September 2023
Student Spotlight: Harold Fisher
Harold Fisher is a current NCL Player who's transitioning into the cybersecurity field. With 17 years of service as a US Army combat engineer, Harold is an active member in the NCL Community demonstrating remarkable scores in network traffic analysis, cryptography, enumeration, and exploitation, placing in the 99th and 98th percentiles for these respective categories.
We sat down with Harold to learn about his NCL experience and have him share about his next career chapter as a cyber professional:
Hi Harold! You're currently working on your cybersecurity degree at Eastern New Mexico University and anticipate graduating next year with hopes to land a position on a red team/offensive role. Can you share a little bit about your work background to date?
At the beginning of my career I was an investigator for a Tribal Gaming Commission and went to two of the biggest interrogation schools in the United States. A little later in life, I joined the US Army and became a combat engineer and have been doing that for the past 17 years.
Had I just completed my degree and not participated in the NCL, I wouldn't be excited about cybersecurity at all.
You've mentioned that the NCL was integral in your career change. What about the NCL has been most life-changing for you?
It's been great every time and I guess it has changed my life, because I would not have been this excited about cyber, would not have worked this hard, and wouldn't have had the opportunities to work and with my teammates and peers like I have - if it wasn't for the NCL.
Academically the NCL was amazing! It taught me a lot and personally it has meant a lot to me and I really, really enjoyed it. They say you don't know what you don't know but after the first NCL Game, I'd figured out a lot of things I didn’t know. It's amazing. Every time I did it, I learned something else that I didn't know and if I didn't know something else, I needed to go learn and find out on my own.
Every season we provide NCL Players with a personalized Scouting Report. How do you think this has helped or will help you when you apply for future cybersecurity roles?
The Scouting Report is awesome. You might have an idea of how you thought you did in the games or what you liked, but then you get your scouting report and you see you’re actually pretty good at this or that. I didn't even realize that maybe I should pay more attention to this or I can share my experience with others, until I had the report to back up my skill set.
Are there takeaways from the NCL that you think are important for success in the cybersecurity industry?
I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the NCL and how valuable I think the experience has been, especially the team experience. When I get out in the real world, I'm going to be working on a team. And cracking these skills as a team is sometimes more complicated than just doing it on the individual side.
I would not have been this interested in cyber and wouldn't have worked this hard if it wasn't for the NCL.
Thanks Harold for sharing your NCL origin story and your awesome enthusiasm for our community! We know you'll take the cybersecurity community by storm when you graduate next year, and we wish you continued success in your career.