Cyber Member Spotlight — Jessica Lam
Learn more about ACM Cyber member (and Member Spotlight writer) Jessica Lam!
What’s your major? What drew you to this field?
I’m majoring in computer science — I was introduced to CS through a short 1 week summer program right before I entered high school. I found that I enjoy it because it was challenging and because I loved the problem-solving aspect, that coding problems were like logic puzzles. I also really like the idea of being able to be a part of something that can impact so many people!
How did you become interested in cybersecurity?
I joined my high school’s Cybersecurity club and participated in CyberPatriot the first time in my junior year. I was thrown onto an Ubuntu VM and was told to Google anything I didn’t know. It was definitely a steep learning curve (at the time I didn’t even know what Linux meant) but the challenge was what got me so interested in the competition and in cybersecurity in general.
What are some cool cybersecurity related/other projects you’ve undertaken? Or have there been any fun CTFs you’ve participated in recently?
I’m currently doing research as a part of UCSD’s early research scholar’s program where my group is writing a tool that essentially can tell whether or not certain programs are vulnerable to a side channel attack called CopyCat. I’ve also recently been learning Go to prepare for my summer internship and hopefully will try to write something cool using it by the end of the school year :D
What are your long term goals (if any) ?
I don’t know if I have anything specific, I just want to learn as much as possible and hopefully finally pinpoint what I want to pursue a career in (since there are so many things we can do with CS or even within Cybersecurity itself!)
What’s a fun fact about you :D
I was in marching band all 4 years of high school and played in the front ensemble! This means instruments like the marimba, xylophone, etc. During concert season I had to prepare a solo performance each year (there’s a video or 2 of some of my performances floating around somewhere…)
What are your hobbies / what do you like to do in your free time?
I’ve recently gotten back into art — I mostly just sketch or doodle use it as a way to take a break and relax from everything school related. I also dug up my old drawing tablet and have been trying to learn how to do digital art when I have time!
And finally, do you have any advice/something to say to the readers?
Sometimes it feels so daunting going into cybersecurity because of how large the field is and how it sometimes feels like you’ll never know ‘enough’. However, I like to think of that as a challenge and just take time out of my day to learn a little bit at a time. It’s easy to feel like you’re stagnant in your progress but you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve learned when you look back! I’d say just keep pushing onward in this field or any other that you’re interested in! It also really helps to find a community within people in this industry so try leveraging ACM Cyber or other communities as much as possible.
