Blog
Sophie Thorpe, a GCA intern: "Everyone must develop and hone their cybersecurity skills to protect data and infrastructure."
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) has interviewed Sophie Thorpe, who interned with the Actionable Cybersecurity Tools (ACT) project(*) for four months, to ask her about what she learned, her thoughts on teamwork, and her thoughts about the future of the Internet.
We are proud of GCA’s talent, including young people who join us as interns and who have taken an interest in the intersection between technology, risk assessment, and understanding technical needs and challenges from a community perspective. At GCA, we work to deliver a secure and trustworthy Internet by building communities to deploy tools, services, and programs that provide cybersecurity on a global scale.
Question: Why is a tool like ACT important and how do you think you have contributed to that?
Answer: Actionable Cybersecurity Tools (ACT) bridges the gap for under-served communities, granting them free access to essential cybersecurity resources. These [high risk] communities it addresses often face significant hurdles including limited resources or time to address their cybersecurity needs. ACT helps rectify that by providing a central hub for people to seek answers to their cybersecurity questions and fulfill their specific desires. I contributed by conducting research into the different communities and various aspects of cybersecurity to help produce wiki pages and lists of cybersecurity tools. The wiki pages I created both provide a place for community members to find information and relevant tools and also help provide a background on different areas of cybersecurity.
How do you see the future of the Internet and what are the most pressing needs?
In the future, the Internet is going to keep growing and evolving into a more massive scale than it is now. People will begin to rely on the Internet even more and most likely, a lot of our day-to-day needs will be fulfilled online, including an expansion of online banking, healthcare, AI integration, and more. As more aspects of our lives move online, the risk of cyberattacks and privacy violations grows. Everyone must develop and hone their cybersecurity skills to protect sensitive data and important infrastructure.
What do you dream of personally and professionally, and how has GCA helped you along that path?
In both my personal and professional life, my dream is to make a positive impact on the world, whether that be by playing an active role in improving cybersecurity awareness, or using my skills to enhance parts of everyday life. GCA has been instrumental in helping me work towards these goals. This internship has allowed me to enhance my research skills and utilize my knowledge to educate others. I’m passionate about cybersecurity and believe in giving back, therefore being part of an organization dedicated to improving the safety of the Internet aligns with my aspirations perfectly.
(*) ACT is an initiative by the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) in partnership with Cyber Civil Defense (CCD), built to help individuals and communities find the right solutions for their protection needs. ACT is a wiki that is easy to use and anyone, regardless of their level of cybersecurity knowledge, can use it to understand risks and find tools to protect themselves, their family, or their organization.
Previous interviews:
