Justice Gideon

CYSE 368

Old Dominion University

After over six weeks of internship, the life of an intern was one of the most memorable parts of my journey to become a cybersecurity professional because of the opportunities presented to me during the internship. I learned so much from the vulnerability management office and gained some practical experiences for my future career as a cybersecurity professional. I went into the internship with an open mind, ready and willing to accept any challenges that may come. I did experience lots of challenges that sharpened my knowledge and gave me various sets of skills that can be applicable in my future career. From the first day of the internship through the final week, I have had the privilege of knowing some great cybersecurity professionals who mentored me through the internship. When I did not know how to apply some of the knowledge gained from school, these great mentors were able to guide and teach me in ways that I could understand. One example was when I had to resolve a work ticket with networking and port problems. I struggled to find solutions for my customer; however, through the intervention of one of my teams, who took the time to example the concepts to me, I resolved the ticket, and the customer was happy. That was just one example of the many challenges during my internship. At the end of my internship, I can confidently say that I have gained a lot of working experience in vulnerability management and can perform roles as a Vulnerability management analyst. Some skills I am proficient in are generating both executive and technical reports, building custom scans, performing scans, and creating various ACAS accounts for any user or as determined by the leadership. I was also privileged to have an opportunity to interview one of my colleagues, Luke Johnson, a retired United States Airforce with over eight years of IT background with the United States Airforce. I asked him these two interviewing questions, and below is his response to my question:

  • What are the most important knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by someone in this field?
  • Having a base knowledge of cybersecurity that should be covered by the certificates a job requires, and 2. knowing how to look for information. Most people have the base knowledge of how to use a program if they have time to click around and navigate it, but often, technicians will come up against specific questions and circumstances that are outside the day-to-day. Using documentation, looking up information online, or networking with the people you work with often solves these issues.
  • What would be an excellent entry-level job for gaining experience to become a Lead Vulnerability Management Analyst?

Good entry-level jobs for cybersecurity are as either help desk or as a client support technician, working on individual desktops. Both teach the basic knowledge, which can be easily fixed if you cause an issue. They also force technicians to work with both IT and non-IT personnel, giving perspective and experience dealing with both.