2018 - It’s been Non-Stop

With the end of the year imminent, I’ve decided to start a blog of sorts. It seems only fair that I recap on what’s been an amazing, but busy time. At least since the start of my second year of university. The first half of 2018 may not have been a great time, but I’ve started a new journey now, not only studying cybersecurity, but joining the community that surrounds it.

I finally joined ENUSEC

I finally bit the bug and signed up to ENUSEC, Edinburgh Napier University’s Security Society. And despite having very little security experience at the time, took part in the societies’ FreshersCTF.

You could say that I caught the CTF bug here and found myself a few days later at the beginner CTF organised by SigInt. Did I win either of these? No. But that’s not what mattered, what mattered was the experience and the learning, of which there was plenty. And besides, there was an even better opportunity to come.

Playing with the big guns

Despite not winning either of the two events I’d taken part in thus far, I was offered a place on the ENUSEC CTF team for upcoming competitions. First up was the Scottish Cybersecurity Challenge in Dundee, where I had the honour of leading the second ENUSEC team, comprised of students who are new to competitive CTFs, whilst we didn’t place the top 3, this was a great experience and one that I won’t forget in a hurry.

In addition to this, I was part of our team that competed to qualify for the Deloitte CTF finals in London. The good news was… we qualified, and soon flew down to London to compete in the final, where our team came fourth overall. It was great to get an insight into Deloitte’s cyber operations, and ‘get in the door’ when it comes to placement opportunities for next year.

Meetups & OMG…

There’s plenty of meetups to bring together people in cybersecurity, industry & students. This year I set about getting to as many as possible. I made it to several Security Scotland events, ENUSEC’s weekly meets, as well as Cyber Scotland Connect. Where…

That’s right, I got to do my first actual talk. The open mike night at Cyber Scotland Connect gave me my first opportunity to speak at any sort of event, talking about my adventures taking part in FreshersCTF and ‘failing forward’ a term I’ll definitely use in the future. Public speaking is a skill that can set you apart from those who are only technically inclined, and I’d encourage anyone to try speaking, you’ll probably find you’re much better than you thought you were.

Doing my Bit

During this semester at university, I took up duties as a demonstrator for a first-year module, using my own experiences to help other students to understand topics in time for their upcoming exam. I’ve also worked for The Cyber Academy at several events, including the Data in Health & Care conference, and manning the Cyber Academy stand at the GDPR Summit Scotland, where I found a new profile picture.

And on top of doing all these cool things, I had to manage completing three new modules in Python, Databases, and Systems & Services. Fortunately, stresses over exams and coursework are over (for now) and I’ve got time to rest and reflect.

What About next Year?

Conferences will be coming around soon, and I intend to attend as many as possible, furthering my knowledge & getting to know as many people in this industry as possible. And this will of course include ENUSEC’s own Le Tour Du Hack 2019. And of course, I’m searching for a yearlong placement opportunity.