What's your job about?
CrowdStrike is one of the leading players in the cyber security and endpoint protection industry. I work within the Falcon Complete team, which is run as a managed detection and response service. An agent is installed on a customer’s workstation or server and the Falcon complete team operates essentially as a security operations centre on an endpoint level. My area of responsibility is customer service and support for the Falcon complete team. The activities I perform on a daily basis consist of replying to customers’ queries and requests, altering customers’ configurations within their Falcon environment and occasionally investigating into particular hosts where a customer may suspect malicious activity.
What's your background?
I am 22 years old, born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. With the completion of high school, I knew instantly that I wanted to move toward a career in cyber security. I studied for an advanced diploma in cyber security at Box Hill Institute and then went on to study for a Bachelor’s Degree in Cyber Security at Latrobe University. Throughout my studies I had heard of many large players within the cyber security realm, so when Box Hill Institute approached me about an internship at CrowdStrike, I didn’t hesitate to jump on it. I am reaching the tail end of a 6-month internship and have thoroughly enjoyed every second. I have found that there is a lot of hands-on experience that can teach you that a university or school simply cannot.
Outside of work, I’ve been training kickboxing for a few years now, and earlier this year I had a single bout scheduled when another competitor pulled out. I was offered to compete in a second bout within 30 minutes of my original one and I said yes with roughly 2 hours’ notice. Luckily I won both!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, I believe due to the extensive and well-thought-out training that CrowdStrike has developed, someone with a completely different background could perform the tasks required in my job. However, I believe that the training and studying I did before CrowdStrike made me more effective at my job and allowed me to perform at a higher level faster. Some key skills and characteristics I would recommend having when it comes to this job are the desire and ability to continuously learn and stay up to date with relevant news.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I think the coolest part about my job is the fact that I get to liaise with some of the world’s most notable organisations on a daily basis. Another aspect that I find really interesting is the fact that we are able to defend our customers from suspected state-sponsored actors, with large amounts of financing and cyber force behind them. It shows that we really are making a difference in people’s businesses and lives.
What are the limitations of your job?
I’ve found that although I certainly prefer and enjoy working from home, it can occasionally feel lonely. It’s really important to be aware of these kinds of things so it doesn’t take a toll on your mental health. Fortunately, CrowdStrike is a big advocate of mental health awareness and offers a lot of support for overall wellbeing.
The 3 pieces of advice I have to offer to myself are all related to one another:
What is your team like?
The best thing about my team is how friendly and willing to help they are. It’s a great blend of personalities. The analysts in the Falcon Complete team are always willing to hop into a Zoom call and provide us, interns, with sound advice or valuable tips having to do with our role or our career. We also use Slack, where we have many social channels on different topics.
How do you feel your job plays an important role in society/to the clients?
With my role being heavily focused on customer support and customer service, it is not uncommon to see emails of customers’ gratitude towards CrowdStrike for our 24/7 support, the amount of remediation performed or breaches stopped. It makes me feel happy knowing that I have worked with a company that helps other businesses and through them, thousands of people.
How do you network and interact with other people at CrowdStrike?
Going into the office every quarter was a great networking opportunity. I was able to meet with a large number of managers, principal analysts and senior analysts, who all provided great workplace advice, career advice, financial advice, and most importantly, great banter. It was also nice to meet with another intern and exchange tips we gained throughout our experience.