MITRE / Cyber Security Internship

MITRE

Internship Profile

Position Title: Cyber Security Intern
Graduation Year: December 2020
Major: Computer Science
Type of Internship: Information Technology
Career Community Cluster: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
City, State: McLean, VA  
Semester: Summer
Hours:  30 + hours per week
Paid or Unpaid: Stipend

How did you find this internship?

I found this internship through the Computer Science department.

What advice on the internship application process would you give to another TU student interested in this internship?

My advice would be to take every possible opportunity you can to advance your career. There are many opportunities, so keep an open mind. For computer science and tech industry jobs, sometimes it's not about your knowing everything related to the job, but rather your ability to communicate and learn something new on the job.

What did you do as an intern at this organization?

During this internship, I worked in the Cyber Defense department at MITRE as an InSure (Information Security Research) program intern. The program involves an internship and a class here at Towson, where you keep working on the problem with the ultimate goal of publishing your work. My project was Malware Similarity Trends and Gaps Analysis. My tasks included looking at different research papers regarding malware authorship attribution and determining trends and gaps in the similarity metrics used, as well as having weekly meetings with my project lead to discuss goals and objectives. My project also tasked me with creating a Python script to parse through malware samples and extract information from those samples such as file type, architecture, and source language. Through the InSure program, I plan on improving my project with machine learning techniques and eventually getting a research paper published.

What did you find most rewarding in your internship?

The most rewarding part to me was learning new skills related to my field, such as Python and Linux. Learning a programming language and then switching immediately to hands-on experience I felt was extremely rewarding and not something I would learn in a classroom. I really hadn't considered cyber security as a career option before the internship, and now I look forward to continuing my career in cyber security.

What were the challenges you faced in your internship?

In the tech industry, there is something called imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is a feeling that you don't belong or are under qualified even though you have done all the work to get to a certain point. At MITRE, there were many incredibly talented and knowledgeable people, so it was a bit overwhelming at first.

If another student at TU was interested in your internship next year, what skills would you recommend they develop in the coming semesters to prepare?

Specifically, I would advise students to work on 1-2 projects that they are passionate about and can effectively communicate during an interview. In my experience, employers want you to have some experience with certain programming languages, technical skills, and other software so that you can learn the rest pretty easily. During the internship, there were many opportunities presented such as hackathons, CTF competitions, and project expo. I would advise students to take as many of these opportunities as possible and not to be afraid to ask questions. The people were really great, and I learned so much from the experience!

about the organization

MITRE

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