Diane Smith
My Cybersecurity Training
Business Partner Overview
Business Collaboration
Quick Facts
Business Collaboration
About the Owner
The CEO and Managing Director of Biodesign Innovation Labs is Gautham Pasupuleti. He collaborates with a team of engineers, doctors, and other professionals to develop emergency care and post-operative care devices for patients with respiratory illnesses. Gautham led his company in successfully transforming its research and developing medical innovations into global commercialization.
Gautham began his journey in AI-based technology as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He developed ophthalmology devices and founded an eye care-based startup that is now a part of Biodesign Innovation Labs. Gautham has received numerous awards including Forbes India Ultimate 120 Pioneers of Change, Innovation Commercialization Fund, Northeastern University’s Gap Funding, and CISCO Global Problem Solver Challenge Winner of Pandemic Response.
Business Collaboration
About the Business
Biodesign Innovation Labs have had immense support as they continue to develop their device from the Nidhi Prayas and ITBT, which are initiatives from the Karnataka and Indian Governments.
Their research proved to be incredibly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic as there was an immediate need for more ventilators. Biodesign Innovation Labs collaborated with Remidio Innovative Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to reach a larger population in more remote areas. In the future, they hope to receive the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval to speed up the process of distribution to hospitals.
Business Collaboration
Current Vulnerabilities
Biodesign Innovation Labs stores numerous client data, especially medical records. This data is kept in sd cards that lack encryption protection software. Cloud storage is the only place with encryption but the business does not regularly back up their data. Data has to be manually sent to the cloud to be backed up.
The SD cards can only hold so much data and with the constant growth of the business, more client information needs to be handled. When the cards run out of storage, the system crashes creating a large opening for hackers and outside entities to come in and take this data. Since the business is not FDA/EDA approved, they are not protected under the same standards and laws of client protection.
My Security
Proposal
Our goals for our proposal were to address the main cyber security concerns of our partner business, as well as threats we identified through SWOT analysis and the CIA triad.
Our proposal implements network security, encryption methods, and employee training to prevent breaches of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from our business partner. The training emphasizes what to do in the case of a breach, while the network security upgrades mitigate the risk of attacks from the various threats posed./p>
Our proposal was successfully granted, allowing us to implement our solution for our business. This will ensure that our partner is not at a high risk of hackers compromising their online information, protecting them for years to come.
My Security
Proposal
Presentation
During the Cybersecurity & Defense Internship, I worked with Beth Cerrone and Jamie Kreider to learn about the basics of cybersecurity, and potential career pathways within it.
Throughout the week, I worked with a company to develop cybersecurity solutions to protect against various cyber threats. I worked with my team to analyze the threats to the business, and then developed a comprehensive solution. At the end of the week, I presented my cybersecurity solution to a panel of three judges and received grant money to implement the solution.
Internship Highlights
- Security Site Tours
- Business Partner Meeting
- Working With Experts
- Cybersecurity Labs
I was given the unique opportunity to take exclusive tours of multiple government and security sites to speak directly with security professionals. During these tours, I was able to witness first-hand how cybersecurity operates at the national and international level.
First, I received an exclusive tour of the United States Pentagon where I was able to view the interior of the Pentagon as well as see some of the different meeting rooms throughout the Department of Defense.
We also toured the Department of Homeland Securities’ Cybercrimes Center where we received classified tours of the cyber crimes unit of the DHS and learned how Homeland Security uses cyber intelligence to track major crimes such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, and major theft.
In order to apply the skills I learned throughout the internship, I worked directly with an aspiring entrepreneur based in the Washington D.C. area to discuss their companies cybersecurity needs.
After three meetings where I walked through the business model, protected information, and staff training of the companies, I worked with my team to create a staff training protocol and threat analysis for my business partner.
At the end of the internship, I advocated for, and received funding for, my business partner to implement the cybersecurity training protocols so they can best protect their client information and continue to develop with a reduced fear of cyber attacks and cybersecurity threats.
To learn more about the world of cybersecurity, I was given the unique opportunity to speak directly with cybersecurity experts from multiple different organizations and backgrounds.
I worked directly with one of the leading consultants in Cyber Threat Management, and a consultant for cyber policy for the National Counterintelligence Executive, Phuong Nguyen, to learn about common threat assessment and cybersecurity counterintelligence. I also heard from the global leader in Firewall Creation, David Balenson; the author of the most widely-regarded O’Reilly book on cybersecurity, Michael Collins; and the lead SME for the FutureG Initiative for the Department of Defense.
Throughout the internship, I also heard presentations from, and spoke with, representatives from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Security Agency. To learn the physical side of cybersecurity, we also had the unique opportunity to meet with globally-recognized penetration testers and network threat assessors.
In order to put the skills we learned to the test, I had the unique opportunity to use a cybersecurity software used for graduate instructional courses to learn a myriad of cybersecurity skills.
Starting with network cybersecurity, I worked through labs dedicated to network security and linux to understand how networks communicate with each other and how cybersecurity poses a threat to this communication. I used these Linux skills to complete capture-the-flag coding competitions as well as virtual rooms.
At the end of the internship, I worked with an expert from a leading cybersecurity consulting firm to learn how to built ethernet cables. I used ethernet cord, crimpers, and wire strippers to produce functioning ethernet cables.