From Service Delivery to Cybersecurity: Veronica Butler’s Metro Journey
Everyone at Metro has a story to tell, and Veronica Butler is no different.
After a friend recommended she apply to Metro, Veronica was hired two years ago as a Service Delivery Analyst. Since then, she’s ascended the ranks and now serves as a Cybersecurity Analyst, taking full advantage of Metro’s employee incentive programs along the way.
Inspired to expand her skills, Veronica earned certifications in Security+ and Pen Testing and completed her master’s degree in Ethical Hacking. She also had the opportunity to shadow the penetration testing team as they simulated attacks on Metro’s network to evaluate and strengthen the organization’s cybersecurity defenses.
Nine Certifications and Counting
“I took advantage of both Metro’s college reimbursement program and the GI bill (She previously served in the US Marine Corps),” reflects Veronica, “and then from there I was able to obtain nine certifications to date.”
Pointing to some festive buttons in the shape of a poop emoji outside of her cubicle wall, Veronica explains that these are used to represent certifications earned in the Information Technology Department. The public display of flair has become a friendly competition among her IT colleagues. Butler notes that another worker in the department has a decisive lead but is too modest to display the flair.
The Front Lines of Cyber Defense
A typical day for Veronica begins with a scan of the dashboards to find any security incidents, such as phishing emails and reported issues. In addition to the reports, she is currently working with the team to revamp Metro’s Phishing Challenge, which is an annual test where phishing emails created by the cybersecurity team are sent to unsuspecting employees to see if they properly spot, report, and/or delete the emails.
Another project Butler is involved in is password cracking. “We just finished our password cracks for the Northern Treatment Plant and the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility’s Operational Technology environments,” explains Veronica.
“Basically, we pull the hashed passwords from the Active Directory environments, then securely try and crack them using Hacking tools used by security professionals like ‘John the Ripper’ and ‘Hashcat’ with various password lists.” From that point, the passwords that the team successfully crack, then notify the Operational Technology team who then will work with the users to reset their passwords to a stronger password.
In a short period, a lot has changed for Veronica. She affirms that it wouldn’t be possible without the help of her peers. “In the IT department here, it really doesn’t matter what your role is. People will teach you and show you the ropes.”
Metro’s Employee Incentive Program
Metro offers employees various training programs for their development journey. In addition, Metro offers educational reimbursement to employees for tuition and books to encourage professional development up to $5,250 annually for coursework that is satisfactorily completed.
Metro knows that when its people grow, the organization grows too. That’s why the organization invests in employees through programs like tuition reimbursement, certification incentives, and professional development opportunities —helping team members build new skills, chase big goals, and take their careers to the next level.