Internship information
- Position: Maritime Software Engineering Intern
- Internship date: May 2022 - July 2022
- Location: Fair Lakes, VA
- Company Website: gdmissionsystems.com
GDMS
As an intern at General Dynamics Mission Systems, I automated the installation of CentOS 8 Stream over NFS using DHCP and TFTP for secure kiosk deployment. I hardened kickstarts to meet STIG compliance and prevent cyber-attacks. I created Bash and Python scripts to automate device setup, user permissions, and environment configurations. I also implemented secure booting and classified data clearance measures for enhanced security.
Technical Experiences
During this internship I learned a lot about low-level code used to set up the operating system. I worked heavily with bash scripts and kickstart files to automate the installation of CentOS 8 Stream. This process meant selecting specific packages for the operating system, setting up user permissions, and configuring the environment. I also learned about the security measures that are taken to ensure that the operating system is secure. This included setting up secure booting and restricting port access to prevent cyber-attacks. I also learned about the process of clearing classified data from a device and the measures that are taken to ensure that the data is completely removed from the device.
Challenges
When working at GDMS, one of the biggest issues I faced was the transfer of information from one system to another. This is due to the fact no linux system is allowed to connect to the internet and lead to creating offline mirror repositories. Furthermore, in order to transfer edited scripts from one system to another, I had to learn about how network switches are used to route data and how to configure paths to allow for the transfer of data. This taught me a lot about network routing and bash low-level bash commands.