Network Specialists Employee Spotlight – Kevin Harrison

Network Specialists Employee Spotlight - Kevin Harrison
  • 1
    Sep

Network Specialists Employee Spotlight – Kevin Harrison

When you typically make a sale, you have to rely on two sets of people: those covering the sales side of it, and those covering the technical side of it. They each are important to the process, but wouldn’t it be nice sometimes if you could have all of it in one person? Someone who can successfully negotiate a sale, but also has extensive technical knowledge too? Network Specialists has such a person.

Kevin Harrison is an Account Executive at Network Specialists, where he has worked since January, 2016. This past May, Harrison started a Master’s in Cyber Security from Maryville University. Harrison originally received his bachelor’s degree at Maryville, and became interested in returning after seeing an ad for the Cyber Security program in the Business Journal.

The master’s program covers how to defend against potential cyberattacks, as well as how to respond to any incidents or breaches. Topics include:

  • How to assess networks, hosts, mobile devices, and the cloud for vulnerabilities
  • Cryptography
  • Digital forensics
  • Security log management and analysis
  • Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) processes
  • How to analyze malicious code

Cyber security is an increasing issue, with incidents of compromised information regularly showing up in the news. According to CIO.com, there are expected to be 1.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs by 2019.  Harrison hopes his master’s will help give him more valuable skills to fulfill the growing cyber security needs. So far Harrison has completed one semester, and anticipates finishing his degree by December of 2018.

Short-term, his new knowledge will help him as he works in sales, allowing him to have more in-depth conversations with clients to better understand their situations and how Network Specialists can help. “Everyone’s different, it’s never mundane,” Harrison says. “I enjoy getting to work with firms of all different sizes and types. It’s never just a cookie-cutter process.” Long-term, Harrison hopes his master’s will be useful in expanding his role in dealing with cyber security threats more directly.

Harrison has his work cut out for him as he is working on an accelerated, 20-month program. Until then, he is excited for the new corporate office and data center, which is opening in September. More corporate and cyber security advancements are coming up in Network Specialists’ near future, don’t miss out!