Monthly Chat w/PEN Consultants: Ask us anything
Group Discussion and Mentoring
- BLUF: Chat with Robert (CEO PEN Consultants), others on the PEN Consultants team, or others outside the team. Mentors, mentees, people asking questions, people answering questions - all on the same call.
- Instead of 1-to-1 or even 1-to-N, this is N-to-N.
- Multiple people receive answers to questions and mentorship at the same time.
- Multiple people can provide insight at the same time.
- The same person can both ask for advice/help and give advice/help on the same call.
- Agenda: None. We lead with prayer, intros, and possibly pick back up on a previous month’s discussion that we did not complete. Other than that, it’s an open floor - ask anything.
- Topics: Any - from getting started in cybersecurity to helping with advanced technical challenges, business-related, faith in the workplace, etc.
To Join Us
If you would like to attend this free session (held the 3rd Friday of every month at 9 am Central), please provide us with your first and last name and email address. After hitting the “Submit” button, you will be redirected to the latest calendar invite download. (Please let us know if you have any problems obtaining it and/or check for popup blockers).
We will only use your contact info to keep you updated in the event of schedule changes.
We hope to see you at our next session!
Past Topics Include
- How to get into pen testing.
- How do you convince a client they need security in general (as in no budget for it) or penetration testing (as in limited budget)?
- Should I get a 2nd degree in computer science in addition to cybersecurity?
- Ethical considerations and boundaries for firing someone over something that was never communicated or given a chance for remediation?
- How to differentiate between a shopper vs buyer.
- What is the primary key to security?
- How to communicate with someone who is largely unresponsive.
- Dealing with willful ignorance.
- Defining good performance objectives.
- What are the boundaries in regard to artificial intelligence as it relates to both cybersecurity and ministry?
- What are the risks of using Copilot in Windows and how can those risks be reduced; or should it just be disabled?
- What protections can be put in place to ensure AI queries cannot return sensitive data that it should not be sharing?
- Is it possible to trick AI into providing inaccurate information by compromising a source from which it pulls data from?
- Lead generation topics, including presentations at small and medium business luncheons.
- Pros and cons of whether a cybersecurity tester that was involved in some gray hat activity when they were a minor should be considered for potential employment.
- How many cybersecurity certifications are enough. When is it a case of diminishing returns?
- Grant programs to get funding for apprenticeships.
- Lead generation tool that lists what products or services people are searching for, and it can be focused to a specific geographical area.
- Implications of the 23andMe breach.
- What are the risks and considerations of the lack of offensive security testing and experience with SCADA?
- How do you decide when to not serve a client based on a service/product they sell or action they are taking? Where is the definitive line that should not be crossed? Ex. a pharma company has a cure for cancer but also a drug used exclusively for abortions, a medical facility that offers beneficial services but also abortion services, a company pays for their employees to travel from a state where abortion is not permitted to one that is, or similar scenarios.
- How helpful are CTF’s in preparing for Cybersecurity certs and/or gaining experience?
- What does a typical workday/schedule look like for an OffSec tester?
- Are the Network+ and Security+ certifications worthwhile/recommended for building your OffSec Tester resume?
- Does a pentesting company typically have a dev test network or are the individual testers required to have one in order to test tools or techniques utilized on a client engagement?
- What do future careers look like for technology professionals who have strong moral convictions that conflict with corporate mandates?
- How do you live your faith and stand firm on your moral convictions in the workplace but without intentionally causing conflict or needless confrontation?
- How do I achieve non-attributable and managed attribution in online profiles and technology stack?
- How can I ultimately achieve success at passing OSCP after failing multiple times?
- How to do I start a career at NSA and what is it like working there?
- What is the impact of being a Christian run company in the marketplace?