What area do you work in within the VPFA portfolio?
I work for the Information Security Office (ISO), part of Information Services. Before that, I worked for the College of Arts and Sciences IT (CASIT) on a team that is now part of User Support Services, also under Information Services.
What is your current position, and what are your job responsibilities?
I am an IT Security Analyst. My main areas of responsibility are Vulnerability Management, Email Security, and Certificate Management. If you needed an SSL Certificate in the last two and a half years, there’s a good chance I completed your request.
What has been your career path; how did you end up in your current position?
I have worked a couple of Helpdesk jobs, spent a few years doing desktop support with CASIT, and then got a job as a System Administrator at CASIT. There I found myself helping people recover their accounts; maintaining internal tooling; managing servers for the College of Arts and Sciences; and remediating vulnerable or compromised devices. That work frequently involved collaboration with the Information Security Office, and when I saw an opening, I jumped on it.
What do you like about your current position?
Every day brings something different. Adversaries continually evolve their tactics, which means a new problem to solve at the ISO. There is no shortage of things to learn. Every software update, new technology, and new device on our network potentially means something new to familiarize myself with, and often quickly. I have never been bored in this position – for better or worse! This position also frequently allows me to work with my peers from every branch of Information Services and anywhere else at the University. Interacting with so many different groups on campus helps you understand more about what we are all working on and how it fits together.
Share a little about yourself personally:
I recently joined the Willamette Pass Ski Patrol, to give myself something new to do in the winter and to give back a bit to the community. In some ways, it’s not so different from work in IT – people come to you with a problem to solve, and you run through the diagnostic process with a touch of customer service. I often find myself meeting UO employees or students on the chairlift, and invariably end up chatting about the latest phish and what to do when you receive a suspicious email (Report it!)
(RTS stands for Richard T. Satagaj, the former owner of the Willamette Pass Resort; the run is colloquially known as Really Tough Skiing).
(March 2023)