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Fighting Cybercrime with Engaging Content

September 27, 2019

With a talent for writing and an interest in technology, Natalie Koly combines knowledge and skills gained through earning her BSIT from the College of Engineering in 2018 and her 2015 BA in Mass Communications from The Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications to promote cybersecurity and build a rewarding career for herself.

As a technical content engineer for the security awareness training company KnowBe4, Koly produces and manages digital content to educate clients about cybersecurity risks such as phishing attacks, which seek unauthorized access to sensitive information or systems by manipulating online human behavior. It is a job that Koly says utilizes a mix of marketing creativity and information technology expertise.

“I knew I wanted to be a writer but continue to develop my technical background, so I became a technical content engineer.”

Koly says she works with a team of four other women at KnowBe4, which according to its website has 647 employees as of January 2019, of whom more than 50 percent are women.

“It’s definitely an empowering feeling,” says Koly who adds that exposing young people to the possibilities of engineering is key to attracting their interest in the field.

An early exposure to computers raised Koly’s awareness of what technology could do and eventually, how she could be involved in it.

“When I was in elementary school, I was around my grandma a lot and she was really interested in computers back when it was just dial-up,” says Koly.

“It was actually in college where I realized, ‘Wow, I can actually learn to do this.’”

The software Koly uses ranges from Adobe creative content tools to programming languages like JavaScript, and she says that she is well-prepared for changes in the information technology field.

“Luckily, USF offers a competitve engineering program with exposure to many programming languages and a broad range of courses. This gives students the opportunity and ability to learn, explore, and discover new technologies.

Koly also cites another lesson she says she has learned: “Whatever career you’re working on now, that may not be your career in the future. Continue to learn and master skills in different areas so you can evolve. Never allow yourself to get comfortable.”