Message From Leadership

Morgan Zantua, Program Director

Take initiative and learn outside of class.   

Ransomware attacks dominate international and national news. This year alone, ransomware attacks are estimated to cost companies, governments, national economies over $6 Trillion. Of course, you can read the headlines, reports, or do a case study review. However, addressing, minimizing, or ideally preventing ransomware attacks involves preparation, planning, and dealing with complex systems. The tabletop exercise (TTX) model simulates real situations and addresses these systemic challenges. In a well-designed TTX,  participants have the opportunity to get hands-on learning through role-play and practice making decisions. Taking what is learned in an academic setting and putting your knowledge to the test of a TTX deepens your knowledge.  

Last week seven STC students took part in the NUARI (Norwich University Applied Research Institute) Tabletop Exercise designed to address an incident response to a simulated ransomware attack of a small regional medical facility. Students invested in two one-hour prep sessions, in addition to taking part in the actual four-hour simulation last Thursday. Next week they will share their “hot wash” of the experience.  

This week, I challenge the STC and CityU community to watch “Urgent Panel Discussion: Public Sector Attack Warning”. Truthfully, ransomware and cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure impact us all. Take what you are learning in your assignments and use that knowledge in your personal and work life to become a technology leader. 

Club Announcements

  • Cybersecurity Club

Cybersecurity Club will be meeting this week at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. We will be covering TOR and updating you on news and recent competitions. For those who participated in the NUARI exercise, please join us at 5:00 p.m. Thursday for a debrief. See you soon! Click here to join.

  • Data Science Club

Would you like to learn more about the fundamental Data Science concepts? Would you like to gain experience working with real-world applications of machine learning? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Data Science Club would love to have you! Please fill out the application form here. We will be holding weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 4pm PST. Please join us via the Teams link here.

If you’re interested in presenting at the Data Science Club’s research symposium during week 10, please contact Amanda Vaughan (vaughanamanda@cityuniversity.edu) or Catherine Ata (atacatherine@cityuniversity.edu). All Data Science topics and skill levels are welcome! The symposium will be held during the normal club meeting time at 4pm on Wednesday.

  • STC Tech Club
STC Tech Club meets every Thursday from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM (PDT) via Teams to provide tech-related learning opportunities, skill development, and networking. Students or faculty who would like to share your expertise or project, please contact us at dangnhi@cityu.edu. Click here to join STC Tech Club Weekly Meeting – Fall Quarter. Everyone is invited!

Upcoming Events

Ethics in Cybersecurity

Mountain West Cyber Challenge

Career Tips

Major Blooper is Being LATE to any job search meeting – Job Search QuickTip #5

Job seekers, if you’re not 30 minutes early for your job interview, you’re late. There is no excuse for being late.

A video series of helpful job search tips to help you succeed in the most competitive job environment ever. For college grads to senior executives.

Watch here

This Week in Tech History

November 4, 1982

Compaq announces their first successful IBM-compatible PC clone Compaq Portable PC. Unlike other companies, Compaq succeeded because they considered care in creating their products on two fronts – being 100% IBM-compatible BIOS, and being prepared legally and financially for the inevitable lawsuit IBM would bring. They spent about $1 million in reverse-engineering the IBM BIOS using clean-room techniques that allowed them to avoid copyright infringement. Compaq paved the way for IBM-compatible clones that began in the mid-1980s. This move opened Pandora’s box that led to the emergence of Microsoft and Intel as dominant technology companies and IBM losing control of the platform.

Tech Humor