For my practicum project, I did a summer internship at ADF Solutions. My task for my nine week internship was research on digital acquisition for artifacts on mobile phones, mainly Apple phones. There was another intern who had the same task but for Android phones. Artifacts on phones are pieces of data saved onto the phone. These are our texts, audio files, videos, photos, animations (think GIFs), and more. The main goal was to locate where these digital artifacts are within app files, and ompile it into a summary.
A typical day would consist of a morning meeting where we would check in with our supervisor, give updates on tasks and/or go over our findings. After that, we would produce digital artifacts before collecting them. Once the collection was complete, we would compile our finding into a document, which would be sent off.
From this internship, I learned more about how digital artifacts are saved in the phone and how easily accessible they are to find. I appreciated learning about all of this because this is a subject we have not covered in my programming or general Computer Science classes. I deepened my understanding of how apps store information just through this experience.
From my internship experience, I mainly learned about what I would like to do professionally down the line. I had a chance to see what was happening in the Cybersecurity field, and I saw how quickly these companies need to change and update their products based off of phone updates, software updates, and app updates. Personally, I think I could only have learned this from experience and not the classroom. Course work is structured differently from the workforce. Moving forward, I would like to explore what else I can do with these skills. This internship was a great opportunity for me to develop basic skills that can be applied in many different fields. Personally, I want to make sure I am making the right decisions for my career.
In this internship, the team I worked on was very small. There was me, another intern, and our supervisor. So there was not a major role I played. Me and the other intern would help each other if we had problems, and we would compare our findings on our Apple and Android phones. While the task was new, I would say my role was familiar. To me, it seemed like a small group project.
For future SGC students, specifically Computer Science and/or Cybersecurity focused students, this experience really depends on the type of worker they are. If they can successfully do work remotely, then I would recommend this experience. Otherwise, not. This internship was fully virtual. The only guaranteed human interaction is a half an hour check-in, or a company wide meeting every other week, at the beginning of the work day. Personally, I work better around people. So in order for me to truly enjoy the experience, another intern and I would do our work together on a call. This experience is great for those who either want to go into Cybersecurity, or if someone is unsure about what field they want to pursue in the field of Computer Science.