CEIC 2015 Student Series: CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE GRADUATE’S PERSPECTIVE OF CEIC 2015

 Students from Champlain College and the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation (LCDI) attended multiple training sessions while at the Computer Enterprise Investigation Conference (CEIC) 2015. Champlain College Graduated Senior Alexandra SantiagoReyes presents some highlights from her time at CEIC 2015.

Attending CEIC 2015 in Las Vegas with some of the greatest minds in Computer and Digital Forensics, Incident Response, and Cyber Security made graduating much easier. As a first time attendee, I dove into the experience looking to gain knowledge and really see what I wanted to do with my degree. There were many different lectures, labs, and presentations that caught my attention when I was first deciding what I wanted to attend. Not only was CEIC a great place to gain knowledge, but it also offered a chance to share an experience with fellow Champlain students and other industry masterminds.

As a Computer and Digital Forensic major, I was pleased by all the different names that were present, as well as all of the different topics that were covered in presentations. During the first day the energy was incredible. Guidance had a welcoming reception with hula dancers, tattoos, flowers, and photo booths. While it seemed like too much fun, it was a great time to talk to other attendees as well as shake off the nerves of being the only students in a place filled with industry professionals.

Day two was (almost) all business. I attended a great lecture on APT attacks presented by SANS Institutes instructors Rob Lee from SANS Institute, Anuj Soni from Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Chad Tilbury from CrowdStrike, and Jake Williams from Rendition Infosec.  What really got me thinking, though, was the presentation by the Industry Keynote Brian Krebs.  I found myself thinking of all the many different ways breadcrumbs are left and the importance on keeping up with different industry professionals on social media. The LCDI does a great job at allowing us to explore and experience different technologies through research, but once we are out of school research becomes minimal and we need to specialize. Social media bridges the gap that is created by specialization by creating a web of resources available to us.  In between panels and lessons, exploring of Las Vegas was a must. We watched the Bellagio fountain and walked through the many different Hotels in our time off.

Days three and four were when I really found myself settling in. Some of the most interesting lectures I attended on the last two days talked about SQLite, an area I felt as though I knew nothing about other than how to look at them and find relevant data. While there were things that I did not necessary know about SQLite that were mentioned in the lecture, I realized that I still had the basis of the knowledge need to be able to understand the lecture and lab. Champlain and the LCDI have really helped me gain an enormous amount of knowledge in the field I have become passionate about. CEIC 2015 taught me that I do have the knowledge I need to finally call myself an “Industry Professional”.

Thank you Champlain College, The Leahy Center for Digital Investigation, and CEIC for allowing me to build strong friendships and a growing knowledge base.

 You can read more on the classes Champlain College students attended while at CEIC 2015 on the LCDI Blog Page. To read about current LCDI information visit our website at www.lcdi.champlain.edu.