Barry Hudson, CISSP on LinkedIn: SRESFS Cybersecurity Internship begins their Cryptography class. We… (2024)

Who would have thought that a visit to Georgia's first robotic dairy would turn into a lesson in Cyber Risk Assessment, BIA, BCP, Security Controls, and Operations Planning. Thanks to Steve Weldon, GCC/SRNL Cyber Program Directorand "Farmer Mark” Rodgers, third generation dairy farm owner.After the trip, I asked my DOE sponsored SRESFS interns how they liked the tour and I expected to hear about how cute the baby calf was, and how well organized the workflow was and how they wish they could have tried some of the raw milk. And how much fun they had (which was all true).To my amazement, they took the entire tour with their cyber security hats on, taking mental notes applying the concepts we learned in the classroom, and made the dozens of observations, which demonstrates that they are already learning to think like mature cyber analysts.I was amazed to hear comments about safety, recognition of lack of rain, disease, angry bulls, and health regulations as risks that need to be assessed and addressed.The students quizzed the owners how they determined how long they can be down and what to be doing while they're down to maintain the milk flow.(MTD, RTO and WRT)The students also realized for the first time that there are numerous components to a continuity plan. You have one for the computers, you have one for the health of the animals, you have one for the lack of rain and such.Finally, we found it very curious that they said they have more data than they know what to do with and have alarms triggering every 4 and 5 minutes and do not have a way to filter them to identify the important ones that need immediate attention. Can you spell SIEM?This was a wonderful opportunity of a lifetime. I highly recommend it for everyone. Science, cyber, engineering, environmental science, and more.

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SRESFS Cybersecurity Internship Week 4.We have had quite a week in the SRESFS DOE Sponsored internship for Cybersecurity. In addition to 18 hours of entertaining and challenging lecture, (and too much homework), we had three special sessions, all staffed by personnel from DOE and SRS Contractors and hosted by Tom Scott and Barry Hudson, SRESFS instructors.On Monday night 6/17/24, we hosted three Cyber executives from SRS; Lewann Belton - DOE-SR Federal Chief Information Officer, Dennis Cobb - Manager, Enterprise Project Support SRNS, and Bob Jones - Former VP of IT for the MOX project. Using a Jeopardy format, the three panelists fielded questions from the students on a wide range of IT and Cyber topics. It was interesting to hear the different answers from the three management perspectives they represent. Their favorite question was “What would you do if you found an iPhone in a toilet?”The Thursday panel used the same Jeopardy format, with mostly the same questions, posed to four of my technical former co-workers. Ben Jollie - SRNS Enterprise Cyber Security Engineer, Doug Rankin - SRPPF OT Assurance Lead, Joshua Devine - Microsoft Customer Success and Security for Manufacturing, and Jared Chambliss- Regional Cybersecurity Director, Boston Government Services, LLC.It was so fascinating to hear many completely different answers when answered by the cyber “boots on the ground” rather than from management. But across the two panels, the mangers’ and technical folks’ answers reinforced each other’s principles and goals, but the students loved hearing about the nitty gritty it takes to implement the policies and principles put in place by the managers and DOE. The students really related to the “techies”, and stayed over for 30 minutes of extra questions and then another 20 minutes socializing. Their favorite question was “How do I get a good job in Cybersecurity?”Finally on Saturday 6/22 we were treated to special “Capture the Flag” competition hosted by the SRNS Enterprise Cyber Security Team: Paul Smith, Kennitha Cochrum, Benjamin Jollie, and Kristy Bunyard. This exercise challenges students with real-world Forensics, IT and cyber puzzles building to more difficult and educational goals. It was amazing to see teams dynamically form and reform as people with various experience shared their ideas to achieve group solutions.

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I have just returned from celebrating my 20th year of participation in FIRST robotics.

