Today, we’re stepping into the world of cybersecurity, a field that keeps our digital lives safe. We’re diving into the story of Mitu, who went from studying computer applications to becoming an intern at SecWise through BeCode’s cybersecurity course. Mitu’s journey is all about finding excitement in the challenges of keeping data secure in today’s tech-driven world.
In this interview, we’ll talk about how Mitu decided to switch gears towards cybersecurity, the learning path at BeCode, and the hands-on experience gained at SecWise. We’ll hear from both Mitu and her mentor, Christian, about the skills, challenges, and achievements along the way. They’ll share insights on what it takes to make it in cybersecurity and how to keep growing in this ever-changing field.
Mitu, why did you decide to do the cybersecurity course at BeCode?
Mitu: “I already had a background in computers but was looking for something more exciting and relevant to today’s technology. After exploring my options, I discovered BeCode, which offered an interesting and educational course. Now that I’m in this field, I really enjoy it and plan to pursue it further.”
And what was your background in computer science before you did the cybersecurity course?
Mitu: “I completed a master’s in computer applications, but there was a significant gap after that, filled with travel, family business, and some teaching…and then I found the cybersecurity course from BeCode that I found quiet exciting.”
What do you think is so exciting about cybersecurity for you?
Mitu: “It’s a new technology and it’s quite the trend and just very important nowadays. Everybody is always keeping a track on you basically: What you are accessing and how you’re accessing it. And the biggest issue is to keep our resources safe. Cybersecurity helps in that, and I really like to do this.”
And how did you end up at SecWise?
Mitu: “BeCode facilitated my connection with SecWise, which had presented an appealing pitch and internship program at our school. I applied, was selected, and now I’m enjoying every aspect of working with them.”
What assignment are you working on for this internship?
Mitu: “I’m tasked with deploying the Azure Tenant Security Solution and preparing for the AZ-500T00 certification, a Microsoft Azure Security course.”
And how is this assignment going?
Mitu: “It’s going quite well and Christian, my mentor, is here to help me in every area. Or well, in fact all the colleagues here are. If I have any problem, I go to them and I can just ask them anything. The atmosphere is great and the assignment is going quite well I must say.”
Christian, do you feel that Mitu was prepared enough to start this internship? Did the BeCode course prepared her well enough?
Christian: “We selected the candidates, and the candidates selected us. We have a selection process, which included an interview. Just like we would interview future employees. And based on her resume and the interview, Mitu was selected because she met our stringent requirements and more importantly, she showed a lot of enthusiasm for the assignment. And her enthusiasm has persisted up to now. She’s still smiling, so that’s a good sign! And she makes me smile from time to time as well, so she brings a lot to the team. And that’s really good, because security is a team sport. It’s important to keep the team motivated in all conditions.
A lot of skills that she got from her training were a bit soft and not super technical on the stuff that we wanted to have. So, we offered her a roadmap to grow on the deeper skills. But I think she had indeed the necessary foundation skills to get started on this roadmap.”
Can you give an example of those deep skills?
Christian: “So the foundation skills she learned about are the general security concepts like threats, incidents, alerts, etc.
And we at SecWise, we are mostly a Microsoft shop. So the security toolset that we use, is typically the Microsoft security tool set. And at BeCode, Mitu didn’t learn that, which is completely normal. Otherwise the training would be too technical and not providing the necessary foundations.
Here, we need to delve into the technical details. In this assignment we are working with cloud technologies, more specifically Azure. So Mitu is now on the track to learn the securing of cloud technology from Microsoft.”
How have your skills evolved during this internship?
Mitu: “In fact, I told Christian this morning, if I see myself from January until now almost two months later, I have improved a lot! At BeCode we studied about the overview of everything. Like what is cybersecurity? And we touched all the different topics.
I knew about Azure but had very little knowledge about it. After two months I have learned so much, because of the project I’m doing but also because of the certification course. I’ve significantly improved and will continue to do so since it’s an ongoing learning process. You always have to be updated on this track.”
Do you feel ready to start a career in cybersecurity after completing this course and internship?
Mitu: “Yes, definitely! The course and internship made me so much more confident so yes absolutely!”
What advice would you give to people who think about pursuing a career in cybersecurity?
Mitu: “There’s a lot to learn. It’s a fascinating field, but you must constantly update your knowledge and skills. And try to know which direction you want to go. Like for myself, if I had known that Azure would have been my focus, I would’ve explored more about it. Of course, you have to learn the overview about what is cybersecurity about. But if you know from day one what and where you want to go, you can focus more on that area.”
Christian: “I do not necessarily agree with this point. I think that when you are the beginning of this journey, you should enjoy looking at everything. To give yourself the opportunity to see in which field you want to go further in. It’s such a broad field with so many opportunities to go in many different directions.
That’s why we at SecWise try to give the people the opportunity to switch. We do most of the workloads in cybersecurity, except for red teaming and pen testing. So, people overtime can switch form one role to another or evolve. But to me, you should enjoy the opportunity to have broad scope and be able to pick and choose what you want to grow in.
Yes, because Mitu, did you know what you wanted to explore more when you started the cybersecurity course?
Mitu: “No, I didn’t know. We had to choose the direction though after four months in the training. So, there were directions to pursue.”
So, you chose cloud security?
Mitu: “Yes, cloud security and more specifically in Azure. But that’s just a tool. I’m now also learning the principles about cloud security and those can be applied to any other cloud such as Google or Amazon as well.”
Would you recommend BeCode to other people?
Mitu: “Yes I would, in fact I am referring friends! Not only because of the course’s content but the confidence it gave me was enormous. Every other week, we used to have presentations we had to give in class and those really boosted my confidence. So yeah, I would definitely recommend this course to others.”
Christian: “It’s really a good principle to get people kickstarted in this new career. Cybersecurity is a domain with a lot of potential. And it’s important to, what she just said, to have the confidence and the enthusiasm to start in this field. You must have the energy and the motivation inside yourself. We work as a team, so the team helps as well, but it’s super important to be able to fly solo and have ‘enough fuel in the tank’ to fly. BeCode is like the basic pilot training with potential to become professional pilots during this internship and throughout their careers. Mitu had a master’s degree before starting in cyber security, but you don’t necessarily need that to get started. Just enough motivation and the enthusiasm to learn.”
We’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Mitu and Christian for sharing their insights and experiences with us.
