Jonathan Togstad

Chinook Writer

Nick Mesecher is protecting students and staff alike at Casper College by utilizing cybersecurity protocols. Technology advanced significantly in past decades, and scammers advanced along with it, making cybersecurity more important than ever. When it comes to online campus security, it’s even more important as campus data bases impact thousands of students and staff. Nick Mesecher started working at Casper College in 2016 where he started as System Administrator. He later transitioned to being the campus’ IT Systems Security Analyst. In the last 5 years of his work with IT he began to heavily consider the importance of cybersecurity. He said he’s now worked in IT for over 25 years total.

Cybersecurity is now essential to the operation of college campuses and Casper College is no different. Mesecher said he deals with numerous phishing emails, which are emails that are attempting to steal your data, and analyzing the traffic that comes through the college’s systems on a daily basis. Using tools like Security Onion, he evaluates the data and seeks out where a threat or breach may occur. 

“I want to know if there’s some area that we could get compromised and how to protect ourselves,” said Mesecher. 

Another way he is protecting campus is through an automated process that labels phishing or sketchy emails as quarantined, meaning there is a smaller chance of harm. He is also working with the campus’ Human Resources department to create an onboarding program for new and current employees to have a better understanding of how to identify a phishing email and how to report them to the IT department. 

Mesecher improved security in many ways since transitioning to his current role. He spent much of his time and effort on outreach and awareness to students and staff. For example, some may notice the Control Alt Defend newsletter sent to Casper College inboxes. Mesecher said the newsletter sat on his to-do list since taking his current position. The goal of the newsletter is to educate students and staff on cybersecurity procedures. Mesecher did a large awareness campaign for cybersecurity month and hopes to continue the newsletter. 

Mesecher and IT Network Coordinator Brian Clark, conducted another outreach event in hosting a movie night for Tron. They discussed how cybersecurity relates to the film and how students can become more knowledgeable about their online security both on and off campus. 

“I always think that our biggest threat is ourselves. Not teaching and not educating students and employees on how they should handle that type of stuff,” said Mesecher. “I think we just need to keep doing better at that. So I’m really working on more awareness campaigns.”

Mesecher said the most common mistake users make is not slowing down. Many users see an email and open it immediately without checking the email address of the sender or content of the message. Mesecher offered some of the questions to consider when receiving an email that could be fraudulent: Were you expecting something from the sender? What actions are they asking you to do? Generally, is this something that person would even ask you to do? Mesecher emphasized the importance of thinking critically in cybersecurity situations to make sure the email is not spam, fraudulent, or harmful. He went on to say that transparency on campus is extremely important. Despite emphasizing guidelines and awareness campaigns to combat them, breaches still occur on campus. 

Mesecher concluded, “When somebody opens a phishing email and they go through and they give up their credentials, (then) I like to start the conversation…This wasn’t your fault. This is not something that you should feel bad about. These are criminals. These are bad guys that are doing everything that they can to make your life hell.”