Category Archives: Top Secret Colonials

Careers with Cyber Forensics: Military, Law Enforcement, Corporate, and Executive – April 22

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Careers with Cyber Forensics: Military, Law Enforcement, Corporate and Executive

Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Wheatley Center Critique Space

Schedule:
3:45 pm – Registration
4:00 pm – Pizza will arrive
4:15 pm – 5:30 pm –  Security Presentation
5:30 pm – 5:45 pm –  Question and Answer period

Top Secret Colonials are sponsoring this event!  If you register at the registration table, you will be able to receive SET credit for attending.

Several distinguished speakers will present, including:

  • Christopher J. Mellen 
    Director of the Information Risk Management branch within the Office of the Chief Information Officer for the Executive Office of the President (EOP) of the United States
    His directorate consists of the Records Management Branch, Cyber Integrity (eDiscovery) branch, Information Assurance and Security Operations
  • David Coughanour
    VP, Director PNC-CERT
    Teams responsible for Network Security Monitoring, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Technical Insider Threat Mitigation, and Digital Forensics
  • Edward R. Villarreal
    Incident Response, Mobile Security, and Insider Threat Team Lead for ManTech International onsite at a Large Federal Law Enforcement Agency
    His team provides computer forensic and incident response support to State-sponsored attacks against the Agency’s networks, eDiscovery collections to the Insider Threat Section, and Mobile Security technical expertise to the IT Branch deploying over 30,000 mobile devices.

Top Secret Colonials – Upcoming Events

Attention all CIS majors: specifically Cyber Forensics and Information Security.  If you have not already, please follow our Twitter page and like our Facebook page.  Information about meetings, future club events, cyber current events, and much more are provided there.  Plus, we could really use the support with getting our organization much more popular around campus.  We need your help in order to transform the Top Secret Colonials into a cyber security organization!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/topseccolonials

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rmutopsecretcolonials

We are going to have an event at Chipotle (similar to the Buffalo Wild Wings one).  We are tentatively planning for March 16th from 4-8, but will confirm this date at a later time.  In addition, if you are going on the trip to The Washington Center, please see Dr. Paullet when she gets back to find out more information about how to start fundraising.

Resume Tips for Students Seeking IT Security Jobs or Internships

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On February 6, 2015, the Top Secret Colonials sponsored an IT Resume Writing Lecture.  This lecture was given by Al Wong of The MITRE Corporation.  The talk featured specific tips related to resume writing and interviewing for IT Security positions.  If you are planning to be in the job market for a security-related position, take a few minutes to review the slides from this lecture:

Resumes That Get You in the Door (PDF)

Sponsored by The Top Secret Colonials 

IT Resume Writing Lecture on February 6

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IT Resume Writing Lecture – Al Wong from The MITRE Corporation
Sponsored by The Top Secret Colonials

Friday, February 6th
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm in the Critique Space in Wheatley

Al Wong from The MITRE Corporation will be giving a lecture on how to write a winning IT resume. He will be showcasing before and after resumes from several CIS students. Did you know that when applying for an IT job  they are looking for a minimum of a 3-page resume?  The old 1-page resume standard does not apply to most IT positions. Join us to learn how to write a resume to impress.

Light refreshments will be served. 

Al Wong is a Lead Inter-disciplinary Systems Engineer at The MITRE Corporation, a non-profit organization operating 6 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers for the United States Government. He has 30 years of experience providing strategic guidance to the Federal Government with 10 of these years as a trusted advisor to United States Government Executives.

Mr. Wong holds a BS in Internetworking Technologies with a minor in Information Assurance and a MS in Management of Information Systems. In addition to formal education, Mr. Wong has held the following industry certifications.

  • International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2 – Certified Information Systems Security Professional – CISSP (2003 – 2011),
  • Microsoft Certifies Systems Engineer – MSCE (1999 – 2009), and
  • Cisco Internetworking Expert – CCIE (1995 – 2000).

