Category Archives: alumni

Security Awareness Presentation by Proofpoint, sponsored by TSC

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Join the Top Secret Colonials (TSC) as we present Proofpoint‘s team with 3 TSC alumni, for a presentation on Security Awareness on Wednesday, March 2nd at 4:30pm in the Wheatley Atrium.

Colleen Gaffney, Corey Beynon, Sarah Pfabe, and Jake Pacari will be here to provide tips on security and discuss internships and full-time job opportunities with Proofpoint. Information on their presentation is listed below. Students who attend will receive 1-hour of SET credit. Pizza will be provided.

TODAY’S CYBER ATTACKS TARGET PEOPLE, NOT JUST TECHNOLOGY. And people are busy. They’re distracted. Sometimes they click the wrong things. Even your best people can open the wrong email, fall victim to fraud, and make the same digital mistakes we all make. People are your greatest business asset—and your weakest security and compliance link.

Join us in exploring the human centric side of cybersecurity! Phishing and social engineering are the starting point for 93% of all data breaches. Proofpoint’s Security Awareness Platform, combined with Managed Services, helps companies train users to be the first and last line of defense when it comes to cyber security. Learn from the leaders in email security on how to protect yourself in today’s threat landscape. Get a taste for the real-world threats that organizations face every day, and the different job opportunities around them.

Hope to see you all there.

Dr. Peter Draus Wins 2021 TRETC Innovation in Education Award

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Dr. Peter Draus was the recipient of the 2021 Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference (TRETC) Innovation in Education Award! The theme of this year’s TRETC Conference was Next Level EDTECH.

Dr. Draus was nominated for the award by an RMU student, Danielle Wicklund (’20), now a graduate of RMU, having earned her BS in Business Administration (Accounting) and MS in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance in December 2020 via RMU’s 4+1 program. Ms. Wicklund noted that “During this challenging semester, Dr. Draus went above and beyond his methods of teaching and made online learning interesting & enjoyable. Thus, I nominated him and submitted a letter of recommendation.”

The application for the award included a video that was produced by Ms. Wicklund and Dr. Draus. During the closing ceremony at the TRETC Conference on January 18, 2021, the video was showcased as Dr. Draus was announced as the recipient of the Professor – Innovation in Education Award. The video that was showcased can be viewed here:

Ms. Wicklund commented about the award, “Aside from acknowledging Dr. Draus’ mentorship skills, it also reflects the high caliber of professors at RMU (specifically in the Department of Computer and Information Systems and School of Informatics, Humanities, and Social Sciences). This award is for the Colonial nation. I am proud to be an RMU alum.”

Congratulations, Dr. Peter Draus, on this stellar accomplishment!

UPMC Presentation on Phishing, Security Operations, and Jobs

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Join TSC as they present Sarah Pfabe, TSC alumni and an information security analyst at UPMC to speak about the dangers of phishing and what organizations do to protect against it on Tuesday, November 5th at 4:30 pm in the Wheatley Atrium.  She will go through everything from what makes a phishing email, to the tools analysts use to examine and detonate malware.  An overview of working in a Security Operations Center and job opportunities at UPMC will also be a part of this presentation.  

Information about phishing: Phishing is one of the ways hackers attempt to gain access to your personal information via your computer or smartphone. These attacks often rely on the same basic strategy: to trick you into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by making you think the request is coming from a trusted source such as your bank, credit card company, a colleague, or friend. No organization, large or small, is immune to the dangers that phishing emails present.

Students will receive 1 hour of SET credit. Pizza will be provided. 

RMU Grad Torrie McLaughlin is one of the New Faces of IBM Z

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IBM is producing a set of videos that are quick conversations with a new generation of coders and creators on the mainframe.  Watch RMU alumna Torrie McLaughlin, who works on the mainframe at a large financial institution, describe how COBOL is a key asset to her professional toolkit.