I have a very strong interest in computer engineering. However, previously I thought that if I wanted to have a smooth career development, I should continue to polish up my educational and technological background in this area. When I worked with my schoolmates for the research project entitled “Literature Review on Cyber Security Awareness and Organizational Management” in high school, I started to realize that information technology alone cannot effectively address cyber-security issues. Instead, organizational support and management strategies are essential to resolve information security problems such as data breaches. This event reminds me that apart from acquiring sufficient IT skills, I should also develop leadership skills especially in terms of organizational management.

I had demonstrated solid academic background and strong research skills to my group members in the above-mentioned project. For instance, there was no problem for me to conduct secondary research and critically reviewed the previous literature in regards to information security issues. I figured out that in the U.K. alone, nearly 85% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) suffered from data breaches annually. Data breach, by definition, refers to intentional and unintentional leakage of digital information or data to unauthorized personnel. The estimated economic loss was about £1.5 million for each company on average. I was also in charge of tabulating and summarizing major discoveries of previous studies about cyber-security in the final report.

However, throughout the research project, I also had my own observations. I realized that the problem of “malicious insiders” poses a much more serious threat than hackers or external parties. Previous digital data of a company is often lost due to the misplacement of portable files in mobile devices. Employees are also not sufficiently aware of the serious consequence of data breaches. Without organizational support, it would be unlikely for IT technicians to anticipate and address cyber-security issues. Very often, companies or organizations would invite their IT technicians to identify the major causes of data breaches and provide appropriate technical solutions accordingly. It seems that cyber-security is very much like a technological concept. The problem is that it is often too late for IT technicians to take action because these companies may have already suffered from economic loss due to data breach, theft of intellectual property, and business secrets.IT technicians need to develop necessary leadership management skills to prepare employees for countering potential cyber-security risks and developing more awareness about this issue.

After participating and completing this project. I realized that I should not only sharpen my edge in computer engineering but also develop leadership management skills. Even though it is very likely for me to become a so-called IT technician or specialist in the future, it is still important for me to guide all internal stakeholders of a company including all employees and managers to be aware of cyber-security problems. It should be noticed that most of them are lacking in technological background. As an IT technician, I should be able to design a training program such that it can provide explicit and understandable guidelines for everyone to avoid problems such as misplacement of digital files or data leakage. At present, I feel that I really need to put more effort into developing leadership skills. Although I could give explicit instructions, I do not know how to effectively communicate my ideas to target audiences. Most importantly, leaders should be responsible for motivating and guiding followers to move toward a common goal. In the project, I learned that without organizational supports and efforts, computer engineering alone cannot address cyber-security vulnerabilities and problems. Therefore, besides building up my academic skills, I will try to learn how to be an effective leader in the future.