Mr. Wong is also HR Certification Institute (HRCI) trained and certified (2009 – present) in behavioral interviewing and resume assessment techniques. As one of two certified behavioral interviewers at the MITRE Corporation, he has reviewed thousands of resumes and recommended candidates for hire. Mr. Wong has assessed resumes and interviewed candidates for the following positions:

Software Developers
Network Engineer
SOC Staff
System Administrators
Incident Response Engineers
Enterprise Architects
SOA Engineers
Cyber Security Tech
HIPAA Compliance Auditors
Security Analysts
IDS Engineers
Business Analyst
Forensic Engineer
Program Managers
Hardware Technician
QA Engineers
Technical Trainers

Support TSC at Buffalo Wild Wings on February 3

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Top Secret Colonials (TSC) will be hosting a fundraising event on February 3, 2015 at 4:00pm.

Come out to Buffalo Wild Wings in Robinson Township that Tuesday night for some great food and a great time!  If you present the ticket below (either in printout form or on your mobile phone), 10% of your net sales will be donated to TSC!

We hope to see you there!

Buffalo Wild Wings Flyer_2015

Information on Stuxnet Virus

Student Editorial

Many of us who study computers whether it be Cyber Forensics, Information Technology, or Computer Information Systems, know that cybercrime is among us. I would like to bring to everyone’s attention a situation recently in the news, and that is a virus called Stuxnet.

Stuxnet, for those who don’t know, is a worm (a type of computer virus) that was developed to attack Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility (Fingas, 2014). The worm is meant to attack PLC which are Programmable Logic Controllers. I hope I grabbed your attention because, yes, this is a very bad infection for controls that can override functions in a nuclear facility. The Natanz nuclear facility has no direct Internet connection, so the virus couldn’t be spread to it via an Internet connection.  It is now known that before the virus reached Natanz, it attacked 5 key vendors that affiliate with Natanz and was brought in by one of the employees, or someone who works in the facility.

I know many people don’t care what is happening hundreds of miles away, but according to Kaspersky Labs, the virus has now spread all over the Internet.  Since the virus is intended for corporations, it is not a major concern for end users, but companies need to ensure that private data stored on their networks is protected.  Many people believe this virus contains American roots. (Fingas, 2014). The Issue I have with claiming that it has come from America is that there is no proof.  Kaspersky apparently can tell you where the rogue code (Stuxnet) has been, but not its origins.

If you would like to read more about Stuxnet, please refer to:

Fingas, J. (2014, November 13). Stuxnet worm entered Irans’s nuclear facilities through hacked suppliers. Retrieved from: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/13/stuxnet-worm-targeted-companies-first/

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/30/Recommended-Reading-Stuxnet-fake-memories/

If you would like to discuss this further, please comment below.

Top Secret Colonials

Would you like to help out the newest organization on campus?  Or do you know of a company or someone who would like to assist students in learning more about National Security?

Here is a chance to do just that!! The Top Secret Colonials have a GoFundMe account.

If you are not familiar with the Top Secret Colonials……They are non-profit group of RMU students that participate in the National Security Conference at the Washington Center in Washington, D.C. This will be the third year that RMU students have participated in this specific conference that is held each year in May.

What is special about these students you may ask?  These are your fellow classmates who have an interest in becoming the future computer professionals that help assist our nation in securing our cyber world.  They participate in a two-week conference where they will learn from national security experts.  Cyber security is such a vital part of everyone’s daily life.  Each year lives and money are lost to some form of hacking through the Internet, cell phones and other cyber technology.   This is such a unique experience that will allow these students to become the best of the best in securing and protecting this nation’s cyber world from foreign and domestic entities – the entities that are constantly looking for ways to take advantage of our citizens and our future economic growth by committing a variety of cyber crimes.  For example, Internet fraud, e-Scams, network intrusions, identity theft, cyber bullying and many others.  People in this country continue to lose their lives and their hard earned money.

