Why are you interested in cybersecurity technology?

I grew up without the use of portable electronics. Until eighth grade I had never written a paper on a computer, used a cell phone, or watched a show or movie on a smart TV. The internet and electronics seemed like a mythical, magical tool that I had zero understanding of. I was always good a figuring out how things worked, I had fixed a broken clock, helped my dad work on cars but trying to figure out how electronics worked baffled me. After high school I went to college at the University of Wyoming to study agriculture, but I never lost interest in electronic innovation. After my first year, being overwhelmed with student loans, I joined the navy as a Cryptologic Technician Technical. I signed a six year contract and was shipped off to Information Warfare Training Command in Pensacola Florida where I spent nearly 2 years learning a variety of important skills from signals collection and analysis, radar basics, to electrical engineering and system maintenance on a passive intelligence collection system used to defend from anti-ship missiles. Cyber security became a staple in this line of work. Although my system was analog circuitry with no internet connection, learning collection analysis and reporting on secure networks moved into the forefront of my daily job. This is when I realized that without cybersecurity professionals my job and others like mine could not be done effectively without intrusion from the adversary. This is what sparked my interest.

Select four other majors offered by ODU and explain how those majors relate to cybersecurity. 

Computer engineering- Cybersecurity is paramount in computer engineering. Protecting machines from intrusion and attacks ensures that their works will perform as designed.

Computer science- Cybersecurity is a subfield of computer science making it inseparable from the field. Solid cybersecurity protects files and software from damage caused by network issues or machine flaws.

Cyber crime- Cyber criminals specifically seek out flaws in cybersecurity protections and use those flaws to exploit data and other valuable information from networks. Understanding cybersecurity is essential to catching and prosecuting cyber criminals.

Network engineering- The actual creation and design of networks is what brings all these disciplines to life. The connectivity created by network engineers powers our society. Safe, protected networks by cybersecurity ensure that our world can function as it should.