Cyber Security Analyst Review

As a cyber security analyst I am tasked with responding to security alerts and assessing the impact to Pfizer personnel, data, machines or infrastructure and taking the necessary remediation actions to ensure Pfizer remains secure. A typical day would involve me reviewing a vast range of security alerts, whether it be phishing emails, malicious software or suspicious phone calls, just to name a few. We are then empowered to take appropriate action to plug security gaps whether it be deleting an email deemed as malicious or blocking a website which aims to coerce users into giving up sensitive data or download malicious files.

One thing I loved during the placement was the responsibility and confidence my team had in me to work security alerts and make informed decisions. I never felt micro-managed at any point, the IDA team was great when it came to allowing me to take lead on higher severity incidents, they trusted in my analysis and judgements and offered me great support every step of the way.

I have learnt a vast range of new skills, I have been lucky enough to learn lots of different security tools and how to utilise them in active investigations, also I had numerous opportunities to lead meetings with large audiences. This built up my confidence and speaking skills when involving a large audience.
I also had the opportunity to spend time with other teams within the Cyber team, in particular the threat intel team. It was great to learn aspects of there world. These things I've listed do not make up 1% of what I learnt there's truly too much to cover!

I received great support during my time at Pfizer, my first months were nicely structured by my team, different members of the team spent time going through different aspects of the role with me, such as how to approach different types of security alerts, what tools to use/how to use them. I was also assigned a buddy who supported me lots throughout my time on the team, I never felt alone or isolated, I always had someone on the team to ask for help regarding work or to have general conversation with.

The culture at Pfizer was honestly great, everyone was super polite and happy to have a chat. The cyber security team there at Sandwich in particular were awesome, I met some of the funniest and intelligent people there. There was never a dull day in the office, always lots of jokes and laughs but at the same time we did a lot of hard and meaningful work to ensure the business was secure at all times, which I'll always be proud of

I really enjoyed my time here, I'm not even exaggerating when I say this has been one of the best experiences of my life, to have the opportunity to do the job I always dreamed of doing for a company of this magnitude cannot be overlooked. Every single person in the CORE was great to build a connection with and even outside of the CORE I always had great interactions with everyone I came across at Pfizer.

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