Posts

CST 499 - Week 4

 Hey everyone,      This week, I made some progress on the project component of my cybersecurity certificate. I spent time working through parts of the project and experimenting with different approaches. However, I wasn’t fully satisfied with the results, so I began refining and reworking sections to improve the overall quality.      Next week, I plan to continue refining my cybersecurity project to reach a standard I’m happy with. In addition, I intend to dedicate focused time to the fast.ai course, now that I have more clarity on its acceptability. My goal is to make significant progress by working on it more intensively throughout the week.      One challenge I’m facing is achieving the level of quality I want in my cybersecurity project, as my current results don’t fully meet my expectations. Additionally, the earlier uncertainty about whether the fast.ai course would be accepted slowed my progress. At this stage, I don’t require im...

CST 499 - Week 3

 Hey everyone!      This week marked an important shift in my cybersecurity journey. I officially completed my cybersecurity certificate, which felt like a major achievement after all the time spent learning concepts like network security, threat detection, and risk management. Finishing the course gave me a solid foundation, but more importantly, it pushed me to start applying those skills in a practical way.      After completing the certification, I began working on my project. My main focus this week was setting everything up and getting organized before diving into development. I installed and configured my working environment, including a virtual machine and the tools I’ll need for testing and analysis. I also took time to clearly define what my project will focus on, choosing a specific cybersecurity problem to explore rather than keeping things too broad.      In terms of my personal contributions, I handled the initial setup, ...

CST 499 - Week 2

 Hey everyone,      This week felt like a turning point in my journey into cybersecurity. Instead of just learning concepts, I started connecting technical skills with real-world career preparation. I completed three major modules: Automate Cybersecurity Tasks with Python, Prepare for Cybersecurity Jobs, and Accelerate Your Job Search with AI. Each one pushed me a step closer to being job-ready.      One of my biggest accomplishments this week was finishing the Python automation module. I spent time writing scripts that can help analyze logs and identify unusual activity. While these were guided exercises, I made sure to understand how each script works and how it could be applied in real cybersecurity scenarios. This was my personal contribution—actually doing the hands-on work and not just watching or reading. It gave me a clearer picture of how automation plays a role in security operations.      I also focused on career preparation. ...

CST 499 - Week 1

 Hey everyone,      This week, I completed three modules: Tools of the Trade: Linux and SQL, Assets, Threats, and Vulnerabilities, and Sound the Alarm: Detection and Response . Each module built on the last and helped me better understand both the technical and analytical sides of cybersecurity .      In Tools of the Trade: Linux and SQL , I strengthened my understanding of how operating systems and databases are used in security work. I learned how Linux is widely used in cybersecurity for system administration, log analysis, and security operations. Practicing basic Linux commands helped me see how security analysts navigate file systems, manage permissions, and investigate system activity. I also learned how SQL is used to query databases, filter information, and analyze large sets of data. Understanding how to retrieve specific information from logs and datasets showed me how powerful SQL can be in identifying suspicious patterns or investigating ...

CST 489 - Week 8

CST 489 - Week 7

 Hey everyone, This week, I expanded my understanding of AWS databases, security, governance, migration, pricing, and architectural best practices. I reviewed database services including Amazon RDS and Aurora for relational workloads, DynamoDB for NoSQL applications, Neptune for graph data, and DocumentDB for document-based use cases. I also learned how Amazon ElastiCache improves performance through in-memory caching. A key takeaway was understanding when to choose managed services versus unmanaged deployments on EC2. I explored migration services such as AWS DMS, AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT), Migration Hub, DataSync, and Transfer Family. I reinforced knowledge of the 7 Rs migration strategies and the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), particularly the importance of change management through the People perspective. On security and governance, I reviewed IAM best practices (principle of least privilege), AWS KMS for encryption key management, AWS Shield for DDoS protection, AW...

CST 489 - Week 6

 Hey everyone, This week, I reviewed key AWS cloud fundamentals across compute, networking, storage, and disaster recovery. I strengthened my understanding of AWS global infrastructure, including Regions, Availability Zones, and edge locations, and how they support high availability, fault tolerance, and low latency. In compute, I compared EC2, containers (ECS/EKS with Fargate), AWS Lambda (serverless), and AWS Batch, focusing on choosing the right model based on workload needs. For networking, I reviewed VPC components such as subnets, security groups (instance-level), and network ACLs (subnet-level), along with hybrid connectivity options like Site-to-Site VPN and Direct Connect. In storage, I differentiated between: S3 (scalable object storage) EBS (persistent block storage for EC2) EFS and FSx (managed file systems) Instance store (temporary high-performance storage) Storage Gateway (hybrid storage) I also reinforced knowledge of CloudFormation for In...