Personal Reflection Initial Enhancement Plans

A Shorter Description About My Enhancement Plan for ZENCRYPT CLI

My ePortfolio - Ryan Hatch Date: January 10, 2025 Zencrypt CLI – Source Code for Zencrypt v4

I’ve been in the CS program since the end of 2021, and I feel like I’ve learned more in these past few years than in my entire three decades of life. Gaining knowledge about data integrity, security, and applying programming skills feels almost like unlocking a cheat code at times. Beyond the technical skills, I’ve also learned how to work as part of a team, communicate effectively with stakeholders and clients, and understand the SDLC. For example, I now know that Agile Development can be the best approach to align a project with a client’s needs and expectations.

As much as I wish I had taken more courses specifically focused on cybersecurity, the furthest I got were CYB 200 and CYB 210, which were still valuable in their own ways. None the less, the skills I took away from the CS program have turned out to be extremely relevant to the cybersecurity field. While I sometimes wished for the chance to take more advanced and hands-on cybersecurity classes, the CS coursework ended up being more beneficial for me overall. It gave me a broader understanding of the industry and a wider perspective on concepts that a cybersecurity specific degree might not have necessarily covered. For example, the CS program focused heavily on building strong foundational development skills, including UML diagrams, flowcharts, documentation, and pseudocode. These skills that I learned are incredibly relevant in cybersecurity and helped to provide a deeper understanding of the cyber security field as a whole.

This skillset helped to properly form and align specific priorities that are often overlooked. For example, even something as simple as knowing how to communicate with a client appropriately without overstepping any boundaries from a developer’s perspective, is an important part in properly delivering a product that truly meets the client’s needs and expectations.