CS2A CyberOps 2024
Learning From Your Peers
I arrived late to CyberOps, which was after the guest speakers presented, so I unfortunately cannot review that portion of the conference. However, I did attend for the duration of the CTF, and I enjoyed the CTF not only for experience and ideas on what to study but also as a learning experience from my other peers and competitors. For example, I got some knowledge from an upperclassman about harder challenges he’s completed in the past and the code he wrote to complete those challenges. Despite me not knowing how to write a code for such challenges, I understood the process and reasoning for those codes. These valuable learning opportunities are significant in helping decide what I want to do in my potential cyber career, and it only makes me want to study and participate more in cybersecurity and CTFs.
The Challenges
Specifically on the challenges/CTF, I worked with a classmate in the beginning, and had fun participating in the duration of the competition. We could ask each other questions or for help, including nearby people, so it didn’t make the challenges impossible for beginners to enjoy. Once she left, I did slow down a bit as I started hitting skill walls in the challenges I could attempt, but as I stated before, that gives me an idea of what I need to improve in. Since I already have knowledge in the networking field, the Wireshark challenges were doable for me, but other challenges that need coding or decryption knowledge were hard. I was amazed at the OSINT category, as I know it’s an important, real-life applicable skill for professionals to have, but it’s scary learning how much info people can get from a simple picture, especially if they use tools. I did notice some of the CTF questions were similar or exactly the same as the practice CTF we did in this class, so that assisted in clearing the easy challenges.
Clubs & Events
CS2A – Noobs to Hackers: Blue
During this semester, I participated in CS2A, specifically, the N2H Blue group. This focus group provided valuable experience, allowing me to gain more experience in Linux, VMs, and cloud infrastructure and management. We learned how to use a Proxmox VM to run services like OPNSense, Pihole, Wazuh, etc. and teaching us the basics of security tools like firewalls, SIEM, DNS filtering, and more. This activity was extremely easy and fun to participate in, and has inspired me to use what I’ve learned in my own home for security or adblocking.
Career Fair
Although I didn’t enter the the ODU career looking for a job or internship, it was a great way of figuring out what types of students they’re hiring. I gathered info on the common certifications and skills they were looing for, such as Sec+, knowing a programming language, cloud skills, etc. to give myself learning goals, and an idea of what to study in the future. I didn’t just learn from employers during this event, I even met other upperclassmen in my major who gave me some tips and guidance as to what courses they took and what they’ve learned from their classes, which assists me in making better choices about what courses I should pick depending on my desired field in cybersecurity.
Finding Cybersecurity Everywhere: Fortune 500