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I grew up in Emlenton, PA, went to college at Clarion University for undergraduate school and Duquesne University for graduate school. I have been living and working in Pittsburgh for the last 10 years. In my spare time, I'm a competitive powerlifter, enjoy cycling, hiking, spending time with my friends and family, and supporting the Pittsburgh Pirates.
What are the education or qualification requirements for this career?
What are the education or qualification requirements for this career?
I have a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, and a Master's Degree in Information Systems Management, with a concentration in data analytics. Most people in cybersecurity didn't study cybersecurity in college. This is a certification driven field, and a lot of cybersecurity professionals started working in IT on the IT help desk.
Describe your typical day.
Describe your typical day.
One of my primary responsibilities is building our phishing campaign that we send to all of our employees. Once a month we send a sophisticated phishing campaign to help teach our employees what to look for from malicious actors. Additionally, a large chunk of my job is focused on ISO 27001 compliance and gathering evidence to support our Information Security Management System (ISMS).
What types of coursework or concepts did you study to prepare for this career?
What types of coursework or concepts did you study to prepare for this career?
My Master's degree definitely helped me break into the field of IT/cybersecurity. I've had an interesting career starting as a legal assistant, then paralegal work, legal compliance for an electric utility which led me to IT compliance and now IT security/cybersecurity.
How are you seeing your career changing?
How are you seeing your career changing?
I think cybersecurity will only continue to grow and be a huge area for all businesses. Hackers are becoming very sophisticated especially with the help of AI.
How are you using artificial intelligence?
How are you using artificial intelligence?
We are leveraging AI chatbots but only for mundane tasks/writing emails, etc.
What are the three most important skills for your career?
What are the three most important skills for your career?
Collaboration is huge in this field, you have to be able to work with multiple areas of the business.
It's also important to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to cybersecurity.
I also think tenacity is an important skill to have in this field.
What is one of the biggest surprises about your career?
What is one of the biggest surprises about your career?
That no one is truly an expert and we're all learning as we go.
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