Victoria Sanderson
CYSE 368
Spring 2026
Professor Teresa Duvall
Vital Solutions
Reflection Paper 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the end of March, and the government is getting a bit on edge, there have been lots of patches I had to do and look out for. I can’t mention the exact things I had to do, but I can give an overview of everything. Matters are becoming more serious, and having a secure network is more important than ever, so keeping up with patches and alerts is an absolute must. These experiences were not only technical in nature but also required communication, critical thinking, and fast response. The primary tasks I focused on all go hand in hand with each other, such as reviewing CVE alerts and distributing them across the company, analyzing and prioritizing necessary patches, and implementing various operational orders such as blocks, unblocks, product surveys, and security updates. All these tasks allow me to learn the responsibilities of keeping my environment safe, fast, and efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with reviewing CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) alerts and ensuring that relevant information was communicated effectively to the organization. At first, this task seems simple enough, but it’s not just about reading alerts and sending them out; you quickly realize it requires a bit more digging. Not every CVE is equal; some are sorted from unclassified to classified, and my job is to ensure CVEs are correctly identified and sent out based on importance. This meant paying close attention to severity ratings, affected systems, and potential exploitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CVEs aren\u2019t like other alerts or patches we get at my company; these vulnerabilities demand immediate attention, whereas others can be monitored over time and patched over a longer timeframe. This is a very good way to learn how to prioritize threats, a critical skill in cybersecurity. Additionally, I had to ensure that the alerts I sent were clear and actionable. It wasn\u2019t enough to simply forward information; I needed to contextualize it so that other team members could understand its significance and respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following up with the second main task I had to do, which was reviewing and identifying necessary patches for both security and network systems, often based on the CVEs I had analyzed. This task required me to connect vulnerabilities to their corresponding fixes, based on multiple other companies\/agencies’ patching requirements that they sent us. When doing this job, you need to have a basic understanding of what risks could be associated with delaying your company and other potential impacts on system stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is one thing that can occur quite often, and that is patches that are wrong. Sometimes patches are sent to us that actually repeat something or say a legit device that\u2019s actually crucial to our job that shouldn\u2019t be messed with. If we were to go forward with these blocks or patch them, it could very well take down the company. This alone can reinforce the idea that cybersecurity is about being very thorough with everything, even from a trusted agency, because everything makes mistakes. By the end of the two weeks, I felt more confident in my ability to assess vulnerabilities, determine questionable changes, and follow appropriate remediation steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third major component of my experience involved implementing various orders and tasks assigned by my supervisors. These included conducting product surveys, managing IP blocks and unblocks, and performing security updates (CVE\u2019s and other agencies again). This aspect of the job was particularly dynamic, as it required me to adapt quickly to different types of tasks and priorities. Unlike the more structured processes of reviewing CVEs and patches, these assignments often came with less guidance, pushing me to think independently and make informed decisions. This lack of guidance came from the way the wording can go with these orders, and it often seems confusing because everything either has no information at all or is 3 paragraphs of filler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Handling blocks and unblocks, for example, required careful consideration to avoid disrupting legitimate activity while still protecting the network from potential threats. This is the main task I get from these orders, and about once a month, there’s a chance they miss a letter or paste the wrong thing into Excel, and it can mess everything up. This responsibility is very important, and the level of precision and accountability can be high if something goes wrong. A single mistake could have significant consequences, either by allowing a threat to persist or by unnecessarily restricting user access. Then there is conducting product surveys, which also provides valuable insight into the tools and technologies used within the organization. This opens me up to different security solutions and helps me understand how they fit into the overall security architecture. It also gave me a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools, which is an important aspect of maintaining a strong security posture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, these experiences have given me a deep understanding of how the corporate IT field works and what it means to work in a cybersecurity role. I have seen firsthand how different aspects of security, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, and operational response are interconnected. With CVEs being the main head of these past two weeks, it helped me identify potential threats, analyzing patches allowed me to address those threats, and implementing tasks enabled me to take direct action to protect our company\u2019s network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Victoria SandersonCYSE 368Spring 2026Professor Teresa DuvallVital SolutionsReflection Paper 5 Following the end of March, and the government is getting a bit on edge, there have been lots of patches I had to do and look out for. I can’t mention the exact things I had to do, but I can give an overview of everything. … Continue reading Reflection 5 – CYSE 368<\/span>