Cybersecurity Careers: A Look into Andrew Kahn's Work at Progressive

Andrew Kahn, an IT Systems Engineer Lead at Progressive Insurance in Cleveland, has had continued success and impact at his work in cyber security. Kahn received a bachelor's degree in Information and Telecommunication Systems with a minor in business, as well as his master’s degree in ITS. 

Kahn has always held an interest in technology, dating back to his time as a Ham Radio operator. His interest in the security aspect of technology was sparked by a class that he took with John Hoag during his time at the ECT School.

His current work at Progressive is focused on risk prevention for Progressive, where he is responsible for seeing through the execution and implementation of security measures. His day-to-day varies, but at Progressive, he analyzes project lifecycles, looks at solutions available in the market for mitigating risk, and works on the engineering and design of potential security solutions.

His work involves the prevention of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, the management and creation of firewalls, the analyzations of network security analytics, and much more.

Kahn said that Progressive continually makes investments in him, and care greatly about his career and success. Currently, Kahn is working on his CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), which is a peer-endorsed certificate, and one that Progressive has helped him achieve.

Kahn found this possibility at Progressive when representatives came to speak at the university. He was pulled aside by an alumnus and encouraged to apply. He later applied and was accepted in the fall of 2013.

Regarding trends in the industry, Kahn made note of the mass shift toward the cloud that has occurred over the past few years. He notes that data centers are now being shifted to the cloud and that the pandemic has accelerated this migration. He also noted that with software and infrastructure being in the cloud, the need for much more than an internet browser is becoming less urgent for many.

Kahn stated that the most important class he took at OHIO was ITS 4750. He made note that he does much of the same work now as he did in that course.

Kahn holds this piece of advice for students and those interested in entering the industry: It is now easier than ever for one to build their own home lab and to acquire the needed gear to replicate a realistic work environment. He noted the dramatic decrease in costs for commoditized hardware from his time in undergrad to now and says that there is a great opportunity in that for students. He also made note of the importance of working on open-source software, and that there is always work in open projects.

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