2019 Spring UNO NULLify Student Meeting

Fall of 2018

In the fall of 2018 I had reached out to the UNO Nullify group. I started with contacting the faculty advisor Dr. Bill Mahoney. Based on Dr. Mahoney response is the student don’t meet regularly as a student group. They focus mostly on the Capture the Flag Event, but they have a new student president. He forward my information on to the student president.

There was a delay in responses for a few months. Then later in the semester I received a response from the student president.  Since the time was close to Thanksgiving break and end the semester. I recommended I would follow up in early 2019.

In January, I sent a email about a spring event.

“I am following up about sponsoring a meeting in February for Nullify. A dates that would work for me is the February 22nd.

I will talk about securing mobile applications. I can sponsor pizza and bring swag/prizes.”

Planning

In early January I meet with Security eam mates to talk about upcoming events with the Nullify group. One of the upcoming meetings was the Nullify Student meeting on Friday February 22nd at 6:30 p.m. on UNO.

I shared that I would be talking securing mobile applications. I would be sharing what I learned from SANS training on mobile applications. Jerry Pope volunteered to talk about Protecting Mobile Applications.  What he could show is the incidents that we get from our 3rd party vendor. It would probably  be 10 – 15 minutes. He also said showing what the vendor finds and why we don’t want the imposter trademarked apps.

Meeting

Here is my list of things I need to remember to bring.

  • QDOBA ( 3-Cheese Queso Pan  and Bag of Chips)              
  • Chicken from Hy-Vee
  • M&M’s and Popcorn (Vics)
  • Pop cans so I don’t need cups.
  • Plates, Forks, Napkins
  • Box of Swag

I was told via email that there would be around 50 students attending the meeting. I was skeptical because of Friday night and it was snowing. I was proven wrong. The was packed with more then 50 students.

We set up food first for the students.

image

image

As the students ate I showed the Technology Works Here (TWH) video. One of the attendees at the meeting was a student who came to TWH and was hired as a intern for the summer of 2019.

I then passed around my Office 365 Form. I told them I would follow up with a email. I also said I would be sharing information on how they could get a free ticket to a upcoming conference that Farm Credit was Sponsoring, Connectaha. I also talked about being at the upcoming Spring Career Fair at Baxtor Arena.

Protecting Mobile Applications

Jerry Pope started the first part of the meeting talking about Protecting our brand.

image

During his presentation when a student answered his question. Jerry gave out Starbucks gift cards.

image

Securing Mobile Applications

I spoke about securing mobile applications. I used the my training material from SANS Mobile Security to show different security vulnerabilities on the iOS platform.

image

Follow up email

The next day I exported the data from the Office 365 form and sent a follow up email to each student. This is a great way to give a contact point. Plus I had instructions on how to get the ConnectaHa pass.

Hello [Student],

I’m Anthony Carlson, a Lead Application Developer with Farm Credit Services of America. This past Friday, February 22nd, I spoke about mobile application security vulnerabilities in iOS at the NULLify student meeting. It was awesome to spend my Friday night with 50 plus students. I hope to build relationships with the group, so I can be invited back in the Fall of 2019.

I mentioned a few items of interest before I started presenting:

  • Farm Credit Services of America is sponsoring free entry to https://connectaha.com/ for selected UNO Students. If you can commit to attending the conference on March 8th. I can put your name in a drawing for a free ticket. Reply to this email with a phone number so I can get hold of you if you are selected.
  • This Wednesday February 27th from 11:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. I will be at the ACDC Spring 2019 Career & Internship Fair at Baxtor Arena. This is a great opportunity to network with employers and learn about career options. Make sure to stop by my booth!

Connect with me on social networks:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyacarlson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonyacarlson

If there is anything I can help you to reach a career goal in IT, please let me know.