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I have just returned from celebrating my 20th year of participation in FIRST robotics. It is a program founded by Dean Kamen and Woody Flowers (MIT) to inspire science and technology in high school students (and since expanded to ages 4-18). When I joined with my two sons in 2003 as a founding mentor of Aiken’s M’Aiken Magic team 1102, I never realized how much fun I could have inspiring others in STEM.Every year, a new game is devised with a 6 week build period to create a robot to team with other schools to score objects at a competition. But the real goal is to expose students to the engineering process, and hands-on technology including mechanical, electrical, programming, business collaboration, and decision making. In short, teamwork. See this example https://lnkd.in/gSqBnCkYAfter my sons graduated to pursue STEM degrees from Clemson, I moved to supporting the state-wide robotics competitions in various roles, including Game Announcer, EmCee, and technical judge. I have met dozens of new colleagues, admired hundreds of robots, and helped entertain and motivate thousands of students.This year both my sons and granddaughter volunteered at the North Charleston event. I am so proud of them.Learn more about volunteering at elementary, middle school and high school levels here. Click on “Find FIRST Near You” and enter your zipcode in the lower left.https://lnkd.in/gPvfi2vP

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Announcing paid course-based cybersecurity internship in Aiken, SC sponsored by Department of Energy.I have just returned from a week in California recruiting students for the DOE Savannah River paid internships for students attending Minority Serving Institutions. We are accepting applications for Cybersecurity, Engineering, and Environmental sciences. The Deadline is March 15, 2024. Two of my colleagues and I will be teaching 4 cybersecurity classes in June and July. This is a classroom-based program at USC Aiken, and includes numerous interactions with SRNL and other area government contractors. In addition to classroom time, students will take field trips and engage in projects and case studies in their field. Students will live in provided housing, earn $6000, and receive 12 college credits transferrable to their home university.The goal is to encourage students to gain the skills needed for employment in the system of DOE National Labs or operating contractors, Federal Government, or graduate school.If you know of a rising junior or senior ant any of these 100+ schools who has a GPA of 2.5 more, please consider this opportunity. Note: There are 20 cybersecurity seats. 10 in Aiken and also 10 remote. 10 seats in Aiken for engineering and 10 for environment science.The MSI schools are listed here.https://lnkd.in/gHSSmzpP.The applications can be completed here.https://sresfs.net/

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I have completed my teaching for 22 of the brightest college students I have ever encountered. They have completed the DOE-sponsored SRESFS Cyber Security internship in conjunction with Savannah River National Laboratory, SC-State, and USC-Aiken. They were hand-picked from 14 universities across the USA. Two of my 10 remote students are in Puerto Rico.In 10 weeks, we completed 4 college-level courses: Intro to Cyber Security, Digital Forensics, Legal and Ethics in Cyber, and Cryptography. We enjoyed visits from 4 USCA Cyber Operations speakers, 6 SRNL and SRNS speakers, an on-site SRNL Cyber capabilities tour, a tour of the Georgia Cyber center, and performed an actual policy audit at a small business in Aiken. Another highlight was presenting what the students learned about cyber risks and controls at the Aiken Rotary Club July meeting.These students will also leave armed with new career skills including updated resumes, LinkedIn accounts, and completion of the ISC2 Certified in Cyber Security online course. Three students plan to take the exam next week. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire career.

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Are you considering a career change or curious about Cybersecurity? (ISC)2 (the World’s Leading Cybersecurity Professional Organization) is ofering free 1 year enrollment and offering a free introductory certificate, Certified in Cybersecurity. If you do not hold any certs from (ISC)2, you can enroll for free as an (ISC)2 Candidate, and take the self-assessment test (as many times as you want), then take to the self-paced online course, and finally sit for the Certified in Cybersecurity exam for free.Then it only costs $50 per year to maintain your membership and gain access to lots of other free training and community. This offer ends in September 2023. I have added it as a requirement in my classes at USC-Aiken.

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Parsons is has 2 Cyber positions open for immediate hire in our Aiken Office, supporting work at Savannah River Site, but working from the Aiken Office and (or from home during COVID). US Citizenship required.At https://lnkd.in/gvrHJCp search by Aiken, SC location with keyword cyber Or go directly therehttps://lnkd.in/gzw4xthhttps://lnkd.in/gxR94VZ

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Parsons in Aiken, SC has openings for 2 cybersecurity analysts. Looking for people experienced in writing and deploying system security plans, procedures, applying STIG standards to PCs, servers, and networked devices. Also need staff for daily monitoring, reporting, scanning and remediation. Message me for details.

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