IT Security Internship – TMNAS

This summer (2015) I interned at a company called TMNAS (Tokio Marine North America Services). TMNA is a large insurance company with many subsidiaries and TMNAS is the service company which handles IT, finances, and accounting for all of the insurance companies owned by TMNA including PHLY insurance, First Insurance Company of Hawaii, and many more. Today, organizations everywhere face threats dealing with cyber crime and for this reason, IT security is an essential facet of every business. During my internship, I worked closely with the IT security team and I reported to the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer). TMNAS uses a number of security tools to protect the organization and all of its data. Some of the tools that I used include McAfee VSE, Triton Websense and Websense DLP (Data Loss Prevention), AD Audit Plus, AirWatch Mobile Device Manager, LogMeIn Rescue, and CarbonBlack. These tools are used to monitor network activity and keep the entire organization safe from malicious malware and viruses. Some of the other programs that I frequently used include Mirosoft Visio, Excel, Outlook, Remote Desktop Connection and Active Directory. One of the biggest issues that the team has been facing is the threat of RansomWare. RansomWare is malware that can infect a computer in a variety of ways, sometimes through phishing or sometimes through “drive by” advertisements on the web. Once a computer is infected with RansomWare, the malware will begin encrypting every possible file on the machine/network and then request a ransom if the user wants to access their files again. If it is not stopped quickly, RansomWare can spread throughout the network of a company and wreak havoc. One of the projects I worked on was creating a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) on what to do when the IT department notices a computer infected with RansomWare. Throughout my internship, I also sat in a number of meetings with the security team where I took extensive notes, which helped expand my knowledge of the entire IT department and how each facet of IT works together to service this large insurance corporation. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at TMNAS and this internship made me lean towards pursuing a career in IT security.