Welcome to my Cloud of Thoughts! This site will be used as an avenue of my thoughts and curiosity around the world of technology, more specifically, security. Articles will be shared, blog posts about my learnings will be shared and most importantly, so will my experiences. So first, like Jay Z once said, allow me to (re)introduce myself. 

My name is Damanpreet Dhaliwal, born and raised in Jamaica, NY and currently residing in Suffolk County, NY. My education is due to the great public school system of NYC where I was able to see first hand just how big and small the world is. My elementary and middle school days were spent at P.S. 62 and M.S. 137, just as technological advances were becoming apparent in the classroom.

In High School, I entered a robotics program at Thomas Edison CTE High School, a great propellant of my interest in STEM and technology. I had the privilege of attending CodeNow at Bloomberg and several robotics competition. This, along with my personal experiences, affirmed to me that working with technology is something I can not escape.

When it came time to college, I knew I wanted to pursue the idea of "Cybersecurity." When I was younger, one Christmas while home on break, I turned on my Xbox to find out I could not play online. Come to find out, this was an DDoS attack on Microsoft by a group called Lizard Squad. Millions around the world had their Christmas ruined due to a petty group and this is what lit the fuse in my head. 

So I pursued a B.B.A. in CIS from Bernard Baruch College, I knew I liked business and had an interest in Information Security so it was a no-brainer. This allowed me to gain a greater insight to not only how businesses run, but the tools and ideas around Information Security and how they are essessntial for any modern organization to succeed.  

As I was pursuing my degree, I had the opportunity to work with two great start-ups. Rocket Club Academy, a STEM/Entrepreneurship program for students aged 8-14 & And.Apartments, a property management company based out of Jersey City. Both opportunities allowed me to hone my professional skills, along with my educational career. At Rocket Club Academy, I was brought on as an instructor but soon went on to lead expansions to British International School and Lower Manhattan and create STEM curriculum as the company scaled and grew. And.Apartments allowed me to view the business side of real estate and incorporate various SaaS softwares to help modernize the aging, traditional real estate game in Jersey City with online portals, virtual tours, modern security deposit measures and much more.

Once I graduated in June of 2021, I was able to find a role at Core BTS, providing Information Technology support, spanning various platforms, tools and clients. 

This blog will include my ideas, articles I find interesting, personal projects I am working on, certification guides and old STEM curriculum for fun! Enjoy my Cloud of Thoughts!