Throughout this course, I was able to build up on the knowledge that I gained during my undergraduate studies while also being able to develop a better understanding of different cybersecurity concepts. Even though I was already familiar with several of the topics covered in this course, I believe that it helped me better understand how they can be applied in real world environments. The reflections that follow highlight my growth throughout the course, some challenges I have encountered, and how I plan to apply what I learned in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, one of the biggest things that I’ve gained from this course is a better understanding of how different areas of cybersecurity work together. During my undergraduate studies, many of these concepts were introduced to me through different courses and labs. However, this course allowed me to revisit these topics and look at them from a broader perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, topics covered such as network security, cryptography, access controls, and virtualization are all important individually, but they also depend on one another when it comes to protecting information systems. I’ve also been able to connect some of these topics to my personal homelab, where I have been experimenting with different technologies and network configurations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the challenges that I’ve encountered while developing my cybersecurity skills has been learning how to configure and troubleshoot new technologies. Although I have experience working with different operating systems and networking tools, there are still sometimes situations where something does not work the way I expected it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An example of this is when I was configuring pfSense inside of my Proxmox homelab. I had to research and figure out how the physical network interfaces and virtual bridges work together because of an incorrect configuration that prevented devices from communicating with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working through these issues help me understand how important troubleshooting and being patient can be when trying to learn something new. It also showed me that understanding why a configuration works is just as important as getting it to work in the 1st place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe this connects to our course because many of the security concepts we cover require both technical knowledge and the ability to identify and solve problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I continue my education and work toward a career in cybersecurity, I plan to apply the knowledge that I have gained from this course and both academic and professional environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One area that I’m interested in continuing to develop is network security. I enjoy being able to work with different networking technologies and understand how systems communicate with one another. I would also like to continue improve my knowledge of virtualization, security monitoring, and vulnerability management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I plan to continue working on my personal homelab because it gives me an opportunity to be able to practice these skills outside of the classroom on my own time. I would also like to eventually expand the environment to include additional network segmentation, security monitoring, and testing systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that the knowledge that I have gained from this course will help me prepare for future cybersecurity courses as well as give me a better foundation for working with different technologies throughout my career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Throughout this course, I was able to build up on the knowledge that I gained during my undergraduate studies while also being able to develop a better understanding of different cybersecurity concepts. Even though I was already familiar with several of the topics covered in this course, I believe that it helped me better understand… <\/p>\n