Need advice on what I can do for my degree. Please help.

ShGreen

Hi, I am currently doing a bachelors on Computer Engineering Technology and minor in Computer Science. I am on my second year and would like to start getting certifications and other things needed to get a job that will take me where I want to go. I would like to go into security and hacking, but I don't know where to start. I have read many of the forums here and other websites, but they just confuse me more. I plan on doing the some basic certifications (A+, Networking+, Security+) by the end of next year. I was also looking into security architecture and network security. I guess I need to do more research on both of these, but I would like to work with computer security and maybe the actual home/building security. There's so many certifications I don't really know which ones to take or what kind of jobs I should have to get into computer security. Also, do you know of anything I should be already doing to prepare me for computer security or hacking? Thanks! Sorry for the long paragraph.

abyssinica

I don't know about home/building security, but if you want to be a "hacker", you will need to become a programmer. The more languages you know, the better.

ImYourOnlyDJ

The Comptia trio (A+, Network+, and Security+) would be a great start. I would imagine that you would most likely have to start with an entry level position such as help desk or network support before moving into an actual security position. It seems like CISSP is the leading security certification at this time. CCNA and CCNA-Security would be great as well.

Some things you could do on the side could be setting up VPNs, sniffing packets (on your own network), and just take the time to learn networking basics (like the OSI model and IP packet contents).

Jon_Cisco

I agree. Look to become an expert programmer.

Otherwise your though process seems to be all over the place. Slow down and break things into little pieces. Pick 1 cert and study for it. Pick the next cert/program/topic etc... and study for it. You have time.

Read the job postings. Find out which jobs interest you and look at the qualifications. That is cheap, easy and current.

Good Luck

Wolvendeer

If you're looking at a first job in the IT industry, you're probably looking at getting either a job on a NOC team, a Help Desk, a desktop support team, or perhaps an access management/logical access/ identity and access managment team. Those are the four entry level positions that most people I know of go into. You might also be able to find a junior level programming job if programming is something that you're a good hand at, but I'm not really familiar with that area of the IT world (I work on an application team right at the moment, but I got my start in identity & access management and desktop support). If you're going into help desk or desktop support, A+ might be useful to get you in the door, but otherwise I would recommend you skip it. Security+ is going to be the most useful entry level certification in the IT Security arena, but Network+ also helps if you're looking at a NOC or Help Desk job from what I hear.

As far as a job in 'Security and Hacking', the only position that I know of that deals with hacking directly would be a Pen Testing job, which would narrow your pool of employers down to the consulting firms that offer that service (the companies I've worked for only hire consulting firms for this type of work and don't have in house personnel). There are, however network security teams (who work with firewalls and other network security devices), application security teams (who work with things like tripwire, wireshark, and other such tools), computer forensics teams, and risk management teams that all offer interesting work that is related to 'security and hacking', but from a defending perspective.

If you're going on the network route, a CCNA track might be useful to you, but I would focus on the basics first. Get a few entry level certifications to help you get in the door, and then focus on experience, as at this stage in your career, getting experience will be more important than getting certifications. Once you have experience, I would recommend keeping an eye open at the company you work for to see what the different teams there are and what job titles they have, then look up on indeed or the company job bulletin to see what certifications they require so you will know what to focus on. Certifications without experience, however, is not going to be of much use to you and may actually hurt you (with the exception of the ones I mentioned in my first paragraph).

Edit - As a final word, I would say that while knowing programming languages is definitely useful if you want to become a hacker, and scripting languages such as python, ruby, and bash will definitely help you, getting a job in hacking/pen testing is not going to rely on your programming knowledge. Most job postings I've seen for those positions don't even ask for it. What you will need for that type of work in the corporate world, however, is a good understanding of how networks work, how protocols work, and how to use tools like Wireshark and Nessus.

ShGreen

Thank you so much y'all! This really helped a lot.