In this Intern Midterm Review, we hear from Chris Laibach about his experience working at Ingalls and what's next in his cybersecurity career journey.
Our Summer 2022 intern cohort has four cyber-hungry interns who’ve eagerly jumped into learning what it’s like working in a Security Operations Center (SOC). Now that we’ve reached the internship halfway point, we thought it was time to conduct a midterm interview to learn what life’s really like inside the SOC at Ingalls! Read on to hear from our amazing intern Chris Laibach.
What have you learned about working within a SOC during this internship?
My favorite knowledge gained about working within a
SOC during this internship definitely has to be the approach to digging into alerts using numerous tools to find out exactly what is going on behind the scenes of an incident, which was taught to me by Ingalls Threathunter Sean Scully.
What's the most interesting threat actor attempt you've seen?
The most interesting technique that I have seen attempted by a threat actor was to host a mock gaming site that went so in depth to make everything seem legit (including real copies of games), that they had self-registered the site with a common name (CN) of local host, and hosted the site with “example.com”. This was all done to make the site seem legitimate and hide multiple known malicious Russian IP addresses that were scanning anyone who visited the site.
How has this internship influenced your outlook and career path in cybersecurity?
My time here at Ingalls has not only solidified my decision to go into cybersecurity, but it has created a passion for blue team security and I could not be more excited about my future.
What are your favorite resources for what's happening in cybersecurity?
My go-to resources for cybersecurity trends and news include @thehackernews.com, and "The Darknet Diaries" podcast by Jack Rhysider.
What are your activities/educational goals for the next year?
My upcoming goals for the next year are to establish a career in blue team cybersecurity and start preparing for my Security + certification.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time to reach work-life balance?
To achieve a healthy work-life balance, I spend my free time in nature, hiking, and with my family and friends.