Hi, I'm Dawson Kritz

Cybersecurity Student | IT Infrastructure Enthusiast

I build, break, and document security systems in controlled environments. Passionate about network defense, threat hunting, and turning academic research into hands-on skill.

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About Me

I am currently pursuing my degree in Cybersecurity with a focus on Network Security and Digital Forensics. I enjoy building lab environments, analyzing real-world attack scenarios, and documenting lessons learned for future understanding.

Core Focus

Network Security, Incident Response, Penetration Testing, Cloud Security

Tools

Wireshark, Nmap

Education

Associates Degree in Cybersecurity - Pima Community College (December 2026)

Cybersecurity Labs

Academic and independent lab projects demonstrating practical security skills, threat analysis, and defense engineering.

Microsoft Active Directory Domain

Home Lab

Using Windows Server 2019-2025 on a Proxmox server, I created a Windows Active Directory Domain Environment with different users, groups, organizational units, and desktops.

Roles/Features Basic PowerShell Group Policy Performance Monitoring

Network Troubleshooting

Home Lab

Analyzed PCAP files containing various payloads. Used various capture and display filters to analyze network captures.

Wireshark

AWS Cloud Computing

School Lab

Configured and deployed AWS EC2 instances in different availibility zones.

Amazon EC2 instances Amazon Security Groups Amazon VPC Amazon Cloud Front Amazon Cloud Watch Amazon Route 53

Proxmox NAT Gateway Lab

Volunteer Lab

Configured Network Address Translation using Windows Server Routing and Remote Access

Routed private 10.10.0.0/16 network to the internet

Connected Windows 10/11 and Ubuntu Clients through a virtual bridge

Proxmox Windows Server 2019-2025 Windows 10/11 Ubuntu

Home Lab Setup

A production-grade, isolated environment used for testing, CTF prep, and security tooling.

Infrastructure

Virtualized & Physical Hybrid

Hosted Server running Proxmox VE with various virtual machines. Separate networks for AD, SIEM tools, and attack/defense zones.

Security Stack

Monitoring & Logging

INFO HERE

Recent Projects

Active Development

Hosted a LLM on my home PC.

Bonus Courses & Independent Learning

Additional coursework completed outside of college to strengthen practical IT, networking, cloud, and cybersecurity skills.

CompTIA Network+ Preparation

Udemy • Jason Dion Training

Studying network architecture, routing, switching, subnetting, wireless networking, troubleshooting, and enterprise security concepts.

Networking Subnetting Troubleshooting Security

Linux Administration Fundamentals

Independent Learning

Practicing Linux system administration, networking, permissions, process management, package management, and shell navigation in Ubuntu and Red Hat based environments.

Linux Bash System Administration

AWS Cloud & Networking

Coursera / Self Study

Learning AWS networking, EC2 deployment, VPC configuration, security groups, routing, and cloud infrastructure concepts.

AWS Cloud VPC EC2

Certifications & Technical Experience

Academic, competitive, and professional milestones in cybersecurity.

CompTIA A+

[November, 2025]

Industry-recognized validation of baseline IT skills, with an emphasis on hardware, operating systems, network security, compliance, and operational security.

CompTIA Network+ (In-Progress)

[Expected August, 2026]

Industry-recognized validation of baseline IT skills, with an emphasis on network topology, network security, compliance, and operational security.

CompTIA Security+ (In-Progress)

[Expected August, 2026]

Industry-recognized validation of baseline cybersecurity skills, with an emphasis on network security, endpoint security, malware, compliance, and operational security.

Data Center Volunteering

[April - June, 2026]

Using the data center at Pima Community College, I created and deployed virtual machines hosting on-premises labs for students enrolled in Networking courses.

Resume

Download a copy of my current resume for more details about my education, certifications, projects, and experience.

Dawson Kritz Resume

PDF Download

Includes my cybersecurity education, CompTIA certification progress, homelab projects, technical skills, previous work experience, and volunteer experience.

Download Resume

Get In Touch

Open to entry-level support roles or IT/cybersecurity internships.

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