During my younger years I cost my mother a fortune because I would disassemble everything, including the family computer. As time went on I researched each individual part inside the computer and started building them as a hobby. This set stage for my college career in Information Assurance and Cyber Security at Anne Arundel Community College. I took a course in computer networking and realized my interest in this career field. I remember how I felt being connected to a network and having data readily accessible with only a few clicks of a mouse. What was unclear to me at the time was how to properly secure that data, which is why I have chosen to study in the field of network security.
Near the end of my sophomore year at Anne Arundel Community College, I decided to become a working college student. I worked at Sears as a Loss Prevention Detective for several years. I repeatedly investigated credit card fraud while in that position. I learned that credit card information can be obtained illegally several ways. One way is through skimming an ATM. I learned more on this topic when I was hired by Diebold, Incorporated, just this past year. Diebold installs and services ATMs for the financial industry throughout the world, and security is paramount in this business. Through my experience and training at Diebold, I learned that skimming devices are attached to an ATM, undetected to the untrained eye. Information technology professionals created several methods to defeat this security threat. For example, devices have been developed which block wireless signals on skimming devices. The use of skimming devices is just one example of the many challenges that organizations are faced with on a daily basis. These threats can be stopped though IT professionals educating businesses and individuals about how to prevent such security breaches. As a technician