In the first fifty hours of my internship my mentor primarily had me work on skills and research topics that would help me professionally in the Cybersecurity field, particularly that which my mentor uses in his work. The very first thing that my mentor encouraged me to do was to look into how to handle timesheets, create an effective professional and company based email address and instate weekly reports to summarize what I have learned each week, which I thought was an excellent constructive way to record my learning experience through the duration of my internship. One of my main projects so far was to research The Department of Defense’s Security Technical Implementation Guides and the security capabilities of multiple devices, such as the Ubiquiti UDM-Pro, that are typically incorporated or worked with in the Cybersecurity field as well as useful for home network security. This is in part related to my mentor’s work, as well as meant to prepare me to experience more upcoming technical work as well as further looking into a CompTIA Security+ certification to further bolster the future that I have within the Cybersecurity industry.
Perhaps the most major thing that has been highlighted for me is the transient nature in which technology evolves towards a more complex yet simple future, as part of my assignments thus far have also been looking into how Artificial Intelligence can help Cybersecurity in the future. Part of my responsibilities thus far have been itemizing lists of different AI models and what capabilities they have to serve businesses better and treat problems more effectively. One of the ways I have been instructed to look into the usage of AI within the Cybersecurity field and general is through AI Prompt Engineering. The value online research provides is one of the largest things that my internship has provided so far, as online research is not simply just for scholarly articles but also provides a wide array of resources that can help individuals learn the field they are in as well as information on how to better their businesses and provide methods to learn about technical skills through observation and practical application.
In addition to work, I have also been involved in assisting the technical construction of appliances and have been advised about how to manage difficult, uncooperative and unreliable clientele who are not as learned in technology. There have been some times when I have been unable to rely on my mentor for help, largely because there are times when my mentor is busy, particularly when he is in meetings, but that time allows me to fulfill some of my learning objectives for the week through self-study or research into various topics as well as creating a document summarizing what I have learned, or a spreadsheet detailing the different specifications and features of different technical tools that could be used in my future within the Cybersecurity industry.
Overall, the first fifty hours have provided me with a new learned perspective on how the Cybersecurity industry is one that will constantly be growing and changing as technology advances, and it will be my duty as a Cybersecurity professional in the future to stay up to date with those changes, as well as staying knowledgeable in older technologies, in order to maintain the best chances of adequately using the craft to secure networks, devices, appliances and databases for years to come.