Kristupas Talačka

Backend developer · Kaunas, Lithuania

Senior Backend Developer at Surfshark

I build back-end systems in Python and Django, and have been writing software professionally since 2019. For five years at iDenfy I worked on identity verification and compliance (KYC, KYB, AML): I owned the OCR, payments and bank card verification services, took part in architecture decisions, and reviewed and mentored junior developers.

Now I work on web service abuse prevention at Surfshark. In my spare time I build small apps, and a few of them run on this server.

Apps

Side projects I built and host here.

Auxparty

aux.talacka.net →

A party game for phones: everyone connects Spotify, then guesses whose song is playing. The owner can bluff.

Django Channels · WebSockets · Redis · React

GPX Editor

gpx.talacka.net →

Plan, edit and share GPS routes for cycling, kayaking and hiking, with live navigation.

FastAPI · PostgreSQL + PostGIS · Next.js

Platewise

Android app (APK) ↓

Offline-first tracking of calories, macros and progress in the gym.

FastAPI · PostgreSQL · Expo (React Native)

Experience

  1. Senior Backend Developer · Surfshark

    Nov 2026 – now

    Web service abuse prevention team.

  2. Backend Developer · iDenfy

    Sep 2021 – Nov 2026

    Identity verification and compliance products (KYC, KYB, AML), from requirements to delivery. Main code owner of the OCR, payments, KYC and bank card verification services. Took part in architecture planning and technical decisions; code reviews and mentoring of junior developers.

    • Python
    • Django / DRF
    • MySQL
    • Redis
    • Celery
    • WebSockets
    • Docker
    • Kubernetes
    • AWS

  3. Programmer · National Cyber Security Center

    Apr 2020 – Aug 2021

    Monitoring dashboards in Grafana and Metabase, high-volume PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB, reporting and monitoring tools in Python and Bash, and research on machine learning for detecting cyber attacks.

  4. Intern · National Cyber Security Center

    Oct 2019 – Apr 2020

    A C++ tool for secure, unrecoverable file deletion on Windows.

Education

  1. MSc Software Systems Engineering · KTU

    2022 – 2025

    Thesis: machine learning for question answering and question generation in Lithuanian. Improving transformer models for a low-resource language with data augmentation.

  2. BSc Software Systems · KTU

    2018 – 2022

    Thesis: a real-time platform for team quiz games, built with Django and React.