Dezi Spruill
CYSE 200T
10/22/25
Professor Duvall

BLUF: On Wednesday, October 22, we had a guest speaker, Ms. Doris Locking, visit the class to discuss IT, her career field, and other valuable qualities she has experienced, allowing students to gain insight into their future career paths.

Ms. Locking came in and spoke with our class and discussed a whole lot that stuck out to me. She explained to the class her career background in IT, her time in the Navy, and several other career fields before arriving at her current position. One of the topics she discussed that stuck out to me the most was when she was talking about hospitals using AI to take patients’ check-in information so human nurses can focus on their critical duties. This takeaway was very interesting to me because it is important to understand that this could have potential risks if the system is exploited. If this new AI system is exploited through a vulnerability, then it could lead to theft of PII from patients.

Another interesting topic that resonated with me was when Ms. Locking was discussing common ways someone or something gets hold of your information, and that is called phishing. We learned this concept in Professor Duvall’s class, where she discussed that phishing is an easy, common way to be exposed to cyber threats. Ms. Locking explained that attackers can use this tactic by posing as a trustworthy person or company to trick victims into clicking a malicious link or revealing sensitive data.

The third and final topic that resonated with me during Ms. Locking’s lecture was when she discussed another major common tactic someone can get hold of your personal information, and that is ransomware. Ransomware consists of the process of stealing data and locking down systems in exchange for something in return. In return for the decryption key, the attackers demand that they must be paid a ransom, which is usually in cryptocurrency, so they can remain anonymous. Ms. Locking stated that this is important information to keep in mind because not only does it compromise sensitive information like PII, but it also withholds daily operations until the business pays the ransom.

In conclusion, Ms. Locking was an excellent guest speaker in today’s class. She did a wonderful job explaining to the class her career background, daily changes in the cyber and IT fields, common ways people access personal information that we need to look out for, and much more. Ms. Locking has a lot of experience that I believe many people in and outside of our class can benefit from in their future.