Name: Ajet Ibraimoski
Title: System/Network Administrator
Employer: PBS Systems Inc.
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Degree: MSc. in Computer Networks and e-Technologies;
B.Sc. in Informatics and computer engineering
Years in IT: 9
Years in information security: 5
Cybersecurity certifications: SSCP, CEH, Security+, Cybersecurity: Technology, Application and Policy – MIT, Information Security Foundation based on ISO/IEC 27002
How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity?
Security has always been my passion. Information security blogs and magazines kept me awake at night during my university years. After graduation, I had the chance to work in various positions and industries that presented unique challenges, but security constantly took a major part in all of them. I am always proactive in highlighting security requirements in any technical task or activity and highly focused on ensuring that security becomes an essential part of the systems and services I interact with. I always make security part of my projects and work.
Why did you get your SSCP®?
Prior to obtaining my SSCP certification I already had several other certifications (MCSE, MCSA, MCITP, VCP6-DCV, ITIL and CEH) that were relevant for my area of work and helped me greatly while designing and administering complex infrastructure projects. As the part of the security related work started to increase in my day to day work I realized that I needed more security knowledge, more ideas on how to implement security in various infrastructure systems. With proven technical skills and practical hands-on security experience I realized that getting the SSCP would be the right choice for me as it consolidated my diverse experience together and validate my proficiency in information security.
What is a typical day like for you?
As an infrastructure administrator, you have to wear many hats. Every day brings different challenges and demands. I run various projects to help my company grow and improve its overall security infrastructure. A typical day can be any combination of architecture, design and deployment of highly available systems, performance tuning, writing documentation, providing advanced troubleshooting to support teams, migrating applications, research, meetings, security assessments and security awareness campaigns. It depends on what the company needs at that moment.
Can you tell us about a personal career highlight?
Developing cybersecurity programs for my company is one area that I am proud of. I had the opportunity to work on many projects that improved the company’s security stance. This included developing and implementing security policies and procedures, risk assessment, implementing security controls and measures, security scanning, vulnerability assessments, and performing security awareness training for more than 250 users. I am pleased that I have influenced and lobbied to get security recognized as an important feature of our company.
How has the SSCP certification helped you in your career?
Security is constantly evolving, and it is very important for a practitioner to remain up to date with the latest developments and be competitive. The SSCP is a certification that covers wide range of security areas and provides you with new skills and knowledge that can be applied to both new and existing systems and services, ensuring that security is built in from the ground up. Receiving the SSCP certification helped me become more comfortable in addressing the security risk within various projects on the infrastructure and being able to inform my company of any additional requirements or elements that need to be implemented to improve the overall security stance.
What is the most useful advice you have for other information security professionals?
The scope of cybersecurity is vast. In order to be a good security practitioner, you first need to build underlying knowledge of networks, various technologies, databases and applications, to implement better security. Another very important thing is that in order to defend your networks from the hackers or should I say crackers, you need to think like one. Don’t enter this profession if you are not absolutely passionate and obsessed with it.
Security is part of our everyday life. Be passionate about it and implement it on every project you are part of, every system you build, every line of code you write. Make it part of yourself.
For more information on the Systems Security Certified Practitioner certification, download our Ultimate Guide to the SSCP.