screen readers every day to work, study, communicate, and exist in the digital world. Publishing research involving accessibility software represented something much larger:Accessibility and cybersecurity cannot exist separately anymore.If accessibility tools become insecure, millions of disabled people become vulnerable.And yet, accessibility security remains one of the least discussed topics in technology today.The Overlooked Intersection Between Accessibility and SecurityModern technology companies love talking about innovation.They love talking about AI. \n Automation. \n Machine learning. \n Cloud computing. \n Smart systems.But accessibility is still often treated like an afterthought.And cybersecurity for disabled users is discussed even less.This creates dangerous consequences.What happens if:a screen reader becomes compromised?assistive technology leaks sensitive data?AI systems become inaccessible to blind users?authentication systems rely entirely on visual interaction?cybersecurity tools themselves are unusable for disabled professionals?These are not theoretical concerns.They are real.And as artificial intelligence becomes deeply integrated into society, accessibility may become one of the defining ethical and security challenges of the next decade.Building BNVD: A National Cybersecurity Initiative in PortugueseThroughout my career, I noticed another major problem.Most cybersecurity knowledge is heavily concentrated in English.For Brazilian students, researchers, and professionals, this language barrier creates enormous inequality.That realization inspired me to create BNVD — the Brazilian National Vulnerability Database.The idea was simple: \n Make vulnerability information accessible in Portuguese.But the impact became much larger than I initially imagined.Today, BNVD contains hundreds of thousands of vulnerability records translated and organized for Brazilian users.More importantly, accessibility became a core principle of the platform from the beginning.Even more meaningful to me is the fact that the project was built alongside other visually impaired friends who also believed that blind people could contribute directly to the future of cybersecurity.We were not simply asking to be included.We were building.Writing Brazil’s First Cybersecurity Book by a Blind AuthorAt some point, I realized technical research alone was not enough.Cybersecurity knowledge should not exist only for specialists.Ordinary people also deserve protection.That inspired me to write my book: \n “Digital Scams: How to Protect Yourself in the Internet Era.”By publishing it, I became the first blind person in Brazil to publish a cybersecurity book.The goal was simple: \n Help ordinary people protect themselves against scams, social engineering, online fraud, phishing, and digital manipulation.Because cybersecurity is no longer optional.Today, everyone is connected. \n Everyone is vulnerable. \n Everyone needs digital literacy.The Irony of Cybersecurity and BlindnessPeople often ask me: “How can a blind person work in cybersecurity?”Ironically, I sometimes feel blindness helped shape the way I think about systems.When you cannot rely on visual distractions, you develop a different relationship with information.You focus more deeply on:patternsstructurebehaviorlogicanomaliessequencesaudio feedbackmemoryIn many ways, cybersecurity is already invisible.Blindness simply forced me to interact with invisibility differently.Why Artificial Intelligence Both Excites and Scares MeToday, artificial intelligence is transforming everything.Including cybersecurity.AI can:automate attacksgenerate phishing campaignsidentify vulnerabilitiescreate malwareaccelerate defense systemsdetect anomaliestransform accessibilityassist disabled usersBut AI also introduces enormous risks.As someone deeply involved in accessibility, I worry about what happens if:AI systems are not accessibledisabled people are excluded from AI developmentaccessibility tools become dependent on closed AI systemssecurity systems discriminate unintentionallyAI-generated interfaces ignore screen reader compatibilityThe future of AI cannot belong only to large corporations.It must also include accessibility, inclusion, ethics, and security.That is one of the reasons I decided to continue my academic journey in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.My Next GoalRecently, I was accepted into the Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity at Continents University in the United States.For me, this is not just another degree.It represents an opportunity to continue researching:accessible cybersecurityAI safetyassistive technologiesinclusive systemscybersecurity educationaccessible AI infrastructureUnfortunately, like many people in Brazil, I come from a humble financial background. Even though the tuition cost is considered relatively affordable in the United States, currency conversion makes it extremely difficult for me financially.Still, I refuse to stop.Because my story was never about limitations.It was always about possibility.Technology Should Belong to EveryoneOne of the biggest mistakes society makes is assuming disability means inability.It does not.Sometimes, people with disabilities simply interact with the world differently.And sometimes, those different perspectives become powerful.Cybersecurity needs more inclusion. \n Artificial intelligence needs more accessibility. \n Technology needs more diverse minds.Not because diversity is fashionable.But because systems built by only one type of person inevitably fail everyone else.I hope my story reminds people that talent can emerge from places society least expects.And I hope more blind children discover what I eventually discovered:Technology is not reserved for a select few.It belongs to all of us.\