Christopher Ries, a senior at Colby College (Waterville, ME), knew he wanted to work in Cyber security as early as the seventh grade. "I started working with computers and computer networks when I was very young," explains the 22-year-old. "As I got older, I started to bring this area of interest into my academic life."
With his sights set on becoming a security researcher - one who figures out how Cyber Security vulnerabilities come about and how they can be exploited - Christopher has chosen the right path by majoring in computer science and minoring in mathematics, two critical knowledge bases for cracking codes.
Along with hitting the books, this cyber-cop-in-training also logs long hours in the computer lab, preparing for future attacks (on computer networks, that is). "It's important to get a strong background in the subject through school, but I would also encourage those interested in the field to pursue it outside of school," he advises. "I have learned a great deal about [cyber] security through my work experience and from experimenting with security issues on my own." When he's not helping protect computer networks, you can find Christopher guarding goals and blocking pucks on the ice as Colby's varsity ice hockey starting goalie.
Although he's months away from graduation, Christopher already has a lot of cyber security accomplishments under his belt. For the last two summers, he worked at the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (www.ncfta.net), a nonprofit organization with close ties to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "I had the opportunity to investigate some cyber-criminal activities with a team of analysts," he recalls. "We got to look behind the scenes of phishing and spamming scams that uncovered tools used to harvest e-mail addresses, distribute spam, and take over computers. Our investigations were passed on to law enforcement."
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