{"id":1039,"date":"2023-04-24T09:45:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2023-05-08T17:39:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T21:39:53","slug":"meet-melissa-kimble-arcsims-research-data-security-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/2023\/04\/24\/meet-melissa-kimble-arcsims-research-data-security-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Melissa Kimble, ARCSIM\u2019s Research Data Security Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Iris May-Fleming, Media Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

In an age where cybersecurity threats are increasing at an alarming rate, the importance of securing sensitive data within research institutions has never been more critical. One individual dedicated to this cause is Melissa Kimble, a Research Data Security Analyst at the University of Maine (91福利).<\/span><\/p>\n

As the data security analyst for 91福利\u2019s Advanced Research Computing, Security, and Information Management (ARCSIM) group, \u201cMy position is really to help translate cybersecurity needs to researchers, faculty, and staff.\u201d Kimble said. \u201cA lot of researchers need an extra level of protection for their data, whether that\u2019s Department of Defense research, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, or really any personal data that doesn\u2019t have specific regulatory requirements but we consider sensitive.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The journey to her current role has been a winding one. With a background in anthropology and geospatial information science, Kimble found her passion for computer science through her coursework. This led her to pursue a second bachelor’s degree and a subsequent master’s degree. She worked at a tech company briefly as well, which further cemented her interest in computing. \u201cI\u2019ve had a pretty broad interest in computer science,\u201d Kimble explained. \u201cI started out mainly with data science, over time I started emphasizing more data engineering, and the missing piece was cybersecurity. Security sits in the background of all that, but I didn\u2019t focus explicitly on it. I\u2019d always wanted to know more, and now it\u2019s my main focus.\u201d With five years at 91福利 pursuing a Ph.D. in spatial information science and engineering,\u00a0 Kimble has a deep understanding of research at 91福利. She contributed to the NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 SEANET and Maine-eDNA projects before joining ARCSIM in her current role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A typical day for a Research Data Security Analyst involves a wide range of tasks, from contract reviews and consulting to project management and standards development. Recently, Kimble worked with the Information Security Office, the Office of Research Compliance, and the ARCSIM team to develop a foreign travel policy to protect the university’s data while traveling overseas. \u201cA big part of my time is consulting,\u201d Kimble explained. \u201cWe don\u2019t charge for security services. Researchers will come in wanting to improve their current security posture, and we develop a plan together to help them get to where they want to go.\u201d This isn\u2019t easy due to the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity and specificity of different bodies of regulations. Subsequently, Kimble\u2019s work often involves extensive reading and summarizing federal and state regulations to stay informed and prepared for the growing list of cybersecurity requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal requirements for conducting research have been increasing, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kimble explained. With the recent surge in remote work, compliance with federal regulations became increasingly complex. Researchers now have to navigate new requirements related to data security, privacy, and confidentiality. Additionally, some research projects that require on-site access to specialized equipment and facilities face unique challenges. Kimble described the importance of universities prioritizing compliance with federal regulations, ensuring the integrity of their research. She recommends that researchers stay informed about the latest regulatory changes, and to contact ARCSIM if they have any questions. ARCSIM will be conducting at least one security focused seminar per semester going forward to help researchers stay abreast of the evolving cybersecurity environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Iris May-Fleming, Media Intern In an age where cybersecurity threats are increasing at an alarming rate, the importance of securing sensitive data within research institutions has never been more critical. One individual dedicated to this cause is Melissa Kimble, a Research Data Security Analyst at the University of Maine (91福利). As the data security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1966,"featured_media":1040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"3","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-security-posts"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"News"},{"value":13,"label":"Security Posts"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/526\/2023\/04\/Meet-Melissa-Kimble.png",1268,713,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"dtimmermann","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/author\/dtimmermann\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":39,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":39,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":1},{"term_id":13,"name":"Security Posts","slug":"security-posts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":13,"taxonomy":"category","description":"ARCSIM Security Posts. Frequently Asked Questions, descriptions, definitions, and resources all dedicated to research security.","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":13,"category_count":5,"category_description":"ARCSIM Security Posts. Frequently Asked Questions, descriptions, definitions, and resources all dedicated to research security.","cat_name":"Security Posts","category_nicename":"security-posts","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1966"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1098,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions\/1098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/arcsim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}