Cyber Monitoring & Operations Internship

I plan on utilizing my experience and participation of this internship. I think this experience on my resume/CV will show that I can function well within a professional setting and that I can be trusted (since I will now have a security clearance on my record it will show to employers that I have been cleared before so I can be cleared again) Security clearance can be an expensive process both cost and resource wise, so many establishments want to ensure that they will not be doing a security check at a loss (i.e. without finding a employable individual). While a security check is necessary in a lot of cases and it’s utilized to verify the employee can be trusted, it is still more expensive to do two backgrounds checks to clear one prospect versus doing one background check to clear one prospect.   I also think there is a certain prestige and respect seen with government work within the employer world which will help my chances of being hired. I believe this prestige is...

With my new calmness and appreciation of prioritization I will be far more efficient with my work in general as I will be able to make sounder strategic decisions. Past that, I think cyber security has many applications outside of cyber security specific jobs. Since I will be starting my radio job again soon. I am considering setting up alarms on the system and some other changes to keep people from playing music that breaks FCC regulations. I’ll probably write a script that blocks any songs that have “explicit” mentioned in any of their categories and writes down when the attempt was made. That way we can follow up with those DJs (according to the radio show scheduling) and make sure they understand the college’s rules on content (we technically do not have to follow FCC standards, legally speaking, for the moment but we do follow them in order to avoid playing offensive music). I’m also considering possibly using a data analytics software (maybe Splunk) to help do data reports. I ...

Since I have interned, I think I am more relaxed now and not so stiff. I feel calmer, in the sense that I don’t have that weird anxiety that comes with being very restricted and stiff. I guess I can now achieve “inner” calmness easier within a more corporate setting. I think this allows me to have a clearer head when I am working. Which will allow me to tackle tasks better. Another way that I have changed is by gaining a better understanding of the significance of prioritization. Since I started college, I have always had a decent skill of time management and I consider myself good at completing whatever tasks are at hand. Yet I don’t think I consider priority as much as I should. When it comes to my productivity and work, at least as far as my college studies have gone. I think I have been far more quantitative than qualitative with my work.  I feel as if I do a lot of work but what I get out of that work isn’t much because what I was doing in the end wasn’t the most i...

           I am glad I had this opportunity and experience. I now have an interest to work in this field. I could see myself working in vulnerability management or perhaps red team operations. I also still have a big interest in programming, but I feel as if I am not limited to programming and that my future could go either way. What I find so appealing about cyber security is the strategy within it. The balancing acts that I have mentioned in previous posts is an aspect that I really like about cyber security. I like the thought of working within the ebb and flow of a constantly evolving environment. To me tactical choices are very interesting.      Once I graduate, I will be turning in resumes/CVs to both programming and cyber security jobs. While some might argue that I should specialize, I never like to pigeon hole or limit myself. I certainly wouldn’t like to do it so early in my computer science journey. Regardless of where I end...

   One can never be fully prepared. There is always more that a person can do to prepare themselves. I wish that before starting this internship that I would have had a better understanding of the basic concepts of cyber security (e.g. passive and active defense, vulnerability factors, etc.). I also wish that I had prior experience with all the tools and software I used. If you can find out the tools used at an internship, then it’s a good idea to try and learn some of those tools. Your internship will require less training and more application which will make the experience more productive for you. If you cannot find out what tools your internship will use, then it isn’t a bad idea to browse freeware related to that field (e.g. Maltego and Zed Attack Proxy for digital forensics and pen testing respectively). Most places are trying to save money, so they probably use freeware to some capacity. The most popular freeware is your best bet and even if they don’t use it, the...

        There are several recommendations I would give to any soon-to-be interns. First, utilize the internship to get the most out of it you can. Learn as much as you can about the place you are working at and the field that you are working in. Ask plenty of questions. Do you like this field, why or why not and what do you specifically want to do in this field? If so, how prepared are you to work in this field/specification and what can you do to further prepare yourself? Would you want to work in the future at the establishment you are currently interning at, why or why not? If so, how can you prepare yourself to work there and get hired? Are there any other similar establishments you would be interested in working for? I would also check to see what resources you will have at hand while working your internship (e.g. free courses).       I would also recommend that you get the “full” internship experience. In other words, don’t just go through...

    During my internship I researched cyber security by reading “Network Security Through Data Analysis, Building situational Awareness” by Michael Collins and “Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker” by Kevin Mitnick. I recommend both books, especially Mitnick’s autobiography since it is a good read for the pure story alone (even to those who have little to no interest in computer science, also his book is really good for anybody with interests in criminal justice or law).  Collins’ book really helped me gain a better general understanding of cyber security, tactical awareness, and security incident trend analysis as well overall data analysis for that can be applied to actionable reports. It has some good information on applications of relevant softwares commonly used within the industry today and what to watch out for, especially in regard to network traffic (e.g. traffic on obsolete and unsecure FTP ports). I think the biggest take ...

    This week we had a rehearsal for a presentation. I found it rather interesting for this to occur. I had made an assumption that this was something that stopped after school presentations. I assumed that the corporate world would find this as unprofessional (which I notice now is rather ironic as it is quite the opposite). I had always thought of presentation practice as training wheels and that there was some magical moment when somebody was so skilled in public speaking that practice would hold no value for them. What a foolish thought for me to have. No other skill works that way, so why did I assume this about this skill?      Obviously, it is the constant practice that allows someone to be a professional at such skills and no matter how much of a natural someone is, practicing their presentation will always hold a large benefit for them. Improvisation has its limits and it alone cannot compensate for a lack of briefing. Practicing for presentation...

    Over this internship I have been assessing my own abilities and strengths. As an intern and employee in general, I feel as if my strengths are in my reliability, consistency, formality, focus, and hard-working nature. Although I find my formality to be a strength, I also find it to be one of my biggest weaknesses. As previously posted in my blog (post: “W5-3/3 The Importance of Friendliness in Office Culture (7/26)”) I am too stiff when it comes to interacting with those I am working alongside and under. They are situations that call for being very stiff arguably but neither professionalism nor formality are synonymous to being stiff and grave. Getting along with people you are working alongside at least a friendly acquaintance level is very vital for office camaraderie. I also notice that my attire at the moment is lacking in formality all things considered. Due to the circumstances of having to move so quickly and just coming back from being abroad not too long ago, my ...