As 2007 nears its end, so does my internship with the Vulnerability Engineering and Research Team (VERT) at nCircle. I cannot believe how much I have learned since starting last May. Operating systems I had never heard of, advanced Apache and IIS webserver administration, random protocols (SMB, FTP, HTTP, SSH), Reverse Engineering... it seems like everything but the kitchen sink.

Every other day, a new "high priority" vulnerability was reported that kicked VERT into high gear, sending the team into a dizzying rush to write detection for it. What amazes me is how they can juggle these last-minute high-priority rushes while keeping standard coverage projects going on the side. The VERT members managed to juggle both of these and each were still able to find time to pull me aside and train me in everything from Python to Reverse Engineering.

Unlike my past internships, I was very pleased to be able to have the opportunity to accomplish a wide variety of tasks at nCircle instead of sticking with one task throughout the term. I spent 4 months on the testing (QA) side of VERT, and 4 months on the dev side, giving me the opportunity to doublecheck vulnerability detection rules, and then write my own. I was worried that joining a team like VERT would make them hesitant at using me as a resource due to my comparative lack of knowledge, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I was given work just as challenging as the work I saw them doing, and although it may have taken me a little longer to complete since it was my first time doing it, they were patient enough to wait for me to get it done on my own without butting in and doing it for me. This provided me with a challenging environment (which I love!) giving me a chance to learn... and a chance to get tripped up by their constant quizzes: "Are you SURE it works like that? I already know the answer, but I won't tell you. Figure it out for yourself!"

After working in such a fast-paced environment, I'm not sure how I will be able to transition back to a classroom setting to complete my final 8 months in my Information Systems Security degree. One thing I do know is, the knowledge I've acquired while working on VERT for the last eight months has added more value to my degree than any other classroom semester to date.

Thanks VERT, thanks nCircle, have a great Holiday and see you next year!

--Michael Perklin (aka Steve the Intern)