The Linux Foundation regularly awards scholarships as part of its Linux Training Scholarship Program. In the five years that the Linux Foundation has hosted this program, it has awarded a total of 34 scholarships totalling more than $100,000 in free training to students and professionals who may not otherwise have access to these opportunities. In conjunction with this scholarship program, we are featuring recent recipients in the hope that their stories will inspire others.
This installment of our series features Eva Tanaskoska from Macedonia, who received a scholarship in the Women in Linux category. Eva has been working with and researching information security for a few years now. She is currently forming a CERT team at her university, where she mentors students on using Linux to perform penetration tests, forensic investigations, and incident response. We asked Eva to answer a few questions about her background and plans for the future.
How did you become interested in Linux and open source?
When I was 15, I started getting interested in cybersecurity, thanks to a friend of mine who sparked my interest. My first Linux experience was with BackTrack 2, which was considered a somewhat advanced Linux distribution that required certain knowledge. As a beginner, I had to find my way around it if I was to pursue my goals, and therefore I was motivated to learn as much as I could to utilize BackTrack properly. The challenges and effort kept stimulating me to learn more, and the open source development seemed fascinating and appealing, inspiring me to become a part of it.
What Linux Foundation course are you planning to take with your new scholarship?
I’m planning to take the Linux Security course (LFS416), because I want to learn as much as I can about Linux’s security mechanisms.
How do you expect to use the knowledge you gain from the course?
It will help me in understanding Linux’s security better. I’m planning on researching the subject thoroughly because it has always been of interest to me. My graduation thesis will also be Linux security oriented. Therefore, I’m certain the course will help me greatly with it and possibly with my postgraduate studies, too.
What are your career goals? How do you see a Linux Foundation course helping you achieve those goals?
My aim in life is to do information security research, and I’m certain that the Linux Security course will help me to better understand and contribute to Linux in the area I’m most interested in. Considering Linux is very flexible and used in various environments, as well as the fact that security is becoming an even greater concern, I’m assuming that Linux 
security professionals will soon be very welcome and needed around the world.
What other hobbies or projects are you involved in? Do you participate in any open source projects at this time?
I like to express my artistic self through my art, and I’ve been a gamer since age 7. I’m also very fond of mentoring, which is why I work as a mentor and coordinator at the Computer Networking and Cyber-Security Academy at Newman’s Business Accelerator in Macedonia. I do not participate in any open source projects at this time, but since I find the open source philosophy very altruistic, I’m definitely planning on taking up some open source projects in my free time.
Read more:
Linux Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Enrique Sevillano, SysAdmin Superstar
Linux Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Anthony Hooper, Whiz Kid
Linux Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Yashdeep Saini, Developer Do-Gooder
Linux Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Kiran Padwal, Kernel Guru
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