An Insider’s Take on CMU’s IT Lab: Summer Security Intensive (SSI)
The summer of 2020 was one for the books. It was out of the ordinary due to the world-wide pandemic. Over the past 2 years, I have been working towards my goal of attending Carnegie Mellon University for the IT Lab: Summer Security Intensive (SSI). If you haven’t heard about this summer internship at CMU, check it out here on their website. While I was preparing my application, I found it difficult to find any information on prior students’ experiences at the SSI. Throughout this article, I will share some of my personal experiences from the internship as well as how it has impacted my future career and goals.
The SSI is an all-in-one cyber security internship that exposes you to the growing world of cyber security. The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy is ranked #1 in Information and Technology Management since 2001. The SSI provides a unique opportunity to get your foot in the door and significantly increase your chances of being accepted into a graduate program (specifically CMU’s). The internship provides hands-on coursework with an Introduction To Information Security course as well as an Ethical Penetration Testing course. Along with the coursework, there are lunch and learn sessions where you have the opportunity to network with current cyber security professionals. I was able to interact with professionals from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Walmart, FireEye, Argo AI, and many others. My internship took place in the summer of 2020, and due to the circumstances of COVID-19, my internship was 100% remote. In a normal year, the internship would take place in person in Pittsburgh.
Top benefits of the internship:
- Paid seven-week summer fellowship ($1,500 stipend)
- Receive college credit for coursework
- Automatic 50% scholarship to the MSISPM graduate program at CMU (equivalent to $50K)
- Meet and network with current security professionals
- Gain hands-on experience of hacking techniques and tools
- Learn about the Information Security field, potential jobs, and career paths
- Evaluate whether or not your goals and work ethic align with CMU
There are countless benefits to attending the SSI at CMU. The list above includes the reasons why I participated in the internship. The Heinz College is ranked among the best in Information Security. Below are the rankings of Heinz College to illustrate how prestigious this opportunity is to participate in the SSI. There is no fee to apply, so you have nothing to loose and everything to gain!
Below is the list of the rankings of Heinz College.
Carnegie Mellon University has a rich and impactful history in cyber security. CMU is on the forefront of research and design in cyber security framework, policy, data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. They have a reputation of producing effective leaders that solve complex problems of today and of the future.
Let’s break down the coursework. Shall we?
Introduction to Information Security (InfoSec)
This is a great introductory course that exposes you to the different fields within information security. If you didn’t know it already, there are a lot! The coursework simply covers the topics on surface level. Topics include cryptography, software security, database security, privacy, CIA (confidentiality, integrity, and access), and several others. For part of the coursework, we researched a data breach and prepared an incident analysis report outlining the data breach and all its implications. The coursework directly applies to what you learn in the class and ultimately solidifies your learning. The ability to effectively communicate complicated topics related to technology is a vital skill especially in the world of cyber security. The best way to do this is by practice. The second half of the assignment is to create and present the data breach to the class. Overall, the administration of the course was a 10/10. The professor was knowledgeable, professional, and provided excellent answers to questions. He also provided insightful and valuable information on career options and information about CMU’s different programs.
Ethical Penetration Testing (EPT)
The EPT course was very different from the InfoSec class for several reasons. This class was more hands-on. One great thing about taking both courses at the same time is that it allowed you to put your new knowledge to use. The coursework is a series of EPT exercises that are comprised of labs. The labs are virtual machines with known vulnerabilities, and the objective is to use the 5 phases of ethical hacking to find and exploit the vulnerability, gain access to the machine, escalate your privileges, and find the proofs. It is a very challenging course, but it is also very rewarding as you are given the opportunity to put the things you’re learning into practice. For example, we learned about buffer overflows in software in the InfoSec course and in the EPT lab, we were assigned to find a buffer overflow vulnerability, exploit, and gain access to the machine. This type of learning helps reinforce the lectures and I now thoroughly understand the importance of software security. The course was very challenging, and the instructors did their best to promote hacker mentality: “Try Harder!”. I loved this course and found it very insightful! The course is even taught by actual pen testers. Overall, I would give this course an 11/10 based on difficulty and enjoyability!
I hope this article is useful to you and has provided you with a little information on how the SSI could benefit you! The “Lunch and Learn” sessions give you a chance to talk to TOP leaders at companies around the world, to ask them questions about their career and how to become a successful security professional. These lunch sessions alone are worth their weight in GOLD! They allow you to increase your network for future jobs. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the internship because once a week I talked to new people within different sectors of the information security space.
Carnegie Mellon University is an outstanding institution. Greatly due to my attendance at the SSI, I have been given the privilege to attend the MSISPM program starting Fall of 2021. Thank you for reading! Now get out there and make it happen!
Cheers!
