Jack K

JACK K

Jack K grew up in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. He is in the first year of study for a Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Bachelor of Information Technology student at the University of the Sunshine Coast

Suppose you met an old friend from your last year at school who, knowing nothing about cybersecurity or what you do, asks you what you are doing. How do you answer them to ‘sell’ them on the idea of a career in cybersecurity?

From what I have seen so far most people know the word cybersecurity but don’t know what it really means. So I usually have to take it gently if I am not to overwhelm them. I would tell them there are a few kinds of cybersecurity. However, they are all generally connected.

Last semester in the bachelor’s degree course I am completing, I did a course on computer security and I learnt how to prepare and protect hardware and software from cyber attacks and threats. I also learnt how some of these attacks are carried out. I would also tell them there are always jobs for people in cybersecurity and they pay well.

We hear all the time that the world of cybersecurity is changing rapidly, particularly with the rate of threat evolution. Do you feel your course is doing a good job of being current?

Technology is always changing and improving, but so is the threat to this new technology. The course I undertook last semester was new to my university and covered a large range of topics in cybersecurity, which were recent. It was taught and coordinated by a former US government agent specialising in cyber intelligence. Because it was only an introductory level course we did not explore many of the topics of cyber and computer security in-depth, but we covered quite a lot.

What aspect of your studies excites you the most?

What I find most exciting about my studies is how to protect hardware and software from cyber attacks and threats and white hat hacking, which I found quite interesting.

What aspect do you find least interesting or useful?

What I find least interesting are the theoretical and mathematical aspects of the course, which require quite a lot of work to understand. I probably will not specialise in a particular area of cybersecurity but I am still uncertain.

What is your favourite source of general information about cybersecurity

I get most of my general information and updates about cybersecurity from YouTube, Twitter and Reddit.

What measures do you have in place for your personal cybersecurity?

I do not have the same passwords for any accounts and my passwords are all saved in a password manager. Most of my sensitive accounts are also protected by two-factor authentication and my hardware is checked by threat detection and antivirus software.

How does the reality of cybersecurity as you experience it today fit with your understanding when you first thought about studying it?

When I first learned about cybersecurity I was probably about seven or eight years old and was always told not to share passwords or my home address. I now have a much broader understanding of how easy it can be to be cyber attacked, but I have also learned what to do to prepare for an attack, and how to deal with it.