Portfolio
Published media, interviews, presentations, achievements, and other work.
Awards and Achievements
2022 Spring Commencement Student Speaker
Mariel Klosterman is selected to share advice with graduates at the Dakota State University spring commencement ceremony on May 7, as the student speaker.
2021 Open Source Rising Star of the Year
Mariel Klosterman is recognized as the Open Source Rising Star of the Year for her excellent potential through demonstrated investigative skills and talents and leadership at an early stage in her OSINT career.
2019 South Dakota Cadet of the Year
Mariel Klosterman is recognized as the most outstanding cadet in the South Dakota Wing.
2018 North Central Region Commander’s Commendation
This award is presented to Mariel Klosterman for “outstanding duty performance where achievements and services are clearly and unmistakably exceptional when compared to similar achievements and service of members of like rank and responsibility.”
2017 North Central Region Commander’s Commendation
This award is presented to Mariel Klosterman for “outstanding duty performance where achievements and services are clearly and unmistakably exceptional when compared to similar achievements and service of members of like rank and responsibility.”
2017 South Dakota Commander’s Commendation
This award is presented to Mariel Klosterman for “outstanding duty performance where achievements and services are clearly and unmistakably exceptional when compared to similar achievements and service of members of like rank and responsibility.”
2017 Aspirations in Computing Award
This award honors young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Mariel Klosterman was selected based on aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing; leadership ability; academic history; and plans for post-secondary education.
Professional Speaking
Cardinal Control: Utilizing Sock Puppets for Investigations
Sock puppet accounts are incredibly useful for finding information for investigations and intelligence gathering. With new security implementations on social platforms, more and more accounts are being closed – and the difficulty in creating an account is increasing.
On the Internet, No One Knows You're a Sock Puppet
Have you ever seen an account that posts spam or seems to be an obviously fake account? They’re trying to sell you something or maybe they’re commenting on the latest political situation. But what do you know about the accounts collecting information that you don’t notice?
Presentations
Cardinal Control: Utilizing Sock Puppets for Investigations
Sock puppet accounts are incredibly useful for finding information for investigations and intelligence gathering. With new security implementations on social platforms, more and more accounts are being closed – and the difficulty in creating an account is increasing.
On the Internet, No One Knows You're a Sock Puppet
Have you ever seen an account that posts spam or seems to be an obviously fake account? They’re trying to sell you something or maybe they’re commenting on the latest political situation. But what do you know about the accounts that are created to collect information?
Hacking the Cybersecurity Career Path
Empowering technology students and professionals to shift their mindset in order to maximize their full potential as cybersecurity professionals and hack the cybersecurity career path.
Preventing Current and Future Cybersecurity Threats They Affect the Financial Services Industry
Cyber Education Through Gamification
Introduction to Information Analysis (Middle school Cybersecurity Lesson + Activity)
Intro to Cryptography (Middle school Cybersecurity Lesson + Activity)
Intro to Web Development (High school Cybersecurity Lesson + Activity)
Intro to Cybersecurity Investigations (Middle school Cybersecurity Lesson + Activity)
The Real Effects of Cybersecurity within Financial Services
Sock Puppet Accounts
In this Rainbow Secure Cyber Symposium presentation, Mariel Klosterman defines what sock puppet accounts are, how they affect cybersecurity, and how to basic set up a passive reconnaissance sock puppet.
Sock Puppeteers: Using Social Media To Extract Information
In this Day of Shecurity presentation, Mariel Klosterman covers what sock puppet accounts are and why you should care, how to create a sock puppet account, and a basic guide for setting up a passive reconnaissance sock puppet.
The Sock Puppeteer
Becoming Hackerman
Published Media
Whitepaper: Pulling the Wool Over on You
In Hg’s Summer FactSheet, up-and-coming cybersecurity researcher Dakota State University Junior, Mariel Klosterman, describes how sock puppets are used by malicious actors and OSINT investigators, types of sock puppet accounts, and how to create a sock puppet for information collection.
Leadership
Cx3 has opened many doors, and let me meet many incredible individuals. I hope to be a staff member that can facilitate that and add to the mission you guys project!
– Student Member
Cyber Community Club
A community of like-minded individuals striving to educate middle and high school students in the STEM fields of technology and cybersecurity.
The Cyber Community Club (Cx3) was officially launched in November 2021. Our goal is to educate and provide cybersecurity opportunities to youth.
Individuals Reached Since Inception
Through Cx3, we hope to inspire and motivate students to discover the endless amount of possibilities that this field holds.
Every staff member is friendly at all times, and unlike other CTF staff, doing an amazing job at identifying cheaters, toxic people and other bad things. Furthermore, they were almost available at any time of the day. I’m quite sure there was not a single moment where no staff member was online.
– Student Member
