{"id":1429,"date":"2017-06-29T17:30:26","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T17:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2025-02-13T12:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T17:06:39","slug":"cyber-warrior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2017\/06\/29\/cyber-warrior\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Warrior"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1429_9cd28f-64 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1429_cf349f-6f\">Ten years and two Wilmington University degrees after arriving in the U.S., Roberto Rodriguez is leading efforts to protect network security at Capital One.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1429_5208ce-a2.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1429_5208ce-a2.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 .image-is-svg, .kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image1429_5208ce-a2 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1429_5208ce-a2\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez1-1024x683-e1588083799375-721x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img\"\/><figcaption><em>Roberto Rodriguez at WilmU\u2019s Pratt Center with his fianc\u00e9, Gretchen Wagner, and parents, Francisco and Flor de Maria Roberto Rodriguez<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When Roberto Rodriguez arrived in the United States at the age of 16, he couldn\u2019t speak or write a full sentence in English. He also had no idea how to properly sweep or mop a floor, which, he discovered, are necessary skills when you can only get basic jobs because, well, you don\u2019t know English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn the language, he began watching movies \u2014 at least 100 of them, by his estimate. \u201cAlso, I remember sticking little pieces of paper on different appliances at home with their names in English,\u201d he says. <strong>\u201c<\/strong>Sometimes, it was so hard I cried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he stuck with it, calling on the steely resolve (he likes to use the American term \u201cgrit\u201d) that has enabled him to earn two degrees from Wilmington University, start his own cyber security company, and become a cyber security leader at one of America\u2019s largest banking institutions \u2014 all in just 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodriguez was born in Miami but when he was 2, his family moved back to Peru, their native country. There, he and his two older brothers enjoyed a middle-class life with a father who was a computer programmer and a mother who taught kindergarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy mother was very strict with everything,\u201d he says, \u201cespecially school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young Roberto was a good student and athlete, playing soccer and volleyball and running the 100 and 400 meters in track. \u201cI really wasn\u2019t interested in computers,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved dogs, and at first I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then I thought about electrical engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like most Peruvian students, he graduated from high school at 16. That\u2019s when his father told him he must return to the United States before he was 18 or risk losing his U.S. citizenship.&nbsp; It came as a shock to Roberto, who had already applied to a university in Peru. But his father insisted, and he arranged for Roberto to live with a cousin in Newark, Delaware. To ease the transition, his father also moved to Newark, but stayed only three months. When he left, Rodriguez says, \u201cIt was a very hard time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gradually, he began learning his new country\u2019s language, bringing home a new movie almost every night, both with and without Spanish subtitles. He chose crime stories and dramas for their more realistic dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would pause them over and over,\u201d says Rodriguez, \u201cand try to translate what they were saying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He bought a dictionary of idioms and also began learning \u201cphrasal verbs\u201d \u2014 phrases that combine a verb with a preposition or adverb, or both, whose meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words. These can be especially problematic for anyone new to English. For instance, Rodriguez learned that \u201cI ran into my friend at the mall\u201d does not mean that there was a literal collision. Soon he was able to use phrases like \u201cI ran out of fries,\u201d now knowing that it meant more French fries were needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Says Rodriguez: \u201cIt helped me to feel like I was speaking like anybody else out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His new facility with language helped him land a job at McDonald\u2019s, and that\u2019s where he was introduced to cleaning floors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe had a maid in Peru, which is not unusual there,\u201d says Rodriguez, \u201cand our parents wanted us to focus on school.\u201d As a result, he did almost no household chores like, say, cleaning floors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he was a quick learner. He soon became proficient with a broom and mop, and after about a month he was promoted to the kitchen. There he found an English teacher of sorts: an older man, who, Rodriguez noticed, wore an ankle bracelet, of sorts. Despite the man\u2019s criminal past, he proved an effective mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe would teach me a couple of words a day,\u201d says Rodriguez. \u201cEveryday words. Like, he would point to his apron and then say the word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1429_1d6248-78.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image1429_1d6248-78 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1429_1d6248-78.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1429_1d6248-78 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image1429_1d6248-78 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image1429_1d6248-78 .image-is-svg, .kb-image1429_1d6248-78 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image1429_1d6248-78 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1429_1d6248-78\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez2-1024x683-1-720x480.jpg\" alt=\"Roberto with his mentor\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-1567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez2-1024x683-1-720x480.jpg 720w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez2-1024x683-1-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez2-1024x683-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Rodriquez2-1024x683-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><figcaption><em>Dr. Ed Guthrie (right, foreground) has served as a mentor for Roberto Rodriguez.