2025-08-05 –, Firenze
Enhance your career in privacy, security, and open source by actively engaging with your local community. Discover how working with low-income students and their parents not only sharpens your own skills but also cultivates a culture of awareness and responsibility. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and gain hands-on experience right in your hometown! This session will provide you with actionable strategies from my journey in guiding K-12 students and their families as they learn about security and privacy. Together, we can empower the next generation and strengthen our communities—one practical lesson at a time. Don’t sit on the sidelines; seize this opportunity to elevate your career while making a real impact! Join us and take the first step toward your future!
After feeling lost in roles that didn’t fulfill me, I took some time to reflect on how to create change in my life. With a longstanding interest in security and a concern for the lack of knowledge many people have about safe internet browsing, I decided to immerse myself in this field. Fortunately, I discovered a club dedicated to helping low-income students in the community gain internet access, enabling them to compete with their classmates in terms of information and knowledge. From my very first meeting, I knew I had found something that would truly fulfill me. I was later elected President of the club, where I not only assist students but also manage tasks such as loading open-source software on desktops and troubleshooting bugs in our systems. This role has allowed me to streamline our processes while honing my professional skills. During this talk I would like to share my passion for open source and giving back to others in true open source fashion. I am eager to share my experiences and inspire others to seek hands-on opportunities that enable them to develop skills while making a positive impact in their communities. Last year this topic was mentioned at I am the Calvary during a talk done by Ira Victor, throughout the rest of the conference we had many people come up and talk to us about how to get more involved. Not only would I have a mentor from Proving Grounds but also have the assistance of an infosec and DFIR expert who was a previous BSides speaker, to also help mentor me with this talk.
Mea Clift is a seasoned cybersecurity leader with a multi-decade career marked by excellence, innovation, and mission-driven practices. As Principal Executive Advisor for Cyber Risk Engineering, she guides underwriters on cyber risks and educates insureds on trends and maturity. Previously, she focused on cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure. A mentor and advocate for diversity, Mea actively participates in Cyversity and ISACA programs, teaching Fundamentals of GRC twice yearly. Known for her credibility with executives, clients, and peers, she is also a dedicated quilter and quilt historian living in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Ashley Cihak is the youngest President of a non profit club that specializes in providing students linux-based computers over the last 17 years. The Club has taught over 15,000 low-income students and their parents about security, privacy and open-source software. While managing the club takes up a significant amount of her time, Ashley works as the SAP Administrator and Office Manager at a snow grooming company. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to live music and flying hot air balloons.