Sears making presence known in cybersecurity

By Nate Ware
Communication ′24

Bryan Sears, a 2023 Trine University graduate, has made a big splash as he has joined the workforce.

Bryan, who was a Computer and Information Technology (CSIT) major at Trine, works for ShorePoint, a leading cybersecurity company.

ShorePoint has been named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for the past two years. Its mission is to secure and protect technologies, data and networks from domestic and foreign hackers, serving both public- and private-sector companies.

Bryan is responsible for providing vulnerability assessments and penetration tests for the company. In addition, he oversees automated scan review and validations.

“I get to travel all across the United States to visit client sites,” he noted as a benefit of his job.

Bryan knew early on that he had an interest in cybersecurity.

“When I was in high school, I learned how to jam WiFi signals and use hacking tools while I was playing in my home lab,” he said.

Since Bryan is from the Angola, Indiana, area, Trine was a natural choice for his education. At Trine, he learned on “Hack the Box,” a cybersecurity upskilling, certification, and talent assessment software platform that prepared him for the work he now does daily. His classes also covered course material for Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification, which “requires test takers to hack into five boxes and write a report in 24 hours.”

Bryan excelled as a student at Trine and earned OSCP certification. This made his resume stand out enough for a SharePoint recruiter to reach out.

Bryan is in now a position he previously thought would have taken five to ten years to achieve. He is continuing his education by working on a master’s degree and hopes to eventually teach on an adjunct basis.