Da'Queshia: My path to cybersecurity
Hi. My name is Da'Queshia.
I'm a security engineer.
That basically means I work securing Google's products so users like you aren't vulnerable.
Before I entered cybersecurity, I worked installing Internet.
I also worked at a chip factory.
I worked in fast food.
I sold shoes at the mall.
I did a lot of things before I made it here.
A lot of what I learned in my past jobs I actually use every day.
Some of it is my soft skills like time management, people skills, and communication.
As a new cybersecurity analyst, it's important to be able to communicate, take feedback, and feel uncomfortable, not with the people around you, but with the problems you're trying to
solve because sometimes it requires you to think outside of the box and be challenged.
I would describe my job as a Google security guard because I work on the Gmail security team, it's my job to protect Gmail.
Some of those threats are people who are sending you bad emails, who are trying to get your user credentials or get you to click on a phishing link.
When it comes to vulnerabilities, some of those could be something like unsanitized input, which can lead to trouble.
My typical work day starts like everyone else.
I check my emails and then from there I go into my bug queue;
it's essentially when people tell me there's a problem with one of our products.
I start doing a little bit of research and then I like to explore the bug a little bit more.
I like to figure out if this can break this, can it also break this, and if it can, what else can I do with it?
Then from there, I look for a solution to make sure that I fix that hole and then any other
holes that we might have in our security.
Some of the things you learned about in this course is threat modeling, and that's something I use every day.
Whenever I get a bug, it's part of my job to figure out the attack tree and what type of vectors we use to take advantage of vulnerabilities.
No one is born knowing everything.
I know that sounds really cliche or like super obvious, but it helps me because it helps put some perspective the time
and effort that everyone has to put in in order to learn something new.
So be patient with yourself.
Don't let anyone discourage you from cybersecurity.
Taking this course is one step closer to getting into your goal.
Don't get discouraged now. Keep going.
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