The CIA triad is a security model used as a guide for organizations to build security policies and procedures to protect their sensitive data. CIA stands for Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability, but the way these terms are applied here might be a bit different than what you’re used to. The CIA triad is the starting point to helping you implement strategies that safeguard your data and reputation.
Brenda McBeath talks about building her cybersecurity career with Giuseppe Scalamogna from Project Ares.
Cybersecurity students are fascinating to talk with. They come from so many backgrounds. Brenda McBeath is a Purdue University Global alum who’s currently working as an IT Support Analyst. We first connected when she used Project Ares during her Master’s of Science studies in Cybersecurity Management, and we caught up recently as she begins a new IT work role.
It’s funny. I didn’t get my first degree until I was 42. I started college when I was younger but left to go to work because I had three children to raise. I eventually went back to school and completed my undergrad degree in Computer Science. I took a break for a year and then went back for an MBA and started thinking about next steps.
My husband and I were were victims of identity theft. We spent lots of time discussing cybersecurity and educating ourselves about cyber attacks and security breaches like the one at Equifax. We thought – this is the future. So, I convinced him that we should both pursue the Master’s degree program at Purdue Global University! We studied and finished together.
I’m working in an IT role for a large company, I’m solving problems and troubleshooting issues for a software program called ServiceNow. It seems like a piece of cake after gaining experience using software like Splunk. My coworkers all seem nice, and the trainers have been wonderful. I see lots of opportunities for advancement in the organization.
I think there’s a strong need for information security professionals right now. It’s like there’s war on information today and people want to know everything about you – like social security numbers and driver’s license numbers. We need to protect ourselves. There are businesses working to protect people and information but I believe it is also important that we educate ourselves so we can better protect ourselves, our families, and our assets.
A lot of learning in school is textbook bound and you don’t not have a chance to get practical experience. The courses at Purdue Global University were fast-paced, accelerated courses – some classes had two labs a week – but I found them fascinating because of the hands-on training with Project Ares. I could familiarize myself with new things or if I didn’t understand something right away, I could work on sharpening my skills.
I think that Project Ares also offers a lot for beginner students who don’t know anything about cybersecurity. It’s appealing and interactive. For the younger generation starting off in cybersecurity, I think this platform will teach them in a way they’ll enjoy because it really does have a gaming platform experience.
If it’s your passion to protect stuff, this would be the field for you. If you don’t want to stagnate and you like to think outside the box, then the cybersecurity field would be a great fit because it will be ever changing, and you’ll always be learning.
We’re excited by our users’ passion, drive, and desire to be successful! Thank you Brenda, and best of success in your cybersecurity career journey.
Check out other success stories (opens new window) where we continue to explore what inspires and motivates Project Ares (opens new window) students and why cybersecurity is important to them.
Bates Technical College, serving nearly 3,000 career training students and 10,000 community members on three campuses, has been helping students reach their education goals and nurturing talent since the 1940’s. As a leader in hands-on learning, Bates Tech mirrors the workplace, and provides students with opportunities to develop and practice the skills they need to be successful in job roles.
The community creates a space for students to achieve their personal and professional goals while focusing on the mission of enriching diverse communities by inspiring student learning, challenging greater achievement, and educating for employment.
Professor Joseph Kauer joined the Bates Tech team in 2019 to build a comprehensive and engaging cybersecurity program that was different from other programs in the region and would set the school apart. He started at the very beginning, setting up computers and creating a computer lab.
The cybersecurity program at Bates Tech has grown each year as more and more students see the many opportunities for skilled cybersecurity professionals in the workforce. As a Project Management oriented cybersecurity professional, Professor Kauer wants students to dive into the world of managing risks. The team at Bates Tech is focused on the expansion into subjects like forensic examination and cloud networking security. Students can actively pursue a two-year Associates of Science (AS) degree or take classes to earn transferable credits for a 4-year institution during their time at Bates Tech.
Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College
The Bates Technical College instructors envision success from a student perspective. Professor Kauer leans on his experiences as a student to help him create policies that are student-friendly and drive results. For example, they don’t use a hard stop when it comes to due dates for classwork; it’s accepted until the end of the quarter because Professor Kauer and his team believe that the work is important and want their students to take time to gain that valuable experience. The goal of this program is to create a relaxed environment that facilitates learning and collaboration.
The Bates Tech team takes pride in not just teaching hands-on technical skills needed to take on the jobs of the future but also in making sure that their graduates have the confidence to be influencers and leaders in their fields. There is a strong focus on professional networking, writing, and presentation skills because everyone is highly likely to work as part of a team in the cybersecurity field and needs to be effective communicators. When graduates from the Bates Tech program identify cyber risks or defensive solutions, they will also be ready to convincingly share ideas with their peers and leaders as truly effective cybersecurity professionals. Bates Technical College works to make sure that the program develops well-rounded future professionals who can navigate their careers and become leaders.
