What Drew Me Into Cybersecurity.

We caught up with Student Of The Year nominee Matthew Tomlinson to talk about how he got into the industry, the challenges that he has faced, as well as how he was able to overcome them. Through sheer hard work and determination, Matthew was able to define his career path and develop a plan for his future. Read his journey into cybersecurity below.        

I could be cliché and say ‘I want to make a difference’ and yes I guess in part that’s true, but that journey started back in 2003, at 16 I found myself in the careers office enrolling into the British Army desperate to get away from home, during my time in service I had felt that I was making a difference and felt proud of that, since leaving the military though I like many never quite found my feet, I struggled to find fitting employment and as such I spent the next 10 years working self-employed but I had lost that feeling of pride and longed to make a difference once more.?

Then in 2019 I knew what I needed to do, we have all seen the news headlines related to the latest cyber-attack, for me the ones of particular interest were state sponsored attacks with critical infrastructure being the target, with 3 children under 6, my youngest being 4 weeks old I turned to my wife and said I wanted to study cyber security in university, thankfully only 4 miles down the road Cardiff Metropolitan had just started delivering a Computer Security course, with only 5 weeks until the start of the academic year I enrolled and my path to being an information security specialist had started.

Having been out of academia for a long time my programme director requested I complete a foundation year to prepare my academic skills for the degree programme, initially I was a little apprehensive about adding a year to my degree programme, but in hindsight I am glad I did it, it broke me in gently so when Covid-19 struck and studies went online I didn’t feel nervous about starting my degree and doing it all from the other end of a webcam, I knew what was expected of me. ?

Like many around the country I created a home office where little hands couldn’t interfere with my work, this so happened to be my porch. ?Trying to master the technical elements of the degree have been a little challenging at times and it has been known for me to express my need for a glass of wine, forgetting I had not muted my mic after speaking last, but the support from the teaching staff at Cardiff Met has always been brilliant and the lecturers have always been at the end of teams when needed, no questions have gone unanswered.

My plan for the future has always been fluid, having a disabled child has meant that I have needed to adapt and change plans at short notice to fit in with his needs, as my son grows older, it has allowed me to consider my what I would like to do after completing my degree in Cyber Security, this being an MSc in Information Technology Management at Cardiff Met. My passion and drive, coupled with my keen interest in cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, will hopefully, one day allow me to positively contribute to securing CI from future attacks to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the wider population.

At times it has been difficult to see past the moment and at times I have wondered if I was doing the right thing, having been awarded Student Of The Year for Cardiff Met has reaffirmed that ‘yes I am’ and it’s given me a boost to keep pushing and keep achieving.