The Great Unknown: Cyber New Professional Leans into Learning

The only certainty in cybersecurity is that nothing is certain. Pamela Petterchak carries that knowledge with her as she explores different corners of the domain at MITRE. In her current role, she works on behalf of federal defense sponsors. 

"There's always something new to learn," the engineer says. "And part of our job as cyber people is to find the things that we don't know yet."

Petterchak's first foray into cybersecurity—after graduating from Missouri University of Science and Technology—was a Department of Defense internship where she learned the fundamentals of safeguarding federal workspaces. 

Protecting Minors Online

Petterchak took advantage of MITRE's Early Career Research Program, which allows young careerists to delve into independent research projects for 50% of their time over the course of a year. She focused her efforts on the exploitation of children online. 

"I've always been drawn to the idea of using technology to make life better for people," she explains. "But as I started to learn more about cybersecurity, I realized there was a significant gap in how we protect kids online."

Petterchak anchored her project with the cyber approach known as threat-informed defense, emphasizing the principle that effectively countering bad actors requires you to understand how they behave.

She scoured massive segments of public court data to pull out common tactics predators use to lure their victims online. She then cross-referenced the techniques with MITRE ATT&CK®, a framework that tracks real-world adversary behavior.

In the resulting Cybercrimes Against Minors Matrix (CAMM), Petterchak maps tactics to outcomes along an attack chain, laying out a roadmap of how online behavior—like using a false identity—can escalate to crimes in person.

"If we can find a way to prevent one of these tactics from being successful, we could prevent the rest of the attack chain from coming to fruition," she explains.

In addition to providing a standardized language for stakeholders, CAMM has enormous potential. It can be used by law enforcement to consolidate information about criminal behavior online, by technology developers to identify ways they can improve safety controls on their platforms, and by teachers and parents to educate children about the perils of the internet.

"By making online exploitation more analytical and clinical, Pamela's work represents a chance to bring this problem space to educators and parents who would normally shrink away from the sensitive topic," says Adam Hammond, a cyber engineer and Petterchak's project supervisor.

Her work is one piece of a much larger puzzle pertaining to best cyber practices for young people, but it's a critical step considering nearly half of teens say they're "almost constantly" online, according to Pew research. Add to that: online enticement of minors is up 300% from 2021 to 2023.

Online Actors vs. Theater Actors

Outside of work, Petterchak unwinds in alternate universes, expressing her passion for Dungeons & Dragons and community theater. The storytelling connection between her creative pursuits and cyber profession is not lost on her.

"If I'm in a play, I need to understand the characters and their motivations," she explains. "Part of my job is understanding the system and the way things interact."

Tenacity Defines a Cyber Expert

An ability to work past the point of frustration is key to being successful in cybersecurity, Petterchak says.

"It's a combination of being tenacious and being able to push yourself, but then also being willing to ask for help from others when you hit a wall."

She's grateful for MITRE's community, noting: "We're all constantly helping each other learn."

Learning is a huge part of the cybersecurity draw for Petterchak, who's pursuing her master's degree in the subject from Harvard Extension School with support from MITRE's continued education benefit.

"When it comes to cybersecurity, you're always learning or trying something new and that's what I love about it," she says.