CyberMccoyHerman
Mccoy Herman
My Cybersecurity Training
Business Partner Overview
Freckles Foundation
Quick Facts
The Freckles Foundation was given its name after a kitten who was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis. The idea of supporting animals with rare and harmful diseases was the basic foundation of the organization. The entire organization is entirely supported through donations and partnerships.
The nonprofit is staffed 100% by volunteers who want to make a difference. Through connections to foster networks, the Freckles Foundation receives large quantities of resources such as food, shelter, animal products, and training. They work with local organizations to find the animals in need and provide them with the proper care and treatment necessary for their continued survival. Many of the staff foster the animals themselves to help integrate the pets into familiar settings.
Freckles Foundation
About the Founder
Athena Reizakis has over 20 years of experience in accounting and operation management which she used to pursue her passion for animal advocacy. She has always loved animals, but first became involved with rescue and protection in 2018 when she fostered a friend’s dog who could not at the time care for it.
Seeing how common these types of situations are, Athena began to rescue cats and dogs all over the DMV area hoping to ensure the animals continued protection and care. She has orchestrated over 650 adoptions in the past six years and continues to advocate for animal rights and their safety in shelters across the country.
Freckles Foundation
About the Business
In 2023, Athena Reizakis founded the Freckles Foundation & Animal Rescue to help more at-risk cats and dogs find homes, putting a special emphasis on the “underdog” and putting the pets first and age, health, and medical diagnosis last. Working with foster rescues throughout the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, the Freckles Foundation is funded solely through donations and adoption fees, relying on volunteers to further their work.
Freckles Foundation relies on community outreach to identify and rescue animals in need. They strive to find the perfect “forever home” for the animals within their care while providing them with the best medical treatments. Their partner veterinarians ensure the cats and dogs receive all proper vaccinations, preventatives, and spraying/neutering. In addition, they work to raise awareness about how to care for animals with medical conditions through volunteer opportunities and partnerships.
Freckles Foundation
Current Vulnerabilities
As a volunteer-run organization, there is currently minimal security protecting the information of our donors, adopters, foster families, and social media accounts.
We want to ensure that the animal records, payments, and the organization’s online property are protected. The use of public domains would require more intensive cyber protection to keep private client data safe from future hacks or false reports.
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 plan implements multiple cyber security protocols and solutions to protect our partners, such as Microsoft 365 Business Basic for Non-Profits, SurfShark VPN, and password policies, paired with KnowBe4 Level 2 Gold Security Awareness employee cybersecurity training to create stronger protection for the nonprofit’s data. Microsoft 365 Business will unify all the employees in one system giving administration the ability to access all accounts. The programs will secure communication across the organization and provide employee training on potential scams. /p>
Our proposal was successfully granted, allowing us to implement our solution for our non-profit. This will ensure that our partner is not at a high risk of physical threats, employee negligence, and hacktivists, 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 nonprofit to develop cybersecurity solutions to protect against various cyber threats. I worked with my team to analyze the threats to the organization, 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
- Nonprofit 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.
I was given the unique opportunity to attend an embassy where I received a briefing on cultural, economic, and international situations. We also got the opportunity to ask questions about the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure; therefore, allowing me to learn about cybersecurity at an international level.
We also toured the Department of Homeland Securities’ Cyber Crimes 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 a nonprofit based in the Washington D.C. area to discuss their companies cybersecurity needs.
After three meetings where I walked through the organization model, protected information, and staff training of the nonprofit, I worked with my team to create a staff training protocol and threat analysis for my partner.
At the end of the internship, I advocated for, and received funding for, my nonprofit 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.