Author: cybear

There are many options available for technical training. Here are a few suggestions. TryHackMe has excellent labs to build skills. Jetbrains offers free access to its coding and other teaching modules to those who have a university email account. The Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE) provides free online cybersecurity training to U.S. government employees, Federal…

We hear this question regularly and we are certain that many other students don’t even ask because they do not see cybersecurity as a field with a place for them. The answer is yes! There is a place for you. At the same time, a number of barriers can make the cybersecurity field unwelcoming to…

WISP: Women in Security & Privacy has many Berkeley alumna and provides meaningful mentoring opportunities and interesting programming The Mozilla Foundation has a major commitment to privacy and security of its users, and sponsors a mailing list of privacy events. The Bay Area chapter of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) organizes meetups. SF…

San Francisco is home to one of the biggest industry conferences on cybersecurity: RSA. This is a massive event that is great for networking, and it has a student event known as College Day. We regularly receive free RSA passes for enrolled students, so check in with us about it. CLTC also maintains a RSA…

Many podcasts cover cybersecurity. Some of our favorites are Darknet Diaries, Steptoe’s Cyberlaw podcast, Cyber from the Start by CSIS:, CSIS Cybersecurity and Technology, Beers with Talos, Rational Security, Privacy, Security & OSINT Show, and Berkeley Technology Law Journal (student podcast).

Work in privacy and cybersecurity can result in many different responsibilities–from leadership to compliance, to a focus on particular hardware or software. One cannot predict these responsibilities and so we recommend that you focus on basic skills that have utility in almost any environment. It’s important to know that colleges and universities don’t typically teach…

Machine learning, sometimes called “AI,” is at the cutting edge of cybersecurity research. The fundamentals of machine learning are in statistics and knowledge of python is generally necessary to use machine learning. Thus, focus on Python and statistics first.  There are exciting research opportunities on campus exploring machine learning from several lenses. One is in…

Security and privacy certifications do have value, but one has to be smart about them. Certifications have two primary sources of value: first, they signal your interest and commitment to a field. That signal can move your resume into the right pile. Second, some certifications also signal expertise in specific skillsets, but these are variable…

As a member of the Berkeley community, you can access ProQuest Pivot, which we have found to be the most comprehensive, one-stop-shop for finding funding.  Closer to home, remember that the CLTC (Cal Cybersecurity Research Fellowship, Annual RFP), CTSP (CTSP Research Fellows) and UC Berkeley Big Ideas Contest are regular supporters of research here.

The academic literature in cybersecurity is vast because it can be found in so many disciplines, from law to computer science to international relations and economics. Here are some starting points: First, searching for “cybersecurity” might be too narrow. You may need to use terms such as “privacy.” For searching the legal field, the SSRN…