Securing the Future With CyberSecurity

UBALT graduates show that there’s more than one way to craft a cybersecurity career

BY KATIE COTTINGHAM
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL GLENWOOD

Almost everything about us is online. Social media posts display our personal thoughts and photos. We move money online between bank accounts and from credit cards to retailers. Even our medical records are digital, accessible through web-based portals and apps.

These conveniences make our lives easier, but it also makes it easier for criminals to take over many aspects of our lives. “Bank robbers don’t have to show up at a bank now to steal your money,” said David Doggette, MBA ’03, president and CEO of 2HB Incorporated who is also a principal system engineer in a cybersecurity role at the company. “Your identity can be stolen and there’s so much opportunity for theft.”

“If you do cyber, you can do it in any industry.”
DAVID DOGGETTE

It’s not just individuals who have a lot to lose. Hacking into power plants or water facilities can cause major disruptions for cities, states, or countries. For example, a computer worm that was first uncovered in 2010 severely damaged Iran’s nuclear program, noted Nic Hall, B.S. ’16, a technical program manager at Zscaler. “That’s really what got me interested in cybersecurity, that there are military organizations using unconventional techniques to essentially shut down other governments’ abilities to develop weapons,” he says. “I realized this is a pretty significant industry.”

Demand for qualified professionals who can defend computer systems against attacks is high. The World Economic Forum states there is a global shortage of about 4 million cybersecurity professionals. According to CyberSeek, an interactive workforce tool funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, cybersecurity positions take about 21% longer to hire than other jobs in information technology (IT).

Ask four cybersecurity experts what they do, and you’re likely to hear four different answers. The field encompasses a wide range of opportunities at many levels. For example, someone in a cybersecurity position could develop ways to protect devices and apps, or they could build and manage secure computer systems. Professionals in threat intelligence think about how nefarious entities infiltrate systems. Assessing, monitoring and mitigating risk is another key area. Other people in the cybersecurity field develop the standards, laws, policies and regulations to provide structure and guidance for the community. And professionals are needed across the board, from entry level through managers and directors.

Companies that employ cybersecurity professionals are also a diverse group. All industries with sensitive information and systems require protection, from infrastructure to health care to commerce and logistics. “If you do cyber, you can do it in any industry,” says Doggette.

MANY ROADS LEAD TO CYBERSECURITY

University of Baltimore graduates demonstrate first-hand that there are many ways to craft a successful cybersecurity career.

Michele Myauo, M.S. ’02, is a cybersecurity expert who started her journey in industrial and organizational psychology, earning a master’s degree in the discipline at UBalt. An internship during Myauo’s University days allowed her to flex her consulting and efficiency muscles—skills that came in handy when she later joined Booz Allen Hamilton. As a systems engineer and management consultant working in security education for the intelligence community in the early 2000s, she got in on the ground floor of cybersecurity.

“That position really launched me into cybersecurity because I was living and breathing it,” she said. “At that time, the Director of National Intelligence was talking about the emerging cybersecurity threat, and that it would be one of the key threats to the nation in the coming decades.” Since then, Myauo has held key cybersecurity positions at many companies, including IBM and Microsoft, and earned a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University.

Doggette had a background in computer science, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the topic, but his training took place before courses even existed in cybersecurity. After his first master’s degree, he and a colleague launched the government contracting firm 2HB in 1994. But six years later, government funding largely dried up, and they decided to press “pause” on the company. Doggette took that as an opportunity to go back to school, enrolling in UBalt’s MBA program. The degree provided him with the tools to run his business more efficiently, and the company eventually pivoted to cybersecurity a few years ago. “When I got into cybersecurity, I had zero background in it,” he says. “But I came in, I saw some things that were missing, and I was able to fill those gaps.”

MORE CONVENTIONAL PATHS

Over the years, cyber threats have only intensified, and universities such as UBalt developed courses and degrees that would formally prepare their students for cybersecurity careers.

After starting out in criminology at West Virginia University, Hall joined the Marines and then became a recruiter for TEKsystems, but school was calling him back. Hall found his way to the University of Baltimore, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in applied information technology with a specialization in information security and assurance while also juggling jobs at a television station and then at the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).

“The number one thing is to have a continuous willingness to learn.”
NIC HALL

Hall relocated to Germany with DCMA after graduation, and then took a position with the Army Intelligence and Security Command managing cybersecurity compliance for multiple networks. While there he was able to make the most of downtime during the pandemic by passing numerous certification exams to bolster his credentials. Hall manages cloud compliance for federal and defense workloads at Zscaler and serves on the Applied Information Technology Alumni Advisory Board along with fellow program alumnus, Eric Brown, B.S. ’21.

Brown, a principal threat hunter at Binary Defense, was interested in cybersecurity throughout his undergraduate career, which began at Anne Arundel Community College and, like Hall, ended with a bachelor’s degree on the information security and assurance track in applied information technology. “I liked computers and I knew cybersecurity had good growth potential,” he said. “I didn’t realize it until I got more into it, but it allowed me the flexibility to go a bunch of different routes and discover different things because cybersecurity is such a wide industry, which was intriguing.”

While at UBalt, Brown had an internship at Dragos, which is focused on operational technology and industrial control systems (OT/ICS), and he soon became a full-time employee. He worked on IT and security issues. He’s still involved in OT/ICS now that he’s at Binary Defense, figuring out how to prevent bad guys from infiltrating infrastructure, such as electrical grids and water systems.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE CYBER WORLD

Before you can run, you have to learn to walk, and that’s no different for those interested in cybersecurity positions. Brown explained that knowledge of IT basics and how systems are built helps people understand how to secure those systems. Coursework, like the classes and degrees offered by UBalt, can be a good way to learn those basics. And once someone has mastered various aspects of IT and cybersecurity, obtaining certifications can help you get your foot in the door, said Brown.

The most common piece of advice that UBalt graduates have for newcomers to the field is to have an appetite for learning. “The number one thing is to have a continuous willingness to learn,” said Hall. “IT is an evolving field, and there’s new technology that comes out, so you have to challenge yourself to learn new concepts and new technology.” Myauo echoed that sentiment, stating “Be hungry, curious and a lifelong learner.”