Cody Snee

Background

About Cody Snee

My journey into information technology began as an infantryman in the United States Army. While I was deployed to Kunar, Afghanistan, I stayed on a small thirty man outpost named Bari Alai. Because the base was only reachable by air, and the frigid winter months often made travel impossible, our platoon had to be self-reliant in many aspects outside of our duties as infantrymen. From managing the generator for electricity, carpentry, to troubleshooting issues that arose with our satellite network, we had to discover who among us possessed the skills necessary for sustainment while simultaneously performing their jobs as infantrymen. Being an 18 year old kid with a small interest in computers, I volunteered to learn as much as I could about information technology through self-study in order to aid my platoon. After successfully troubleshooting the personal devices of my platoonmates, such as laptops and external hard drives, I felt an immense sense of purpose as I witnessed the boost in morale through my efforts. My platoon sergeant then entrusted me with the management of our satellite network and command room computers connected to SIPRNET. Issues came frequently, and I often found myself spending hours troubleshooting network and device problems without having Google on stand-by; an experience that pushed my abilities to the limit and imbued me with a passion for investigating. I believe necessity and self-reliance is the perfect recipe for growth. While I was able to fix the personal devices of my platoonmates, it was extremely difficult for us to communicate with our families. Personal wireless was prohibited, and we only had two computers in our "internet cafe." Thus, my new skillset and desire for my platoon to communicate with their families in that harsh environment drove me to understand the darker side of information technology. After much research, I was able to procure a wireless router and managed to clone the physical address of one of our internet cafe computers to the router itself, essentially making the router appear as a legitimate machine. Perhaps through complacency on part of the provider or luck, the maneuver was a success, and we were able to talk to our families whenever. While I'm not exactly proud of my disregard for the rules, the boost in morale my platoon received in one of the most kinetic areas of the country was well worth it, and understanding how technology can be used against itself drove me to pursue an education in information security.