Matthew Burd<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IDS493
Dr. Virginia Tucker Steffen <\/p>\n\n\n\n
8\/24\/26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Need 5 scholarly sources<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Academic Reflection<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introduction: Developing My Cybersecurity Path<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My name is Matthew Burd. I am a cybersecurity student at ODU, and I am finishing up here very soon. I really enjoyed the curriculum I learned here, as it has changed my outlook on cybersecurity over the years and across different classes. When I was younger, I wanted to be a pilot, but that quickly changed when I realized I wasn’t a big fan of travelling, so I thought, \u201cWhat is the opposite of traveling?\u201d And then I realized that anything in the tech field could possibly allow me to work from home, and this was exciting for me. Working from home was the only reason I was initially interested, until I got phished on my \u2018Steam\u201d account and almost lost all of my games; that’s when my interest really came to life. Once I began taking classes at CVCC and here at ODU, my interest in the field was finally shaped and molded into what I wanted, upon developing actual skills in the Cybersecurity world. Throughout my degree, my skills have grown and changed, and I have changed my outlook on different areas of the field, based on my interest in a specific class or just how the skill stood out to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cybersecurity Knowledge and Technical Skills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of what I feel to be the most important coursework or Internship experience that I learned was with the hands-on approach, whether it be an ethical hacking lab or an effort to virtualize the systems at FedWriters for my internship. \u201cYour coursework should feature plenty of projects that you’ll work on with fellow students as well as faculty\u201d (Cerulli, 2023). My coursework definitely featured hands-on, collaborative experience, and this is one of the situations in my learning experience that I am most grateful for, as it gave me that opportunity and ability to work on something important with other like-minded individuals. The security and Ethical hacking labs were always my favorite. They really helped me to develop skills such as understanding network vulnerabilities, reconnaissance, threat analysis, Linux skills, and command-line efficiency. These are just a few of the skills gained, but the labs, on top of granting academic skills, gave me skills to transfer into practical environments, rather than just \u201clearning\u2019 all of the skills through PowerPoints or lectures, which offered no real hands-on value. These labs were some of the biggest shapers of how I viewed cybersecurity and what I wanted to do with my career, as they were helping me develop and narrow down my skills, rather than having broad, minimal knowledge. This has led me to pursue roles such as SOC Analyst, where skills like reconnaissance help me identify hosts, systems, services, and potential entry points. My skills in Vulnerability Analysis help me recognize vulnerabilities that could be exploited. This is important because, for example, a SOC analyst needs to understand the severity and potential impact of vulnerabilities when investigating alerts or threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Problem-Solving and Networking: Applying Strategic Thinking <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another area that I feel helps me to prepare for my cybersecurity career is one that really helped me define my abilities in networking and improve my problem-solving skills, particularly through a specific assignment in my IT315 class. In this assignment, I was asked to figure out how to design a temporary network office that supported a specific number of computers, servers, printers, and a specific cable length, so that they would fit and not \u201cbump into\u201d one another. At first, this was quite problematic, having to figure out how all of these fit together, as I had a few situations where they would collide or get in the way of each other. An article I had read said that \u201cProblem-solving in cybersecurity is like being in a high-stakes chess game. You\u2019ve got to think strategically, anticipate your opponent\u2019s moves, and stay two steps ahead. It\u2019s about being adaptable, resourceful, and, above all, resilient. When the going gets tough, the tough get problem-solving.\u201d (Seest, 2023). Ignoring the fact that I have no idea how to play chess, this relates closely to my network design project because not only was it important for me to figure out what went where and how to do it, but I had to think about it from how to strategically adjust where I put my \u201cPieces\u201d to figure out my optimal layout. These skills, both problem-solving and in general networking, are essential for a career in cybersecurity, and I believe that these assignments, and other similar ones, will make a great foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Interdisciplinary Learning in Cybersecurity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout my cybersecurity studies, I have learned the importance of topics and ideas that support my understanding of cybersecurity but are not directly related to the field, both through years of study and through my IDS 300 class, which helped me realize this. The class focused more on writing and breaking the field into its subfields to figure out how to approach a situation. \u201cA holistic approach to cybersecurity considers the many disciplines that produce cybersecurity professionals \u2013 technical and non-technical alike\u201d (Jacob et al. 62). This quote, even just by itself, is very important to my interdisciplinary approach, as it is necessary to look at the field of cybersecurity from both a technical and non-technical perspective. For example, one of the documents I had written in my IDS 300 class was a study of Cyberweapons. I had to discuss how military science, criminology, computer science, law, international relations, and more were tied into the study and development of these cyberweapons. This assignment helped to really clear up how important an interdisciplinary approach is to cybersecurity. Another quote also makes this more apparent, in saying \u201cNearly all fields of human activity require an understanding and application of that field within the context of one