Professor Kauer and his team chose Project Ares as the platform for their labs to provide students with hands-on practice that reinforces the cybersecurity curriculum. Project Ares works on various machines from PCs to simple Chromebooks. This was key for easy access to learning tools for Bates Tech students and it enabled the instructors to push forward on their educational goals without worrying about equipment compatibility issues. Project Ares creates a common learning environment by launching virtual machines through a browser, thereby ensuring that all students are working in the same type of environment while enabling students to work at their own pace to complete labs.
Professor Kauer has seen his students benefit a great deal from the program as they see and experience the lessons that he’s teaching in a participatory manner. He can demonstrate how to execute Linux commands like ping and Nmap and then they go into Project Ares and continue to practice in an environment that emulates real computer systems. Students can execute commands and visualize how they’re executed in real time. The memorable, interactive experience of practicing with virtual machines is game changing.
Professor Kauer finds that students involved in immersive labs progress much more quickly. Students work together and collaborate on their assignments whether in a classroom or working from a remote location and easily use the chat function built into Project Ares. They enjoy themselves while using internal resources to solve problems. They learn how to accomplish their objectives, or they find any pieces of the lessons that they may have missed and then jump right back into their lab exercises.
Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College
Project Ares labs have equipped the instructors at Bates Technical College with cybersecurity learning tools that deploy easily for their student cohorts and don’t need to be manually setup by educators. This allows them to be free from the administration time needed to manage a homemade cyber range environment and they can reinvest that time into their student interactions.
Additionally, Bates Tech students are empowered by virtual lab environments since they don’t have to be afraid of failure in these scenarios. They have multiple chances to make corrections and adjust their work as they pursue their learning objectives. Bates Tech emphasizes that this is a learning experience and that Project Ares virtual environments give students the freedom to make mistakes in a safe environment.
“Our program aims to challenge students to start thinking outside of the box. In the beginning, we like to challenge students to think critically about new types of security exploits.”
Joseph Kauer, Cybersecurity Professor, Bates Technical College
From a philosophy of not only teaching skills but also preparing students for future careers, Professor Kauer and his team are successfully integrating hands-on learning through Project Ares into the cybersecurity program at Bates Technical College.
I had an excellent conversation with Benny Walker – an alum of the Urban City Codes program. We discussed his cybersecurity learning journey and how his long time love for technology drove him to pursue new skills.
Giuseppe Scalamogna from Project Ares and Benny Walker talk about pursuing cybersecurity education.
I was talking to a family member who works in IT about an incident that happened at work, and they mentioned the program at Urban City Codes. Initially, I thought I wasn’t computer savvy enough to go through a program like that. I’m from the old school of technology and coded in Pascal. I thought maybe new technology had passed me up, but she encouraged me to think about it.
I just needed that little push! I signed up for the class right away and ever since then I’ve been all in on my studies. I really like the cybersecurity industry.
I’ve worked at the Veterans Administration in their Finance & Payroll Department for 13 years and I enjoy being in the service. Being a Marine was a very fulfilling job and I especially enjoy being able to help my comrades now because when you’re in the service there are three main things you need to make sure you have: food, your pay, and good supplies!
I love being able to help veterans get their pay together. Seeing how grateful people are in this community is very fulfilling.
I was working with the Ohio Inspector General to research an incident where a veteran called in to say they had not received their pay. I noticed that there was a potential for agents to manipulate the system by adding an alternate address or bank account. I started to review accounts and discovered that an employee had diverted funds to their own account, and I knew that we needed to setup safety protocols to prevent this from happening again. As a result, security around these account systems tightened and secure passwords went into effect.
I’m very curious and I analyze systems to discover the ins and outs of how they work. I often wonder, ‘What if somebody did this? How can we protect that?’ I’m always trying to figure things out and looking for new challenges.
When I first started with Urban City Codes, I didn’t know a lot about cybersecurity but as I started to go deeper into the course and learned about ports and protocols using Portflow in Project Ares, things started to click for me. Also, I really enjoyed learning about number system conversions and work roles using Project Ares learning games like Cyqual and CyberVault. As our bootcamp was ending, I wanted to review the materials again and continue my training once I felt more comfortable with the materials.
I’m reviewing materials now to sharpen my skills and I’m planning to pursue certifications in CompTIA Security+, eJPT, Burp Suite, SPLUNK, Azure, and AWS starting in June.
My best advice for someone like me who is coming “late to the game” would be to have a plan and then, just do it even though it’s going to be hard. Once you put in the time, you will see the benefits. I always say that you’ve got to have plan on how you’re going to reach your goal and work at that with consistency. Once you have a plan and approach it with consistency everything else will take care of itself.
