Networking VS Security

ProFamous

Just starting out, regardless of pay scale and other factors, what are the job descriptions of Security vs Networking? I thought they both went hand in hand, you need networking to do security and vice versa. I've also heard that deep security involves a lot of computer science/programming, which i despise. Any help? Thanks in advance.

markulous

Your question is a bit vague.

There are lots of different types of jobs in security and networking that it'd be impossible to list out job descriptions of every single thing.

Also, there doesn't really seem to be much as far as entry-level into security. Whereas at least networking has NOC teams that can have some networking responsibilities.

What do you WANT to do? What technologies interest you?

cyberguypr

Don't forget that Security is an enormous umbrella. There's the technical vs. non-technical side. Each side has a zillion paths you can take. Definitely specify what area you are interested.

spicy ahi

Ditto to the above. I'd like to share that I started out in networking but moved into security as a result of my background so there is some truth to what you're thinking. The main reason is understanding data flow, which is important in a lot of aspects of computer security. But as markulous and cyber have said, security is a broad umbrella. In my humble opinion, one important thing for someone like you aspiring to enter the security field is to touch as many different aspects of IT as possible. Don't limit yourself to JUST networking. Take on a sys admin job (or two, windows and linux/unix) And as for programming, well, that's what I'm having to look into as there are more and more jobs (at least in the DoD space where I am) that are looking for security personnel who are acquainted with scripting and programming. The expectation isn't that you can create complex programs, more like understanding when you have to talk to the programmers and be able to relate security posturing, processes, procedures and whatnot to them in the language they understand (hah! See what I did there?).

ProFamous

Thanks all. I understand that my question is broad, however I do not have the experience or knowledge to be more specific.@spicy ahl , you say that many desirable security jobs request programming and coding, however I despise programming with a passion. What are the differences in day to day activities of your job in security vs your old job in networking? The reason I ask is because there seems to be much overlap between the two fields when looking at certs and other factors, however, as @spicy ahl said, programming is very crucial. I really like the networking and sys admin side, really trying to avoid software development and heavy coding.