We're excited to connect with our alumni through our Darlington Connects series. Today, we hear from Scott Poley ('03), who works as a senior threat hunter and content manager for Cyborg Security.
Darlington teachers talk about preparing our students for jobs that don’t exist yet. Luckily for Scott Poley (‘03), Darlington teachers have been doing that for decades. Scott works in the field of cyber security.
“I work in what we call threat hunting, a field developed by the NSA less than 15 years ago to help the United States become more proactive in detecting cyber threats,” he explained.
Scott never imagined this would be his life’s work when he came to Darlington as a day student in the third grade. His passion in those days was basketball and music. “I loved basketball and played any chance I got," he said. "I remember sneaking into the old gym in the afternoons just to practice. I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I just wanted to play basketball all the time!”
Math teacher Carl Paxton left his mark on Scott as did basketball coaches Jim Van Es and Tim Garrett. “Mr. Paxton opened my views on math and helped me see that math was more than just numbers,” he said. “Our industry is always changing and, like Mr. Paxton taught us in math, there is always a solution. No problem can’t be solved. It may take a lot of time and money, but there is always a solution, and you can approach problems in a myriad of ways. Coach Van Es and Coach Garrett pushed us to work hard and we didn’t want to disappoint them. That work ethic has helped me succeed.”
As a Darlington student, Scott also enjoyed piano. “I remember playing the piano in the chapel throughout my years at Darlington," he said. "It was such a special place and music is my therapy.”
He stays in touch with one of his classmates and good friend, Peter Hicks ('03), through music. “When we get together, we play guitar," said Scott. "Our friendship began at Darlington and has stayed strong through the years.”
After Darlington, Scott studied engineering at Cal Poly, but wasn’t convinced that it was what he wanted to do. After taking classes at a neighboring community college, he met some guys who worked in satellite communications for the military (One Chucks) and decided to enlist in the U.S. Army for that program. As luck would have it, he was assigned to the tactical side of the program where 'One Chucks' didn't exist. At this point, he made the decision to go airborne with a U.S. Army Ranger contract. After surviving the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP), he was awarded the honor of serving his military career as a Ranger from 2007-2011.
“I did three deployments, one in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, as a part of a special task force sent in to take out high-priority threats and provide secure communication to establish a common operating picture for the forces on the ground,” he said.
These experiences around the United States and the world and led him to earn his B.S. in Computer Science with a focus in Digital Forensics from Eastern Kentucky University. There, he interned for and eventually ran the university’s digital security program while finishing his degree. He is currently working on his M.S. in Information Security Engineering at SANS Institute and works as a senior threat hunter and content developer for Cyborg Security.
“I love helping people understand digital safety and the threats that exist," he said, adding that he does a great deal of teaching and really enjoys that aspect of his job.
He also hosts a podcast called “Out of the Woods - the Threat Hunting Podcast.” He would love to connect with members of the Darlington Community to share more. If you would like to connect with Scott, please email connect@darlingtonschool.org.
Are you a member of Darlington Community (or do you know one) with an interesting career or community involvement? We'd love to spotlight you in a future blog! Please email connect@darlingtonschool.org if you are interested in being featured.