Won’t you please help assist our future professionals?

These students are our future to creating security software and being instrumental in creating the laws and policies to protect us all.  Top Secret Colonials Mission Statement:  “Promote Education in Cyber Security While Raising Awareness to Those Utilizing Cyber Technology”

Any donation amount would be appreciated!  Whether you are able to assist monetarily or not, please help by sharing our link with all of your family, friends, co-workers, business owners or anyone that wants to assist us and learn more about the Top Secret Colonials and their mission.

http://www.gofundme.com/RMUTopSecColonials

For information on other fundraising initiatives of the Top Secret Colonials, please contact Dr. Karen Paullet or follow the group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rmutopsecretcolonials

Top Secret Colonials social media online!

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As some of you may know, we have a student organization on campus called the Top Secret Colonials. We are a group of information security and cyber forensics students who share an interest in attending a two week academic seminar in Washington, DC. The TSC now have an operating Twitter and Facebook page and it would be appreciated if everyone could go check them out! These pages will be used to announce meeting times and places for our group, technology news, and anything else that may be of interest to our students. Below is some information that may be helpful.

The Washington Center – where the two week academic seminar is held in DC

TSC Twitter

TSC Facebook

The president of TSC is Meghan Riggle. If you have any questions about joining or what TSC is feel free to contact her at riggle.meghan.94@gmail.com.

In addition, our faculty leader is Dr. Karen Paullet. You can contact her with any questions as well at paullet@rmu.edu.

The Washington Center Experience – From a Student’s Perspective

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Have you heard of the newest club on campus…. the Top Secret Colonials?  Their mission is to promote education in cyber security. This group does a variety of fundraisers to raise money for the National Security Seminar in Washington, D.C.

How would you like to spend two weeks in D.C. with your fellow classmates and others from colleges across the country learning about our National Security in Information Systems?

Dr. Paullet and 20 of your classmates did just that. In May, these students took the 6 hour trip to D.C. They got to experience a trip of a life time and learned about our country’s National Security. Upon arrival they checked into their dorm-like apartments, became experts on utilizing the metro, and became friends with other students across the country.

They were privy to a variety of national security information that they otherwise would never have learned. They had to swear to not publicize the information received on social media. They toured the FBI building and got to ask federal agents a variety of cyber security and information systems questions. They visited the ICANN building where they had another question and answer session with those at the top. They were able to learn and ask point blank questions of the presenter, Dr. Fair, in reference to the FATA region and the utilization of drones in military missions. How about a chance to tour the Chinese embassy and ask questions right after the cyber attacks on major Pittsburgh companies?  Yes, they had a chance to do that, too!

A trip to the FISA court gave them the opportunity to speak to FISA Judge Reggie Walton, who, by the way, is from Pittsburgh, PA. They asked questions about recent cases and then were able to tour the judge’s chambers. The list of speakers each day was extraordinary. There were dignitaries, professors, lawyers from the U.S. Marshall’s Office, the Department of Justice, Guantanamo Bay, the Treasury Department and a non-profit organization for educating children in Pakistan. Each speaker talked about how cyber law(s) and information systems security is of the utmost importance in each of the specific federal sectors that they work in.

It wasn’t all work; there was time to explore downtown D.C. and see the city that seems to never sleep, and enjoy great restaurants and shop for awesome souvenirs. They were able to tour a number of our nation’s national monuments, where they had time to explore and take many pictures.

If you have ever thought about a job with the federal government, the students were able to speak and learn about the career paths of those that have served in our Armed Forces and have gone on to other federal and contract positions for our government.

The next National Security Seminar is just around the corner in May. The topics for next year are: Week 1- Inside the Defense and Intelligence Community and Week 2 – Negotiating Global Challenges.

So for an extraordinary adventure that you will never forget …… don’t delay, contact Dr. Paullet if you are interested in the National Security Seminars and earning college credits.