Zach Miller graduate from Ohio University’s ITS program in 2013 and now works at Amazon Web Services. Miller was introduced to computer technology at a young age, as his dad was a COBOL programmer. With lots of computers and old versions of Apple technology always around the house, he began playing with computers, taking the systems apart, and playing online games like dial up and DSL.
Originally, Miller attended the University of Cincinnati and during his studies there, he heard about OU’s ITS program. He was immediately interested in what the program had to offer and transferred schools.
“I transferred to OU because of the ITS program. I liked that it was oriented around information technology and networking but [it] also had a lot of business elements,” said Miller. “It wasn’t straight-up computer science, necessarily, like coding every day, because I knew I wasn’t a big fan of that.”
As a junior, Miller got an internship at JPMorgan Chase as a CDP Analyst. On top of his internship position, Miller began doing research on the side for the data protection director in the cubicle across from him. This sparked his interest in cybersecurity and eventually led him to a position in cybersecurity upon graduation.
“The moral of the story is you should be willing to take on some extra things if you feel like you know it is something you want to learn about,” said Miller.
After graduation, Miller got a job at EMC Corporation, now Dell EMC, as a technology consultant. Dell EMC sells data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, and cloud computing that gives organizations the ability to store, manage, protect and analyze data. Similar to his position now, without the highlighted focus on security, Miller worked as a skilled developer to help customers build online applications.
From EMC Corporation, Miller worked at JPMorgan Chase as a Cybersecurity Engineer Lead, Deloitte as a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant, then at the Bank of America as a Vice President Information Security Specialists. With this extensive career in cybersecurity under his belt, Amazon Web Services reached out to him to initially work in technology consulting focused on security.
“Most of my career had been at banks and older, more bureaucratic monolithic organizations that have been around for several hundred years and that move a bit slower,” said Miller. “I wanted to get into the tech world where things go a little bit faster and [have] a little less red tape.”
Currently, Miller is a Senior Security Specialist Solutions Architect at AWS. In this role, he assists customers looking to secure data for online applications. Miller gives clients insight on best practices to help secure networks and, to a certain degree, helps companies implement these practices in their applications.
At AWS, Miller is tasked with highlighting the importance of cybersecurity to companies that sometimes find it difficult to justify spending millions of dollars on securing their networks and applications. With little to no data for return on investments in cybersecurity, Miller has to explain the risk and value cybersecurity will bring to a company through business metrics explaining key performance indicators.
“Resources are scarce, and [companies] don't want to spend [money] on cybersecurity. So, if you can prove to non-technical people, especially the executives that make those decisions, why it is valuable, then you are going to be the most valuable person on your team,” said Miller.
The ITS program offers students several courses on security and encryption, allowing students to specialize in these areas early on, but Miller’s experiences were more focused on network technology and less on security. This basic foundation of network technology and understanding the internet, servers, and databases allowed Miller to, later on, apply security to applications in his cybersecurity positions.
“You can't be a locksmith and secure a house if you don't know what a house is or how the doors work or how the locks work. It just doesn't make any sense,” said Miller. “So, you have to understand the basics of how a database works, how a network works, and how a server functions to be really knowledgeable and really add a lot of value in security.”
In addition to adding layered value in cybersecurity, it has become apparent in the growing industry that, as Miller states, there is a lack of diversity within the field. In specific cybersecurity associations, like the Cybersecurity Association of Columbus, minorities have a good opportunity to gain a better understanding of cybersecurity and infiltrate the field. Organizations like this are also great for students interested in cybersecurity to get a head start in their potential cybersecurity careers.
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