Most of my relevant experience comes from my time in the military. During this time, I was able to develop leadership skills, collaborate with diverse teams, and use problem solving in real world scenarios. I was able to operate in a clandestine environment with cyber threats present. Physical security, network security, and the human factor were always considered. As a student, my focus has shifted but these real-world lessons will stay with me.

A real-world problem that is affecting the cyber world now is the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and our SCADA systems.

Supervisory control and data acquisition systems play a key role in the safe monitoring and control of critical infrastructure. These industrial control systems provide real time data to operators to show if systems are functioning correctly or if inputs need to be made. Without these SCADA systems, critical infrastructure plants would be much more exposed to failures due to a lack of understanding of how individual parts within the system are functioning. SCADA provides real time data in order to keep critical infrastructure functional as intended. This leads to the publics needs being met as well as a safer work environment for those working at these facilities.

 

Critical infrastructure such as power, water treatment, pipelines and more are controlled and monitored via SCADA systems. These sites and plants often have many different mechanical parts working in conjunction with one another to complete the processes and the achieve desired outputs of maintaining our countries critical infrastructure. By monitoring sensors that track certain metrics such as pressure, voltage, amperage, water flow etc. these systems can ensure functionality in real time. If readings are off then inputs can be added into the system to fix the problem, or the system can be shut down and fixed quickly as to not disrupt the overall production. An example of this would be the SCADA system displaying sensor data to power plant, if a part of the plant is giving abnormal reading or giving error codes it can then be isolated and fixed before any mishaps or even incidents occur.