Blog Post 10 - Final ITEC 2215 Thoughts

This class has definitely been a wonderful start to my future at Middle Georgia. After several semesters of poor quality classes at a different university, it was very refreshing to start off with such a high quality class. I feel that this class has not changed the direction I am headed, but further solidified it. As part of my professional personal goals at my current job, I added a goal to get a certification this year. I plan to take the CompTIA Security+ certification exam later this year, so that I add some validity to my current knowledge base. Thankfully, my company offers tuition reimbursement, so I have the ability to finish my degree.

Blogging is not something that I have ever kept up with, as I have never felt like I have had anything of value to say. I don't know if it is a practice I will continue, but that could change, given the right circumstances. For outside learning opportunities, I constantly am utilizing sites like Udemy, Coursera, Udacity, and Stack Skills, to gain new knowledge. I have taken Cyber Security courses from all of these sites and also Python classes. My motto is that if you stop learning, you stop living.

Blog Post 9 - Resume Infographic and LinkedIn

I never look across or down. I always look up, when it comes to opportunities for my family. I do not work for my current employer, I work for my family first and foremost. My job just happens to be where I go for 8 hours during the day to earn money for my family. This is not to say that I do not enjoy my job, nor that I value my job in any insignificant way. My responsibility is to provide the best possible existence for my family.

I chose to create my resume, with a job at Google, since it would be a dream to work for a company such as Google. Also, I feel a job, such as this one, would financially best provide the services I need for my son, who is autistic. Finally, a move to a country that has some of the best schools in the world, would greatly benefit my kids' whole life outcome.

My LinkedIn profile:
LinkedIn:Wade Queen

Blog Post 7 - CTF / ACS

My wife and I both enjoyed the Capture the Flag Competition. I ended up with 63,515,350 points. I believe that is 8th overall! Some of the skills required to complete these tasks forced me to Google new concepts. For instance, I already had Kali Linux, but I had never utilized any Steganography items before. This concept fascinates me and I can't wait to learn more. I felt the Cyber Knights did a fantastic job putting this challenge together. I look forward to future challenges.

The ACS was a delight. I am thankful to my company for allowing me to attend, without taking a day off from work. The speakers offered great insight on Cyber Security and provided me with some new subject matter to research. I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about Hacker Halted Conference in Atlanta. I plan to attend the conference, as it looks like a blast.

Blog Post About Code Academy

I enjoyed the lesson on HTML from Code Academy. I have previously used Code Academy for CSS and JavaScript. I didn't necessarily learn more knowledge from the HTML lesson, since I have previous experience as a web master. Having said that, I did have a refresher on old skills, due to Code Academy. It is a positive experience that I would recommend to those looking to learn new skills. Previously, I have used the W3 Schools to learn HTML, CSS, etc.

Thoughts on initial use of Canva and other Infographic sites

Being that this was my first attempt at creating an infographic, it was surprisingly easy. The Canva site was well laid out and had plenty of content to suit my needs. I felt that I was able to create a professional looking infographic with not a lot of fuss. Other sites that I have come across that help to create infographics are listed below.

Be Funky
While I think Be Funky is a good competitor to Canva, it utilizes Flash, which to me is a big drawback.

Visme
Visme is another free infographic site, however it doesn't seem to have the graphic and template library that Canva dominates the market with.

Easel.ly
Easel.ly is probably the best Canva contender. Through the ease of use and robust library, I felt like this site gave Canva the best run for its money.

Canva Infographic

Midterm Project/Presentation and Blog Post

For the Midterm Project, I chose Module 5: Digital Security, Ethics, and Privacy, because my degree concentration is Cybersecurity. My job also includes portions of cybersecurity, a subject matter that I find very interesting. Using the Blackboard Ultra software also presented several challenges.

The main challenge was that the Powerpoint often didn't render, as I thought it would, once uploaded to Blackboard Ultra. There were several times that text was in the wrong place or hanging off the screen. Also, one stumbling block was that I created my slides in Keynote and exported as Powerpoint. This conversion left some of the text in the wrong places, as well. The time it takes Blackboard Ultra to post the video is quite a long wait, considering that a lot of web video software compiles and renders video in much quicker time. All and all, the experience was a fascinating one to peek into the challenges that professors go through, to deliver high quality content.

A challenge I also experienced, outside of Blackboard Ultra, was how to condense down the chapter material and how to break it into the important bits.

Research This - Blog Post Three

Internet researching is one of the most powerful tools at our fingertips. With this power comes the need to have researching skills. With a few basic tips, we can be more effective researchers.

For this week's assignment, I chose "Search Skills." The textbook outlined four research questions, listed below:

(1) What is an open source FTP application that has versions for both Windows and Mac? 

(2) Other than TurboTax, what are two examples of online tax preparation software? 

(3) Find reviews comparing Edge, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox browsers. 

(4) What are the more popular calendar management and task management apps on the Apple App Store or Google Play?

For each, I put the knowledge gained in this chapter to the test.

1) For discovering an open source FTP application that runs on both Windows and Mac, I used the following search criteria: windows +ftp +open source +mac

See the search in action.

Filezilla is a client that reaches multiple OS platforms. It can be used on Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

2) Other examples of tax preparation software lead me to using the following query: Online tax software -TurboTax

See the search in action.

Tax Slayer appears to be one of the cheapest options for online tax filing. 

3) I personally use Chrome and have done so for many years, but if the mood struck me to part ways with Chrome, I would search using the following string: reviews comparing (Edge and Chrome and Safari and Firefox)

See the search in action.

The first result that popped up in the search return agreed with my preference for Chrome, but this was merely bias confirmation. Digital Trends referred to Chrome as the "gold standard." Get Chrome

4) It doesn't get much better than Google's calendar app or does it? To find out, I used the following search pattern: most popular apps (Apple App Store or Google Play) +calendar +task +management

See the search in action.

For calendars, I didn't find anything new that I didn't already know. See a list of the most popular calendar apps. Google calendar is very robust and feature rich. For a To Do list, I don't usually utilize an app. See a list of the most popular To Do list apps. I use the Notes app, that comes automatically with Apple products. I have dipped my toe in the water of Todoist, which seems to be an excellent choice for those individuals that need a more structured To Do list. 

Cybersecurity Blog - The Hacker News

Cybersecurity is a field that should be on the minds of all who utilize technology. Knowing potential and present threats to our security is the greatest asset to keeping our personal data and machines safe. I chose the following blog because it is an aggregate for good information on all things cybersecurity. In a recent post, Mohit Kumar provides info on the new CrossRAT malware and how to see if you are affected by this threat.

Cyber criminals are getting more stealthy and threats are becoming OS agnostic. No one is safe, these days. CrossRAT is nearly undetectable and can allow remote attackers to run executables on your machine. By reading The Hacker News, I hope to stay on the forefront of cybersecurity, learn more about my field, and make myself a more valuable asset to my job.

Wade Queen - ITEC 2215

Greetings All! I am currently majoring in Information Technology, with a concentration in Cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is an aspect of daily technology use that affects all of us. From banking to social media, our personal / private data is very important to us. Big money is made off of this personal data, from marketing and ads, to sales of our information on the "Dark" web. I am very passionate about proactive or offensive cybersecurity and plan to use the knowledge gained from this degree to make a better life for my family.

With offensive cybersecurity, I foresee myself working for either the government directly or through a contracting company, after completion of my degree. I plan to get deep in the weeds of cyber warfare, in an effort to protect our country against cyberthreats from other countries. The biggest threat to our nation, in my opinion, is not physical military attacks, but virtual attacks. These virtual attacks could potentially take out power grids and cause destruction to other aspects of our lives.