This summer Cadet Shelby Stevens was selected for a week-long Cyber Camp Internship at Shadow’s Edge (SHED) with the 90th Cyberspace Operations Squadron in downtown San Antonio, TX. During the internship, four other cadets and her were given a project to repurpose legitimate malware for Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) training. Over three days
they analyzed and documented network protocols of malware and created a command and control (C2) server able to respond to the malware’s custom protocol. The group then integrated the repurposed C2 server with the standardized malware platform (MAPL) by calling the appropriate Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), or commands to communicate between their malware and the target. Their project will allow DCO operators a new type of malware to train and qualify against, improving the DoDs ability to detect and react to the ever-evolving cyber threats.
When not in the office, her group went out and explored San Antonio. They went to the Alamo and the Tower of the Americas and spent hours walking the Riverwalk and the Historic Pearl District. There were a ton of amazing Mexican and BBQ restaurants to eat at and the lights at night were beautiful.
The best part of this trip
was getting to experience the professional side of cyber defense and witness how a real-world development team works. Prior to participating in this internship, it was difficult to see how the Computer Science curriculum would
apply in a professional setting. However, through this internship she was able to apply what she learned during her classes, have fun while doing it, and recognize that there is more to the cyber field than coding. Cadet Stevens had many chances to speak with people in different careers, including Offensive Cyber Operators, DCOs, Networking, Expeditionary Communications, Acquisitions officers and even a helicopter pilot. The Computer Science major has been very challenging at times but knowing there are great opportunities
within the cyber domain will help her push through school to her future career.
