Security measures
Companies including Lockheed Martin looking for local grads at Tech Connect meeting
TRURO, N. S. – Mark Joudrey first sat down at a computer when he was four.
Now in his second year of systems management and security at the Nova Scotia Community College’s Truro campus, Joudrey and his classmates attended the Tech Connect Conference Thursday, allowing students to connect with employers in need of fresh cyber talent.
“I feel really passionate about everyone’s data security,” said Joudrey. “I believe it’s one of the most important factors, to secure a company you work for, because everyone’s livelihood is at stake when the internet goes down. That means their work has ceased.”
His classmate, Ian Lee, originally wanted to be a network administrator, but soon realized cybersecurity was his true calling, saying it “should be number one, 100 per cent of the time.”
Both Joudrey and Lee will likely enjoy a well-paid career with opportunities for advancement within the company they choose, as the IT and cybersecurity sector is always hungry for new recruits.
“There are so many urgent skills required,” said Joudrey’s instructor Darlene Redmond. “The demand… you’re talking one million-plus empty positions for cybersecurity and every industry person I spoke with today has openings.”
On their course, both Joudrey and Lee have learned how to combat common threats from hackers to computer worms, conduct risk assessments and apply proper countermeasures to protect workplace data, such as clients’ personal information. He is also mastering how to configure routers and switches, implement an IP address plan and build a simple local area network, among other skills.
However, such skills need constant updating, in an age when people can switch on TVS, lightbulbs and other household appliances using an iphone, on networks that can be exposed to other people with malicious intentions.
“It’s a convenience thing,” said Joudrey. “Everyone wants access to everything at once and the way they are being accessed is not being secured to the best they can be.”
Nowhere is cybersecurity more important than with the military, which is why Lockheed Martin Canada is inviting students on the systems management and security program to join their offices in Dartmouth and elsewhere after they graduate.
LMC specializes in building combat training and weapons systems for the Royal Canadian Navy, as well as aerospace technology. An effective weapons system means building software that protects classified data.
“You can imagine that the training they receive on the ship and the practice they do and they don’t want the rest of the world to know that,” said David Wootton, co-op and software engineering supervisor for LMC. “The cybersecurity is about protecting the integrity of the ship and the mission.”