Looking for advice

mb902

I’ve been a windows admin for almost 20 years. I passed my MCSA years ago for the 2003 track and also have my A+ and NET+ and recently passed my CCNA.

I also work for a MSP and I’ve recently been involved and auditing clients and getting them compatible for HIPPA and NIST

Now I want to get into security and I’m debating what to write first. 

Security + doesn’t seem to get a lot of respect in many forums but is also well known I the industry.

I’ve also contemplated my Cisco cyber ops but I’m 
open to suggestions.

LordQarlyn

Security+ will definitely open some doors in government and government contract jobs.

Do you enjoy auditing? You already mentioned you have some experience auditing for compliance with government standards, and that's one IT security field that's going to be around and in demand for a while. If you like auditing, I would consider pursuing certs along that path. A CISA would be a good start. There are other certs to go along with that but I would try to get more experience.

Of course, continue soul searching, find something you have a knack for as well as the passion.

mb902

I do like the auditing as well as implementation of policies.

I’m not a strong programmer. I can read an interpret code and modify for my needs but I do not work with programming enough to be able to develop from skratch. I’m not sure at what point in a security career this will hurt me 

LordQarlyn

mb902 said:

I do like the auditing as well as implementation of policies.

I’m not a strong programmer. I can read an interpret code and modify for my needs but I do not work with programming enough to be able to develop from skratch. I’m not sure at what point in a security career this will hurt me 

You may have some doors that will be closed to you, but information security is a broad field, as is IT. Sure, there are lots of app development jobs. But one can grow and advance and have a successful career, even reaching senior management or C-level jobs without ever having to write a line of code.

Unless programming is something you've really wanted to do, I wouldn't sweat it.

Severine

The Security+ certification will be worth it if you wish to pursue a career related to cybersecurity or if you need to learn network security as part of your job.

yoba222

I wouldn't put it on a business card signature, but Security+ did open several doors for me and not just DoD (though that was the biggest door by far).
Cyber Ops was fun and seemed very focused on developing a skillset for entry level SOC analyst. Not sure if there's any ROI name recognition these days on that one.

Edit: February post. Oh well.