City Of Virginia Beach Internship Reflection Paper 2

Shaquile Garces-Phillips
Old Dominion University
CYSE 368  Cyber Security Internship

July 6 2025

Eva Chen once said “ My advice for young people is, study what you love and intern in what you want to do. And I think it’s okay to pivot as many times as you need to.” With that being said With that being said, I can confidently say I’m studying what I love and landing this internship with the City of Virginia Beach is one of the opportunities I was most excited about! It has been a couple of weeks since my last reflection paper, and in that time, we’ve made some great progress. We successfully completed the audit with Gina, enrolled over 500 users in Duo two-factor authentication, and I now have access to create and reset user passwords in both DOMA and Millennium.

As I mentioned in my previous reflection, fellow intern Seth and I have been working as a team to support Gina with the city’s internal audits. This process included reviewing multiple systems such as ADAPT RO, Adapt Notice of Action System (ANOAS), Child Care Contacts, Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP), Document Management Imaging System (DMIS), and the State Data Exchange (SDX), among others.

One of the highlights of the audit was reviewing 385 staff members, hosting 35 team meetings with supervisors, processing 92 system removals, recording 385 local audit dates in SAMS and SharePoint, and updating 50 Acceptable Use Documents in SharePoint. The audit lasted over a week, and working alongside Gina gave me valuable hands-on experience in information management, system access review, and compliance protocols.

After the audit, we shifted our focus to Duo, a two-factor authentication (MFA) service. Duo adds an extra layer of security to online accounts by requiring users to verify their identity with a second device like a smartphone after entering their credentials. This helps prevent unauthorized access, even if passwords are compromised (What is duo security).

When Duo was first rolled out, we onboarded about 16 users as testers, assisting them in setting up their devices and linking them to their accounts. Over the following weeks, we continued assisting users mostly through Teams video calls who were having trouble enrolling or completing their setup. We are still receiving support tickets from individuals needing help with Duo, and now that I have access to the ticketing system, I’ve been able to assist more directly by creating and resetting user accounts.

This internship has been incredibly motivating. It’s giving me a firsthand look at how cybersecurity is practiced in the field and allowing me to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom in a meaningful, real-world setting. I hope that after completing this internship and finishing my degree, I’ll be able to secure a full-time position with the City of Virginia Beach and continue growing in my career as a cybersecurity professional.

Overall, this internship has been an eye-opening and an amazing experience. From participating in system audits to assisting with Duo enrollment and account management, I’ve gained valuable technical and professional skills that I will carry with me into my future career. The hands-on experience has reinforced my passion for cybersecurity and deepened my understanding of how it supports the daily operations of local government. I look forward to continuing to learn and contribute throughout the remainder of the internship, and I’m excited about the potential to grow within this field long-term.

Work Cite

Chen, E. (2021, November 20). 21+ Internship Quotes: The best quotes about Interns for 2022 & beyond. Goodwall Blog. https://www.goodwall.io/blog/internship-quotes/#:~:text=Here%20are%20more%20than%20a,Barney%20Baszuro 

What is duo security?. Information Technology. (2021, November 30). https://it.wustl.edu/items/what-is-duo-security/