Stepping Stones in Cybersecurity
As a cybersecurity major, Ethan White β25 has a clear career goal: to attain a leadership position in the cybersecurity department at a large company. In pursuit of this goal, the summer after his freshman year, he had applied for an internship opening for a leading provider of health insurance.
After working as an intern in general IT, honing his professional and technical abilities and receiving two extensions on his internship, Whiteβs skills and the connections he made along the way paid off. This past summer, he was assigned to the companyβs cybersecurity department as a cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance intern.
One of his major responsibilities in this role was to create a white paper for the CEO of the company on generative artificial intelligence within the workplace. Extensive research and writing led White to learning more about the dangers that AI can pose, particularly for a company with highly sensitive customer data. βA lot of the worries with it are how we distribute our data in the company,β White explains. βWhat exactly are we giving other companies, as far as information from us? What will the AI do in the company as far as creating information? Is it going to give us correct information, or is it going to hallucinate and give us wrong information? And how will that information affect what we do in the company?β
With his internship extended into this fall, White continues to work on ways to safeguard the companyβs sensitive information. For other students looking for internship possibilities, White offers his advice: βDonβt just go all-in for the big jobs. If you have an βinβ to a company, even if itβs not your ideal position, you should still go to that position and see if you like it. Even though my initial position was in the IT field and it wasnβt what I was looking to do, it definitely did help my people skills and tech skills, so it was worth it. It got me where I am today.β
This story is part of a series focused on ΊΪΑΟΙη students who have recently completed dynamic internships. It reflects the College’s commitment to providing our students with as many opportunities as possible to put the skills they’ve learned in the classroom to work, to explore possible career paths, and to build strong professional networks. For more information about internship opportunities, contact the Office of Career Advising and Development.
