Dr. Matthew Gonzalez, CEH, CHFI, PMP, Cyber Program Director, University of Charleston, was our guest speaker at a recent West Virginia Coding Club meeting. He is working remotely in San Antonio, Texas and has been with the University of Charleston for five years, since the Cyber program's inception.
After high school, he went on to college and completed his Bachelors degree in Information Systems, then earned his Masters degrees in Information Systems / Project Management and Business Administration. He then completed his Ph.D. Dr. Gonzalez worked for various organizations in the private and public sectors, developing his Information Technology and Cyber Security skills.
The program he leads at the University of Charleston has three programs (two program paths that lead to a third program). At University of Charleston, students can earn an Associates Degree in CyberSecurity, as well as a Bachelors Degree. If you want to pursue further education in this area, there is a Masters Degree program in CyberSecurity (more management/leadership focused). All programs are 100% online. They currently have about 50 students in the Bachelors degree and 40 in the Masters degree programs. The Associates degree launches this Fall.
Dr. Gonzalez shared a video about hacking in an effort of activism - “Hacktivism”. The video provided information about a group called Anonymous. He discussed some of their activities and how they are generally organized.
Also, he shared a video concerning the Colonial Pipeline Malware Hack that recently disrupted the supply of gas from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast of the United States. This was not a DDOS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) for all industry wide service, just a targeted attack on this one company. Dr. Gonzalez spoke about the Malware that was used in the attack as being Ransomeware, which requires money to “unlock” the malware. The group Darkside, (more a like a criminal business and apolitical) was identified as the group who hacked the Pipeline group.
Ransomware, once accessed attempts to encrypt as many files as possible and then allows for a way to pay to receive a key that will decrypt the files. Usually, there is only a certain timeframe to pay or the price will increase, possibly double to motivate people to pay. He also discussed Nation State Actors, entities that act on behalf of a Government; and White Hat, Black Hat and Gray Hat hackers.
There are many careers in Cyber and a high demand for these types of jobs with the demand increasing. Examples of Cyber Security jobs: Cyber Security Expert, Graphic Designer, Social Engineering, Network Security Administrator, Social Media Consultant and Ethical Hacker. Not all careers require coding experience.
Advice from Dr. Gonzalez: Many online training opportunities, but beware of the many scams out there, so make sure they are reputable.
Find a mentor.
Join a Camp (Coding/Tech Boot Camp).
Participate in Competitions.
Thank you, Dr. Matthew Gonzalez, for taking time to share more about Cybersecurity with our West Virginia Coding Club students.
Keep Coding!