You must continue the work at learning cybersecurity because if not you will get rusty. This is an ever-changing career, there’s always going to be something new: a new malware, a new virus, new techniques, so you must stay aware of what’s happening in the industry.
We’re excited by their passion, drive, and desire to be successful! Thank you Benny, and best of success in your cybersecurity career journey.
Check out other success stories (opens new window) where we continue to explore what inspires and motivates Project Ares (opens new window) students and why cybersecurity is important to them.
See how interested instructors got their hands on Project Ares, a gamified, realistic cybersecurity education platform.
On December 2, attendees were set up with a temporary Project Ares account to play the Digital Forensics cybersecurity lab in Project Ares. If you missed this webinar, you can watch on-demand now, and stay tuned for more hands-on opportunities with Project Ares Scenarios in the future.
Attendees played Battle Room 9 – Forensics. In this session, they played with a Project Ares training expert who guided them through loads of features designed to equip them and their students for success.
Team leads looking to train their cybersecurity practitioner teams.
Cybersecurity educators researching ways to improve teaching pedagogy and curriculum.
Cybersecurity instructors looking for hands-on labs to support their programs
Understand how to set up “training plan” curricula, how to encourage student collaboration so they work together, and how to track student learning progress and set goals.
– GUEST SPEAKER –
Cait Frizzell
Training consultant
Resources
64% find the customer experience more important than price when purchasing something.(1)
67%say the standard for good experiences is higher than it’s ever been.(2)
80% confirm that the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.(3)
At Circadence, our intrepid Customer Support organization incorporates these expectations and statistics into their everyday mission as they deliver timely and professional support to Project Ares users worldwide. If they had a theme song, it would be I’ll Be There For You (The Rembrandts – Friends TV theme song).
“Received excellent Customer Support even though we are not a full customer yet. Their professionalism was exceptional, providing quick and complete technical answers in a timely manner before and even during a checkpoint call.”
~ a Trial User ~
Meet the Team
“Received excellent Customer Support even though we are not a full customer yet. Their professionalism was exceptional, providing quick and complete technical answers in a timely manner before and even during a checkpoint call.”
“Customer Support” can be interpreted in many ways. At Circadence, the Customer Support team is the first line of contact for all users after they have on-boarded and started to use our hands-on cyber learning platform, Project Ares. Have a usability question? Need to report a problem? Have ideas and suggestions for features? Want to ensure that cache is set to support a class or event.
Email [email protected] for any and all of these inquiries.
When a support ticket or case comes in, it is logged and the clock begins. While our published Support Hours are 7 am – 7 pm Eastern Time, Monday – Friday, the team generally acknowledges all cases within 24 hours of receipt AND approximately 78% are usually acknowledged within 2 hours inclusive of licensed customers and trial users. We are proud that our small but mighty customer support team has this kind of track record when some of the biggest SaaS companies in the industry deliver 1-2 day response times unless premier service is purchased.
More important than acknowledgement of course, is case resolution. The Circadence Customer Support team shines here as well. Using thoughtfully designed processes, investigative know-how, and clear communications internally as well as to our clients, Customer Support researches and resolves cases. A key technique is shared accountability. Whoever is on duty works all the Open Cases to make incremental and steady progress. The mindset across the team is “Does a customer need help? If so, I’m working on it.” This approach has proven so effective that Time-To-Resolution rates dropped by over 50% in just one quarter.
“This team is wonderfully thorough in the support they provide to us. They even identified ancillary information to an open issue and then completely researched, tested, and clearly communicated the resolution to us. We really appreciate their competence and completeness of support on a regular basis.”
Recently, our Customer Support Manager instituted a new metric to track Re-opened Cases, expecting to collect data to help improve the quality of service. To her delight, she found that a high percentage of re-opened cases were not because that case needed more work. It was, more often than not, a Project Ares customer taking time to say Thank You for the help, communication, and resolution they received. And that is the best metric of a job well done.
To Amanda, Rini, Jared and Anna
THANK YOU for your dedication and hard work on behalf of all Circadence Project Ares customers.
Cyber criminals are clever and know how to evolve. They’ve proven this once again with their latest cyber-attack strategy, the Watering Hole Attack, which leverages cloud services to help gain access to even the most secure and sophisticated enterprises and government agencies.
Recognizing a watering hole attack and how it works is valuable in managing risk, as it poses a significant threat to network security.
A “Red Team” is a group of people trained in the art of hacking, but using their skills for “good” (also known as an ethical, or white hat hacker).
This group challenges an organization to improve its effectiveness by assuming an adversarial role or point of view