As of November 1, 2018 I accepted a new position on our Information Security team as a Threat Specialist, however, I prefer the title ‘Threat Hunter’. It’s just more fun 🙂  And while I’m extremely grateful to my company for allowing me to apply with zero security experience, it was still an understandably grueling process consisting of an essay on fileless malware, 3 online tests and multiple rounds of interviews.

A brief history. I started in this firm in January 2014 in the Charlotte office as an Application Analyst and Trainer. The role consisted of level 2 support tickets (outside the Help Center) in the local Charlotte office along with 4 others with similar roles and also training the new hires on all of the hardware and software. It was a great office and fun role that taught me a lot about corporate IT, a far cry from the world of Geek Squad and Apple Support where I worked previously. I held this role until August 2015 where I accepted a new role, Application Specialist and Developer, in the main office in Atlanta. This was more a Systems Administrator role than developer with a primary focus on building and managing the SCCM infrastructure. SCCM is a fun tool, but it can be a bit.. annoying.. at times.

When the Threat Specialist was presented to me as a possible next move, I jumped at the opportunity to interview. I’ve long been interested in Information Security, but always feared my deficiencies in the area, and it’s not exactly the easiest area to ‘jump’ into. Most employers want previous experience and it can be hard to find companies willing to train. Thankfully, my firm was willing to take the risk on me and in turn I’ve spent a lot of post-work time trying to catch up and fill in the gaps in my knowledge. I took Security+ certification on January 12th 2019, after about 2 weeks of studying, and passed. Now that I can say i have one cert, I feel a bit better about my new role in security. Next I’ve started studying for CCNA Routing and Switching which is a bit more of a daunting test. While not necessarily directly related to my role, networking is an area I have not worked in and don’t have much experience. I’m hoping studying for this cert and building a homelab will help rectify this.

While the focus of this blog has primarily been on my hobby in computer hardware and PC building, I plan to add more Security/IT related experiences and information henceforth.