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, he had enrolled at Delaware Technical Community College to study Computer Network Engineering. At about the same time, he got a job at a McDonald\u2019s that was closer to home. There, yet another co-worker became an English teacher, concentrating on slang terms. Which had its downside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne Sunday I hurt my back, and I asked him how to say that [with a colloquialism],\u201d says Rodriguez. The co-worker eagerly complied, teaching him a term containing an obscenity followed by \u201cup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next day in class, the teacher asked students to describe their weekends. Rodriguez, always eager to practice his new language, raised his hand. The teacher called on him and invited him to come to the front of the class, where he described tweaking his back, proudly using the hyphenated term he had just been taught. The class laughed, the teacher asked him to step into the hall for a short discussion, and Rodriguez learned another lesson: Americans are fond of practical jokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite moments of embarrassing miscommunication, his education was progressing nicely and he was gaining confidence. He joined the soccer team and earned a partial but substantial scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was on the soccer pitch that he first encountered Wilmington University. \u201cWe beat them 2-1, and that was the first time DelTech ever beat Wilmington,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was an epic game for us. Of course, we played them again later and we lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game also introduced him to WilmU, and he was impressed with its soccer team\u2019s uniforms, equipment, coaching staff, and even the mascot, Wiley D. Wildcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, after earning his associate degree from DelTech in 2012, he almost immediately enrolled at WilmU, switching his major to Computer Network Security. \u201cI decided stopping cyber criminals would be more interesting than dealing with switches, routers and modems,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued to work full-time, and as his English improved, so did his jobs. He was a manager at Olive Garden in Elkton, Maryland, when he entered WilmU. On his first day of classes, he encountered Dr. Ed Guthrie, who had been a customer at the restaurant. Dr. Guthrie, who was then dean of Technology and is now dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, complimented Rodriguez on the leadership qualities he had displayed as a manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe told me he had seen me talking with servers and sitting down with customers, and sort of keeping things calm,\u201d Rodriguez says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodriguez called his parents that night to thank them for their guidance on how to interact with people. \u201cThey told me to always smile, be friendly, make eye contact, say hello to people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says that Dr. Guthrie and his wife, Connie, have become mentors to him. \u201cIn fact,\u201d he says, \u201cI call them my American parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Guthrie, in turn, calls Rodriguez \u201cthe epitome of a Wilmington University student. He works full-time and he\u2019s looking for opportunity, and he was able to take advantage of our Work-Integrated Learning program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wu-blockquote-row is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I was impressed with Roberto\u2019s professionalism and his character,\u201d he adds. \u201cAgain, the epitome of a Wilmington University student.<\/p>\n<cite>\u2014 Dr. Guthrie<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>After earning his bachelor\u2019s in 2014, Rodriguez took a two-month break, then enrolled in WilmU\u2019s Master of Science program with a concentration in Information Assurance. He excelled, compiling a 3.89 grade point average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was also on the three-member team of graduate students who entered the 2015 Cyber 9\/12 competition. The first WilmU team to take part in the prestigious event, they went up against such schools as MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, and Brown. Demonstrating that he had indeed gained proficiency with English, Rodriguez was chosen to give the final presentation before the judges, and the team won the Most Creative Policy Response Alternative award. He has been asked to help coach the team during several competitions this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While he was finishing his bachelor\u2019s program, his employment picture brightened once again. Finally leaving the food service industry behind, Rodriguez got a job in his chosen career field, cyber security, joining MySherpa, a Wilmington firm specializing in IT services and computer security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a year-and-a-half, seeking more challenges, he left My-Sherpa to form his own company: HumanFirewalls. He recruited three WilmU students and offered services such as security awareness, threat intelligence, network security monitoring, vulnerability management, and cloud-based web and email security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, he took a full-time job with DuPont as a member of its Cyber Security Incident Response team in Wilmington, where he helped protect the organization\u2019s trade secrets from targeted sophisticated attacks. The job lasted only about 18 months, when the DuPont\/Dow merger became a reality, and he moved on to Capital One at the financial corporation\u2019s McLean, Va., headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Impressed with Rodriguez\u2019s credentials, and the fact that he was finishing his master\u2019s degree at WilmU, Capital One created a new position for him: cyber intrusion subject matter expert. \u201cThey told me they\u2019re trying to build the best cyber security team in the banking industry, and that\u2019s exciting to me\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After landing the Capital One position, he once again called his parents in Peru to report the good news and to thank them for instilling in him the work ethic that has helped make him a success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He expressed his gratitude to them once again \u2014 this time publicly \u2014 at January\u2019s graduation ceremonies, where he was one of the featured speakers. In his remarks, he also thanked the University for its diverse culture. \u201cI believe that learning with people from different backgrounds encourages collaboration and innovation due to the different perspectives they have and challenges they go through,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when I say Wilmington University, I do not mean only my professors, but all its staff . . . the admission team, security guards, the cafeteria team, maintenance, librarians, etc. You all contributed to our success and helped us to be prepared for the challenges that we will face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodriguez\u2019 most immediate challenge is marriage, a journey he will embark on in September. He plans to wed fellow Capital One employee Gretchen Wagner in her hometown of Pittsburgh. Ever a fast learner, Rodriguez has already become a Steelers fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says the only minor hiccup in their relationship occurs when they\u2019re watching a film and he reveals what\u2019s going to happen in the next scene. Apparently, that\u2019s the downside of translating more than 100 movies. WU<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ten years and two Wilmington University degrees after arriving in the U.S., Roberto Rodriguez is leading efforts to protect network security at Capital One. When&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145,135],"tags":[653],"class_list":["post-1429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-magazine","tag-magazine-summer-2017"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":653,"label":"Magazine Summer 2017"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Marchione","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rachel\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":653,"name":"Magazine Summer 2017","slug":"magazine-summer-2017","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1210,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16352,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions\/16352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}