Wyatt Tauber - Cybersecurity Enthusiast

Hello! I am Wyatt.

Ph.D. Student at Dakota State University

I am a first-year student in the Ph.D. Cyber Operations (PhDCO) program at DSU, just starting my career in the industry and striving to make technology more secure and accessible for everyone. My research interests are in system and network forensics, open-source intelligence, and disinformation.

I frequently participate in computer security red/blue competitions, Capture the Flag tournaments, and STEM outreach events around the world. Currently, I am researching ways to apply OSINT to search and rescue missions, law enforcement cases, and threat intelligence. I also enjoy being a lifelong student by incorporating other disciplines and perspectives into my activities, from psychology and sociology to philosophy, journalism, communications, and political science.

In my spare time, I am often updating my blog, volunteering with STEM and environmental campaigns around DC, or doing adventurous activities such as geocaching and bouldering. In the future, I hope to learn to fly a paramotor and adopt a rescue toucan.

Accomplishments

Technical, professional, educational, and volunteer involvements

Awards
NSF, ISSA, Black Hat

I was awarded the National Science Foundation's CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) while attending RIT to recognize my academic achievements and personal commitment to making national systems and data more secure and accountable to civilians.

I was also the recipient of the International Systems Security Association (ISSA)'s Howard A. Schmidt Award in honor of the past president of the ISSA International Board, presidential computer security adviser, and US-CERT chief security strategist, as well as the Black Hat Student Scholarship. I was awarded these scholarships due to my academics, activities, and desire to work in national security.

Certifications
ISC2, GIAC

I currently hold ISC2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM), CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+), and Cisco Certified Cyber Ops Associate (CCCOA), as well as membership in the GIAC Advisory Board and other certifications. Certifications complement my academics, extracurriculars, and work experience, and I see them as an excellent way to validate and reinforce my growing skillset.

I plan to obtain further certifications in security analytics and blue team operations soon. These certifications will validate the skills I have learned through classes, personal and club projects, internships, and competitions.

Activism
FIRST, H4D, CyberForce

I volunteer for the FIRST Robotics competition as part of my goal to improve STEM education and extracurricular opportunities for students in rural areas. I was previously recognized by Scholarship America and the ACT for this commitment. I continue working towards this goal by mentoring Hacking for Defense (H4D) teams at various universities and assisting with DoE CyberForce to bring STEM, CS, and security skills to all levels of education.

I also advocate for cybersecurity proficiency and the technology workforce in the federal government. As part of Hackers on the Hill, I met with the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to address the cyber talent gap and the shortfalls in federal, state, and local cybersecurity employees.

Badges and accomplishments are available on Credly and Merit

Experience

Employment, education, and skills

Employment

Development Specialist

United States Federal Government

Washington, DC

The executive branch of the United States federal government is responsible for the day-to-day operation of federal departments and agencies.

Operations Development Program

Fall 2023

Defensive Operations Tour

Summer 2023

Core Training

Winter 2022

Offensive Operations Tour (continued)

Cooperative Education Development Program

Summer 2022

Offensive Operations Tour

Emulated an advanced persistent threat to evaluate defenses of customer networks

Conducted recon, gained access, and maintained persistence to meet customer objectives

Evaluated customer detection capabilities to determine if defenses alert on the activity

Hunted for indicators of compromise in customer networks during the evaluation

Spring 2022

Research & Development Tour

Leveraged generative ML (GML) training sets and evolutionary properties across capabilities

Investigated GAML applications in the malware analysis domain with academic partners

Explored methods to analyze network defense data in cyber GAML-based capabilities

Employed GAML algorithms and generated data to produce and evaluate two efficient ML models

Summer 2021

Defensive Operations Tour

Toured with the threat identification & characterization (TIC) team

Assigned to attribute unidentified suspicious or malicious digital network activities

Worked with other government partners to define TTPs for two threat actor campaigns

Assisted with producing 13 activity reports, one selected for organization director briefing

Fall 2020

Enterprise Architecture Tour

Toured with the learning management system (LMS) team

Tasked with implementing QA and security monitoring solutions for the LMS

Oversaw the deployment of performance monitoring on three LMS platforms

Decreased the team's recurring error and downtime rates by 25% over 5 months

The MITRE Corporation

National Security Engineering Center; Bedford, MA

Network Technology & Security Intern

Summer 2020

MITRE works in the public interest across federal, state, and local governments, as well as industry and academia, to bring innovative ideas into existence in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, quantum information science, health informatics, space security, policy and economic expertise, trustworthy autonomy, cyber threat sharing, and cyber resilience.

Worked with the NSEC FFRDC's Network Automation & Intelligent Control team

Responsible for developing next-generation SDNs for national security sponsors

Created capabilities to classify and mark traffic in higher-layer network protocols

Reduced network traffic overhead and infrastructure cost in DDIL areas

Parsons Corporation

Cyber Operations, Parsons Government Services; Centreville, VA

Computer Security Engineer Intern

Summer 2019

Parsons is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection.

