As a Systems Analyst at Moberly Regional Medical Center, I apply my cybersecurity skills and knowledge to protect the hospital’s IT infrastructure and data from cyber threats by continuously sharing vulnerabilities and attack vectors malicious actors may use to gain a foothold. I have created documentation to assist employees with identifying potential phishing attacks, mounting equipment in rack, tracing lines with toners, created SSL certificates for servers and that is the snowflake at the tip top of the iceberg. Our small 3 person local IT team are responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting approximately 300 workstation on site, numerous clinics, on-prem servers, firewalls, switches, SD-WAN, VOIP systems, access management, and much much more. I graduated from Washington University’s Cybersecurity Boot Camp in September 2022, where I learned the fundamentals of cybersecurity, such as network security, cryptography, penetration testing, and incident response. I also hold the CompTIA Security+ ce certification, which validates my competency in security principles and practices. This is where I am today but this journey started well back in my youth.
I was one of those rambunctious 80’s/90’s kids that was introduced to the internet on Netscape, Navigator, and AOL. Using old IBM computers that my parents got from the thrift store. I may have even had one of the Macintosh computer back then. I would scavenge parts from multiple machines to put a single computer together that worked consistently. I had no clue what I was doing but I could tell if something looked like it had the same connections. I played with the BIOS and DOS just messing around to see what happened. I developed that tinkerer mind set fairly young and it drove my mom insane. Imagine your mom walking in on you with the VCR in pieces because a tape got stuck in it, or the picture wasn’t clear. I broke a lot of things, but eventually I would started to understand how it worked and was able to fix issues that presented themselves. I grew with the technologies as it was implemented. Like now the introduction of AI and ML. Well I say introduction, but it have been around for a while, but it is so readily available for everyone now. I am already working on my own version of a ChatGPT openAI virtual assistant that would mimic the abilities of J.A.R.V.I.S. coded in python. I do this stuff for fun, it is not just work for me. This is what I enjoy. Every challenge that I have faced in this transition into IT and Cybersecurity I welcome it head on. I know that it is a learning opportunity and failure is not an option. With that being said; I know that I will make mistakes but how else can you learn? I may not succeed at my first attempt but that is not failure… That is an error message and anyone that has done penetration testing knows that an error message has it’s own value. It’s a moment of rejoice after beating your keyboard against your head because nothing is happening. That error message is a beacon of hope. “I made it tell me what I need to try next”. Sorry, I got off on a tangent… Yes, I am passionate about what I do. I always have been, maybe not in the cyber space side of things professionally but I have always been there. Installing surveillance systems, monitoring databases, risk assessments. These things can be taught, but it is different when your mind has always worked that way. I am a security professional. Security is a passion and a calling, you have it or you don’t.
I have over 15 years of combined experience in physical security working as a Private Investigator, Surety Recovery Agent, Corrections Officer, and an Asset Protection Specialist. I have a proven track record of conducting investigations, preventing theft and fraud, and ensuring safety and compliance policies and protocols are abided by. I have also managed employees and violent criminal offenders, demonstrating my leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. I believe that physical security and cybersecurity complement each other by working together to ensure an organization’s security posture is robust and resilient. I am passionate about learning and advancing in the field of cybersecurity, and I strive to deliver high-quality results and customer service.