5 minutes with… Petru Tiglar, cyber security teacher

Petru is a passionate cyber security teacher at VU Polytechnic. He specialises in cloud computing technology and has a strong interest in penetration testing.

Petru has been in the IT industry for 12 years and loves staying up-to-date on the latest cyber-attacks and IT trends, passing that knowledge onto students. 

Q&A with Petru

What do you enjoy most about teaching/working in technology/cyber security?

Technology is constantly evolving every day and I love staying up-to-date with the latest tech and innovations. Teaching was a natural skill that I developed before I even knew I wanted to be a teacher. When you combine teaching and passion for technology and information security, you get the absolute perfect career!

Teaching a topic I love allows me to not only stay current in the latest trends, attacks and all things tech, it also allows me to connect with other great minds in the classroom and learn a thing or two myself. I can’t imagine a more exciting career!

How does the Certificate IV in Cyber Security 22603VIC training at VU Polytechnic help prepare students for work in the tech industry?

Our course greatly assists students in developing the foundation skills required for most entry-level cyber security roles. You will learn about common security frameworks used in the workplace, network security, active directory, python scripting, penetration testing and so much more. We also use popular hacking tools throughout the course, such as Kali, Linux and I demonstrate some of my Hak5 gear. 

In your opinion, what do you think are the most important skills needed to work in cyber security and technology?

I think it’s extremely important to understand the frameworks that are used in cyber security. The importance of this is unquestionable. The reason is that no matter how secure a network or server is, there is always a weakness in the security that can still be exploited…the human!

Frameworks, policies, and procedures are vital in cyber security as it adds security to human exploitation. It is also important to understand the psychology of humans and how they relate to social engineering attacks. 

  • How can we prevent someone from trusting a phishing email?
  • What controls can you put in place to prevent damage if someone fell victim to a phishing attack?

These are questions that you may ask yourself in the workplace.

What do you see are the opportunities for the digital tech sector? And how do you wish to contribute?

I see a lot of opportunities arising in SaaS (Software as a Service) applications. Many organisations are moving to SaaS-based systems and many new SaaS applications are being developed. 

These cloud approaches to software are beneficial to convenience, but not so beneficial to security. This can range from the soil in which data is stored, meeting compliance requirements and federated identity access. 

There is a lot of opportunity for cyber security particularly in the cloud, and my contribution to this is raising awareness of the importance of cloud security and how it should be mentioned in every cyber security curriculum.

VU Polytechnic’s Certificate IV in Cyber Security 22603VIC introduces you to the cloud infrastructure.

What are your top tips to current or prospective students who are trying to secure a role in cyber security or tech or who are looking to commence training?

I would have to say my top tip would be to start anywhere!

If you’re waiting for the right moment to begin learning cyber security and you feel that you can’t start because you’re unsure of which programs to use, where to get them, how to use them, take that out of your mind. 

There are many online resources available for you to use. Try learning how to set up a virtual machine on your computer. VirtualBox is free! Make use of all the online resources you have available to you and start gaining that experience.

You could download a range of free Linux ISOs, such as Kali, CentOS or Ubuntu, or you can even get free evaluation trials of Windows Server & Windows 10. 

Want to learn cloud? Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure and Google all have free tiers available which you can use to get started. If you’re waiting for the right moment to begin…it’s NOW. 

My other top tip is to volunteer yourself. If you have skills but lack experience on your resume, it can be hard to find employers to take your applications seriously. I’d recommend offering yourself to volunteer somewhere, even if it’s one day a week. That experience is gold on your resume. 

When I was younger, I applied for a volunteer Working with Children’s Check and volunteered for just one day a week at a local high school fixing school computers. Little things like that can go a very long way. 

Find out more

Browse courses in cyber security.

Enquire online about studying the Certificate IV in Cyber Security 22603VIC at VU.