A Time for Reflection

My Brain Said No

This week’s topic was hard to nail down. I think my brain turned off there for a bit. I am about 4 weeks left of school and besides being tired, I am also in a stunned reflection of this program that I went through.

None of this was easy, just in case you are considering grad school. It was one of the harder things that I have done. And I couldn’t be more excited to complete it. My husband can’t wait to have his wife back and video game partner back, hehe. But let's reflect this week, since it is not leaving my brain...so I must share my thoughts.  

When I began this program in 2014, I had already completed a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems. I had already worked in IT for many years, but I still had so much to learn. It’s actually funny when I tell people what my degree program is, usually there is a double take involved. Seriously. It’s weird. I remember when I started working in IT many years ago it was a mostly male dominated industry. Still kinda is, but not as much. I still get weird looks. And its OK. The shock value is worth it, haha.

Image taken from: https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/12/

Anyways. I have learned so much, yet I feel like I could learn so much more. I have taken courses in risk management, computer forensics (that is one of my favorites), ethical hacking, information warfare, cloud computing, and of course my capstone...which is what I write this blog for. The capstone is the most demanding course, but yet makes the most sense in a real world setting.

Recent Events in my Head

I have been recently threat modeling. Which sounds scary. And it kind of is. I don’t know if I am doing this right. But I have a sense that this process isn’t as black and white as others in IT. It seems more grey. Lots of areas for interpretation and theory. Which I like, but it does make it challenging when you get to those black and white sections of threat modeling. What I mean by that is that I know there is a risk, we have found the vulnerability to be X, but the grey comes with the organization. Do they accept the vulnerability? Do they mitigate it? Do they rebuild a system? Do they ___? See the grey? It’s interesting from that perspective. You would think it’s cut and dry, but it's not.

Perhaps this is one of challenges to managing IT. Making these hard choices and accepting any blow back should they occur. IT is so dynamic that it isn’t easy to manage or to make choices. Sometimes I think it’s just making the best educated guess we can from the data we are provided.

With our rapid changing environment, I don’t see this type of thinking changing too much. I only see us, IT professionals, rolling with the punches and doing the best we can.

If nothing else, this graduate program has taught information, but has also taught me how to research better, how to objectively review data, analyze better, and think broader.  The experience of the program has really be worth the time, energy, and money in order to better get to where I want to be.

I only hope to teach one day and share my knowledge. That is my ultimate goal.

Until next time, stay safe out there and I promise something with more geek-ery, technical for you.

Imagine taken from: https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/12/

Week 8 Blog Post - CYBR 650