See It To Be It Spotlight

𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵…my exposure to cybersecurity has been through my career as a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI investigates a broad spectrum of crimes, including crimes that involve cybersecurity issues. For example, business email compromise schemes meant to defraud people and companies of money. In order for these organizations to be successful, they typically have defeated firewalls into a company’s network in order to gain information to defraud said company or person.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲, 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀…rooted in diligence; trust but verify. Always make a call prior to providing personal information. If something doesn’t sound right, trust your intuition. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 skill 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 has 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 cybersecurity career 𝗶𝘀…my ability to recruit people smarter than myself. While I know how to conduct an investigation, I lack the technical skills needed for cybercrimes. This is where HSI’s specialists come into play, specifically, computer forensic agents and analysts.

𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵, 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗶𝘀…to join a professional organization, like The Cyber Guild, to meet a variety of people in the field to gain perspective on expectations vs. reality.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀…my father. I’m the youngest of three, with two older brothers. Throughout my life, my father never treated me differently for being a female. I was constantly encouraged, and he often told me that I could do anything my brothers were doing but better. That has always stuck with me and has enabled me to succeed in a male-dominated career.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 being part of UWIC? I participated in the UWIC 2025 in Arlington, VA. What I enjoyed most about the event was meeting new people in the cyber field.