Tom's Takes

VMWare

In my day job I've been learning VMWare. In my night job (same as the day job, yay startups) I've been applying what I've learned. It's pretty spectacular. One of my coworkers has developed an awesome set of PowerCLI scripts to allow us to automate a CRAZY amount of our workload. I am overjoyed at every network I clone using them, so a huge thanks there.

VMWare on Google Cloud Platform is crazy powerful – I wish I could homelab some of this stuff. Today I stress-tested our Google Cloud – it performed amazingly well. I can't wait to share more about what we're doing, but I truly believe we're helping to revolutionize the cyber training and education industry.

~ Tom

Today I had a run-in with some people from a cybersecurity Bootcamp (you can read my LinkedIn for further details). Suffice it to say, I've had several people join VetSec who feel like they were taken advantage of by some of these bootcamps. BLUF: Buyer beware. Many of these will not actually help you get into the industry. This one, in particular, offers no certifications (they give you vouchers if you want to go above and beyond on your own), and has almost no criteria for graduation other than showing up.

It's extremely frustrating to run a 501c3 that is doing real good work out there and struggle to find funding, meanwhile, this bootcamp gets 18k a head as long as they find meaningful employment post-graduation. This is an organization running a program they call “Certified Penetration Tester”, but they get 18k if the person lands a helpdesk role following completion of the program.

I'm sorry, but this is complete and utter bullshit. /rantover

Hacking Your(My) Health

Anyways, moving on.

I've been participating in the HACKS v1.0 program from Ben Canning. If you're not familiar with Ben, he's a trainer and awesome dude from Hack Your Health and runs his own training company. He focuses on lifestyle changes surrounding nutrition and working out. I signed up for his HACKS group program in November, and I have to say, I struggled hard with it over the holidays. Combatting 39 years of “clear your plate, don't waste food” has been a struggle. Figuring out how to eat as much protein as Ben prescribes has also been a trick. Any time I've broken with a routine (travel, etc.) I've fallen off the proverbial bandwagon.

As I'm winding down my Navy time now, I'm glad to be able to settle into a little more of a routine and focus on my health. I'm dedicated to writing about this journey here as well.

Start date: 11/1/2022. Starting weight: 258 Current date: 1/19/2023, Current weight: 246

Course Work

Finally, I'm working on writing a video-based course that will teach some foundational IT stuff. I can't say more until it releases, but it's been a journey already, learning the presets for OBS, buying a 4k webcam a streamdeck, and forcing me to clean up my office. My goal is to record my first couple of videos tomorrow and get them over to the publisher, and I'm super excited to get started.

Anyways, thanks for tuning in, everyone. I'll continue to share my personal and professional struggles and takes.

Cheers!

~ Tom

Well, here goes. Early this year I said I'd make more content, so now seeing that @Jerry@infosec.exchange has something up and running here at infosec.press, I have to start it!

My name is Tom. I'm an almost-retired Navy Sailor, winding down 22 years of active duty in the Nuclear Power field. I am actively transitioning out of the military, with a retirement ceremony four months away now. I am a firm believer in a rising tide raises all ships, so we should all help each other out. And I love cybersecurity.

I'm the CEO and Board Chairman at VetSec, Inc., a 501c3 that works to help veterans find meaningful employment in the cybersecurity industry. You can check us out at https://www.veteransec.org. In this blog, or WriteFreely, or whatever you call it, I'll write about my military transition, my course content creation I've done for VetSec, and my foray into leadership roles and technical roles in cybersecurity. I'm sure there's more that will come up as well, but I'm glad you could join me on this first adventure. I promise, there will be more.

~ Tom