Joined Cyber Operations' network simulation and automation team

Tasked to assess the success rate and performance of network capabilities

Developed a containerized, automated test suite using NIDS technologies

Project was deployed across Cyber Operations teams upon completion

Education

Ph.D. Cyber Operations

Dakota State University

Madison, South Dakota

2023 - 2027

M.S. Computing Security

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, New York

GPA 4.00; 2019 - 2022

Security analytics concentration

Accelerated Dual Degree

CyberCorps Scholarship for Service

Commencement Delegate

B.S. Computing Security

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, New York

GPA 3.68 (Magna Cum Laude); 2017 - 2021

Malware and forensics concentration

Mathematics minor

Honors Program

Dean's List

A.A. Liberal Arts and Sciences

Alexandria Technical & Community College

Alexandria, Minnesota

GPA 3.97 (Honors); 2015 - 2017

Post-Secondary Enrollment Options

Honors Program

PTK Honor Society 5-Star Member

Dean's List

Nevis High School, Minnesota Class of 2017

Diplomas are available on Parchment

Skills

Languages

Assembly Bash C Java MATLAB P4 PowerShell Python SQL

Technologies

ANB Autopsy Cobalt Strike Cuckoo Docker FTK IDA Kali Jupyter SIFT sklearn Snort Volatility

Communication

Agile Curriculum Development Metacognition Public Speaking Technical Writing

Detailed work experience, classes, and testimonials are available on my Resume

Etcetera

Some fun stuff about me

Travel

RIT Graduation

Rochester NY, May 2023

FIRST Championship Volunteering

Houston TX, April 2023

FRC Regionals/Districts Volunteering VI

Fairfax VA, April 2023

Harry Potter Experience

Leesburg VA, January 2023

Friendsgiving II

Washington DC, November 2022

Trip to Rochester

Rochester NY, August 2022

RIT Orientation III

Rochester NY, August 2022

Hiking Great Falls

Potomac MD, July 2022

Parasailing

Ocean City MD, May 2022

Ocean City SpringFest

Ocean City MD, May 2022

RIT Honors Intramural Ultimate

Rochester NY, November 2021

FRC Rah-Cha-Cha Ruckus IV

Rochester NY, October 2021

Geocaching V

Rochester NY, October 2021

Waterfall Hiking

Ithaca NY, September 2021

Honors trip to Letchworth

Castile NY, September 2021

Bouldering

Northwest Branch MD, August 2021

Paintball

Leesburg VA, August 2021

Skydiving II

Manassas VA, July 2021

Independence Day II

Washington DC, July 2021

GCCIS Honors Spring Trip

Malmö Sweden, March 2020

Shmoocon 2020

Washington DC, February 2020

CyberCorps Job Fair

Washington DC, January 2020

Best Times Financial Cybersecurity Seminar

Pittsford NY, November 2019

Rochester Security Summit

Rochester NY, October 2019

RITSEC Trip to Letchworth

Castile NY, September 2019

Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Ottawa ON, August 2019

Apollo Anniversary Festival

Washington DC, July 2019

Washington Nationals Game

Washington DC, June 2019

Incident Response and Security Competition

Rochester NY, April 2019

Information Security Talent Search

Rochester NY, March 2019

GCCIS Honors Fall Trip

Boston MA, October 2018

IMPRESS Summer Experience

Rochester NY, August 2018

White House Scholarship America Advocacy

Washington DC, May 2018

Dreams to Success Awards

Washington DC, May 2018

Cholla Trail on Camelback Mountain

Phoenix AZ, December 2017

Access Mentoring Workshop

Tempe AZ, December 2017

I occasionally post my travels on YouTube

Quotes

Learning

If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.

Thomas Dewar (debated), Louisville Times, October 1927

I never lose. Either I win or I learn.

Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 1995

There's a voice in the universe that holds the truth of all those who walk the earth. I believe that we are born for reasons we do not understand - and it is up to us to discover those reasons. That is your only task. If you are brave enough to sit and listen to the voice of the universe in the silence that lives within you, then you will always know what matters - and you will know too that you matter more to the universe than you will ever know.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, 2021

Kindness

Conquer anger with lack of anger; bad with good; stinginess with a gift; a liar with truth.

Anger, Dhp XVII

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

Ayn Rand, Ford Hall Forum: The Moratorium on Brains, November 14th, 1971

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, 1795

Persistence

The question is not who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

Ayn Rand, paraphrased from The Fountainhead, 1943

Be a nuisance where it counts. Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics—but never give up.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, GeoJourney, 1980

I am rich no matter what I lose. I'd rather risk it all to find the truth.

Avicii, Our Love (Unreleased), 2016

This whole time, I thought changing the world was something you did, an act you performed, something you fought for. I don't know if that's true any more. What if changing the world was just about being here, by showing up no matter how many times we get told we don't belong, by staying true even when we are shamed into being false, by believing in ourselves even when we're told we're too different? And if we all held on to that, if we refuse to budge and fall in line, if we stood our ground for long enough, just maybe the world can't help but change around us.

Mr. Robot, Hello, Elliot, December 22nd, 2019

I want to make technology more secure and accessible for everyone.