Earlier in the month, The SANS Institute hosted a free event called the New2Cyber Summit. As the name implies, it was geared towards those interested in or looking to join the cybersecurity field. I was lucky enough to attend virtually for some really great presentations and talks.
Naomi Buckwalter of Cybersecurity Gatebreakers Foundation gave a fantastic keynote on Everything You Need to Start Your Cybersecurity Career. She was energetic and positive with an overall message that not only do you belong in security, you’re needed too! When it can often feel like an impossible task to even find a true entry-level position when job hunting, it’s always nice to have a reminder to keep at it.
Other talks focused on gaining experience when you’re not already in a security focused role, success stories from those that changed careers, and even a resume workshop. But for me the true standout session of the day came from Simeon Kakpovi of Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center.
His presentation, Role-Play Your Way Into Cyber: Hands-On with KC7, introduced a hands-on platform for cybersecurity training for defenders – KC7. Through simulated data sets of various logs, participants parse data to search for answers to questions in a unique capture-the-flag competition. The scenario involved investigating phishing attacks, examining threat actor domains, and searching for malicious implants on a company’s infrastructure. All while learning Azure Data Explorer and the Kusto Query Language.
KC7 is as highly accessible as it is addictively fun. Everything launches through the browser and there is no cost to join. At the time of the event, I had zero experience with KQL, but a handy manual was provided to learn the basics. It was a ton of fun to dive into the investigation, learn how to assemble increasingly complex queries, and uncover the campaign against the victim organization. By the end, I even earned a top-finisher badge for the CTF.
The Summit was an excellent event for newcomers to the field. And networking with others looking to pivot into cybersecurity is always a welcomed experience. Big thanks to SANS and all of the presenters for putting together such a welcoming and informative event! Hopefully by the time they look to hold the 2024 edition, I’ll already be immersed in an infosec role and building the experience to one day give a talk at a future New2Cyber event.
