Bootcamp Reflections: Cyber Security Technician Part 2 (Unit 4)

This week we’ve moved onto learning about many of the more technical aspects of cyber security from networks to encryption. It was quite a challenging start to the week looking at various network layers to understand how data is transmitted and received across networks, focusing on switches, MAC address, IP addresses and port numbers. On day two, we learned all about how networks and devices can be secured. I found it particularly interesting learning about vulnerabilities in authentication tools like reCAPTCHA and in mobile phones. It became clear to me that no device or system is ever completely secure, which can be pretty frightening to think about.

I really enjoyed learning about the theory of cryptography on day three and it was fascinating to learn that cryptographic techniques can be found as far back in history as 1500 BC Mesopotamia. I didn’t expect to enjoy this part of the unit as it sounds technically heavy and obscure, but the theory of cryptography for me has been the most fascinating part of this week so far. Maybe partly because asymmetric encryption reminded me of locked door puzzles found in gaming and is quite fun to unpick how encryption systems work, like fitting puzzle pieces together. I had no idea that encryption is used in HTTPS to verify the authenticity of websites, so this explains those strange, exclamation mark messages that sometimes pop up stating the browser is not secure or cannot be trusted.

We also covered how encryption is important in website management, as if you own a website domain you need to manage the domain certificate to ensure it is up to date and kept as trusted. The RSA algorithm went over my head a bit as maths is not my strongest area, so I did find that very difficult to comprehend. However, it was useful exploring more about the types of cryptographic techniques that can be used and learning how they work, as well as the stages of their life cycle.

After a brief recap and in depth look at system administration on day three, we also looked at career options in cyber security and today we completed the assessed formal online exam. I also submitted my SME cyber security technician report and summative PowerPoint for assessment. This has been a valuable exercise as it allowed me to pull together all the knowledge I’ve learnt over the two weeks and apply it to a real-life based business scenario, to assess the vulnerabilities and threats posed to a small business organisation and present a series of defensive solutions and recommendations. Overall, it’s been a great couple of weeks and really rewarding to see how much it’s possible to learn in such a short space of time. I look forward to developing my knowledge of cyber security in two weeks’ time in Unit 6 Cyber Security Risk Analyst.

In the meantime, I can’t wait learn all about game development next week using Unity Game Engine in our next unit, Tech for Good and Gaming. This is the unit I’ve been most looking forward to and I’m super excited to learn more of the technical skills of game development and how I can link this up with skills like creativity and other game design skills. Over the last two weeks over a few evenings, I’ve been working my way through a short game development course on FutureLearn course called ‘How to start your career in games development’ so I'm now much more aware of the different types of roles in the industry and where I might best fit. I can see that I already have a lot of relevant professional skills for possibly a Designer role, but it’s the technical skills that need work and development. But that’s why I’m here on this Bootcamp and why I’ve started the process of building up my digital portfolio. In small steps I plan to fill in relevant technical gaps through these types of initiatives, just as we’ve been discussing this week in Monday’s pastoral session on setting OKR based goals. I’m excited to see how far I will have developed by the end of the next two weeks and where I can go from there.?