Here is a collection of academic resources including but not limited to books and white-papers that have really helped deepen my understanding of various things Cybersecurity. Essays 1. “What is there to Worry About? An Introduction to the Computer Security Problem.” Brinkley and Schell White-papers 1. Creating a Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment Program…

Cybersecurity News
Here are few of my go-to links for news regarding the industry, sorted by the type of media. I have also included their Twitter handle, as let’s face it, that’s an effective tool that allows the user to see all the materials in one place. Print 1) Security Magazine 2) Krebs On…

Government Resources
Cybersecurity services are not just for large businesses, rather the government has supplied the following resources to help level the playing field. I have also included few of the specific publications that I have had to use. 1) National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) . ⇒ Developing security…

Major Industry Websites
Cybersecurity is not a “solo” effort – here are few of organizations in this industry that are pioneering a unified effort. I have tried to include both the national organization as well as a local chapter in San Diego if it exists. 1) Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)…

#LifeHackers
This past winter, I had the opportunity to take a journey of a lifetime that’s now into a documentary! The hour-long documentary will be officially available on June 15th, 2017, here! Trailer – to give you a sneak peak! Blog – to follow our month-long journey.

Are you ready to take a Cyber Road Trip?! (via University of San Diego)
What if you could board an RV and travel across country interviewing your heroes â while the entire thing was captured on camera? Would you do it? Mansi Thakar just did. Source: University of San Diego

Students Embark on Road Trip to Unearth Secrets of Cybersecurity (via India West)
Roadtrip Nation and the University of Maryland University College sent three people including Indian American Mansi Thakar, on a journey throughout the U.S. to get a better understanding of cybersecurity. Source: India West

Coding != Only (Computer Geeks)
When I say “Python” which of the following comes to your mind? On March 4th, 2017 Girls Inc. of San Diego County (GISDC) partnered with Qfinity to host over 20 high school aged girls at Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab for a Coding Party. Essentially, a two hour event aimed to inspire…

Front Lines of Cybersecurity
Would you buy from an auto manufacturer who suffered a breach? Would you shop at a retail store that has been hacked? Out of the 70+ attendees for ISACA SD’s March meeting, very few were responsible for cybersecurity within their companies or as consultants for other companies. Dean Larsen II‘s topic on…

#LoveSTEMSD or is it SD Loves STEM?
The Biocom Institute Festival of Science and Engineering started this past Saturday with an Expo Day! 100+ tents and booths were set up. These vendors ranged from universities such as UCSD, to enterprises such as Microsoft, to media outlets such as KGTV ABC 10 to professional organizations such as ACS. Essentially,…

Nonexistent sector w/nonexistent members show up…
Recently, InfraGard had its first Education sector meeting. Department of Homeland Security does not recognize Education as its own sector. San Diego along with few other chapters are trying to change that. So for an non-existent sector, 100+ representatives from both higher education & K-12 came for the first “non-meeting” at…

ISACA January 2017 – Audit Committee
ISACA started this year with at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa. As a first time attendee to their evening meeting, I was pleasantly surprised to see such a large attendance. The scrumptious food & complimentary drinks were sufficient enough to nurture a networking environment among the attendees. The official theme of…

Besides or #BSidesSD
It’s 7:30am on a Friday morning, what are you doing? Well about a handful of us were at National University setting up for January 13th & 14th marked the first annual #BSidesSD. As a complete newcomer to “BSides” in general, I thought someone meant to type “Besides…” and made a typo…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Days 1-25
Just to make it easier to navigate between the posts, I decided to create this post where each image can be clicked in order to get to that day’s post! Note: The first week is done in the same blog post — newbieBlogger101

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 25
Wednesday 12/21: Day 25 Final day. Final trip thoughts. Final dinner together. Final Craig’s wishing us a “good night my sweet baby angels.” My final one-on-one with the camera was analogous to opening the gates and letting the flood of emotions out. As we physically traveled the country from the…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 24
Tuesday 12/20: Day 24 In order to regain some strength after 20+ days of nonstop traveling, I chose to stay in the airbnb last night while the others went out. This morning went we re-grouped, the others had chosen a surprise activity to do in the area! Turns out we…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 23
Monday 12/19: Day 23 Goodbye sleeping bag, hello REAL bed! After only reaching past 1am into our airbnb, it was vital that we get into beds ASAP as our day needed to begin by 8:30am. After 22 days in the RV, it was odd and almost uncomfortable sleeping on a…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 22
Sunday 12/18: Day 22 Today went by in a state of haze. It seems that the clock wants to speed up more, the more I want it to slow down and soak in these last few days of the entire journey. Antwan & Emily went in for another addition to…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 21
Saturday 12/17: Day 21 Break day – our last one on the trip! Spent the day with my mom going down the memory lane of this trip (blogging truly helps in separating the glob of 20 days into individual sections) & what led to it. Again immense gratitude to RoadtripNation…

#CybersecurityRoadtrip Day 20
Friday 12/16: Day 20 What are the odds that you eat the leftovers off a stranger’s plate? We started the day off right by playing a game of What are the Odds, that resulted in everyone taking a shot of Ponzu. Taking a tour of the city resulted in fun…