or more other fields\u201d (Jacob et al. 62). Ultimately, the learning throughout my degree, and my specific assignment, both helped me realize that I can not approach cybersecurity from a technical standpoint alone. I have learned how different fields can contribute different perspectives to find the same issue, and this has changed my own perspective on cybersecurity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internship and Experiential Learning <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>My internship was a very important part of my cybersecurity education because ot allowed me to apply what I had learned in the classroom to a professional setting. During my internship, I gained professional experience in provisioning anf managing virtual machines and managing them to simulate enterprise environments. I also helped to design and maintain their virtual network infrastructure through Microsoft Azure and Intune. I monitored and created support tickets for people so submit any issues they were having. These helped me improve my technical skills while also improving my problem-solving and communication skills effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I worked with system hardening and CMMC Level 2 compliance, which really helped me understand how organizations use the security requirements to protect their infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Working in a professional environment showed me the importance of being able to troubleshoot problems, work with others, and continuously learn new technologies. Cronin and Langelier (2023) explain that \u201cthis work-based learning experience helped us understand the variety of cybersecurity roles in the workforce, gave us exposure to a professional workplace, and allowed us to develop our own interests in cybersecurity\u201d (Cronin & Langelier, 2023). My internship had a similar impact on me as my courses, as it gave me a clearer understanding of what cybersecurity career I want to pursue and strengthened my interest in cybersecurity as a whole. My internship at FedWriters really helped me bridge the gap between professional and academic experience. The knowledge gained from both my coursework and from FedWriters gave me a solid foundation for starting my career, as this proved that I have more than technical skills, but I have great problem-solving, communication skills, and attention to detail, as well as a willingness to keep learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>At the end of the day, my time spent studying cybersecurity at ODU has helped me develop much more knowledge than only technical. Through my cybersecurity and ethical hacking labs, I developed a better understanding of vulnerabilities, Linux, Reconnaissance, and threat analysis. My assignments in networking have really helped me improve my ability to solve problems and understand how systems communicate with one another, while my internship at FWI (Fedwriters) allowed me to apply some of these skills in a professional setting. Working with VM\u2019s, Microsoft Azure, and virtualized networks, support tickets, system hardening, and CMMC requirements shows me how the concepts I learned in class can be used in real-life environments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest factors I learned is that cybersecurity can not be approached solely from soley a technical view; Furnell (2021) explains that \u201cCybersecurity covers a broad spectrum of skills, spanning both technical and non-technical elements.\u201d This connects closely with my IDS 300W experience and my cyberweapons research, where I had to consider computer science alongside military science, criminology, law, and international relations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These changed how I think about cybersecurity, because it can involve more than just computers at the same time. Looking back at my Education as a whole, I can see how the development of my skills is represented by my portfolio, rather than just a collection of assignments. My interest in cybersecurity originally came from being phished on my Steam account when I was younger, but my education at CVCC and ODU taught me to understand cybersecurity on a much deeper level. The combination of coursework, hands-on labs, interdisciplinary research, and my internship has given me a stronger foundation as I prepare to enter the cybersecurity and IT field. I know that cybersecurity will continue to change at a rapid pace, so continuing to learn and being able to approach problems from multiple perspectives will be important throughout my career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n REFERENCES<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cerulli, Paige. \u201cCommon Cyber Security Courses You Can Expect in Your Program.\u201d Cyber Security Education<\/em>, 18 Aug. 2023, https:\/\/www.cybersecurityeducation.org\/courses\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cronin, A., and S. Langelier. \u201cHands-on Learning Experiences Encourage Cybersecurity Career Discovery.\u201d National Institute of Standards and Technology<\/em>, 2023, https:\/\/www.nist.gov\/blogs\/cybersecurity-insights\/hands-learning-experiences-encourage-cybersecurity-career-discovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furnell, Steven. \u201cThe Cybersecurity Workforce and Skills.\u201d Computers & Security<\/em>, vol. 100, 2021, article 102080, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cose.2020.102080<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jacob, Johanna, Michelle Peters, and T. Andrew Yang. \u201cInterdisciplinary Cybersecurity: Rethinking the Approach and the Process.\u201d Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing<\/em>, vol. 1055, 2020, pp. 61\u201374. Springer, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-030-31239-8_6<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seest, Tom. \u201cCan Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills Improve Cyber Security?\u201d BestCyberSecurityNews<\/em>, 21 Dec. 2023, https:\/\/bestcybersecuritynews.com\/can-critical-thinking-and-problem-solving-skills-improve-cyber-security\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew Burd IDS493Dr. Virginia Tucker Steffen 8\/24\/26 Need 5 scholarly sources Academic Reflection Introduction: Developing My Cybersecurity Path My name is Matthew Burd. I am a cybersecurity student at ODU, and I am finishing up here very soon. I really enjoyed the curriculum I learned here, as it has changed my outlook on cybersecurity over… <\/p>\n