Cissp, CCNA, GSEC ??? Career question.

scuby16m

Hello...

I have been in the technology industry for 15 years. I got out of it for about 2 years to pursue another business. I have missed the IT industry ever since I left it and am ready to dive back in. I currently have my MCSE (2000). I ran an ISP for years, maintained servers, did some router programming, and maintained lan/wan. I'm about to turn 35. I'm at a point in my life where I have some TIME to take off to aquire some additional training, certifications, etc. I have never really worked much in the "information security" side. I'm looking at getting into penetration testing, etc. My current "plan" is to take the Sans 401 class boot camp and take the GSEC test. The 401 class I think I'll be able to get through without too much trouble because alot of it hits on some of my background. Right after that I plan on taking the CISSP boot camp and then taking the exam. I have a sponsor and of course have the 5 years experience that they require. After that, I plan on doing a cisco cert. Possibly the CCNA. At this point I have a very broad knowledge of IT, but not specifically in security which I'd like to kinda "niche" in. I believe I can get through most of this in about a 3 to 6 month time period. I just sold my "other" business and have the financial capability to live for a few months without a paycheck while I pursue this. I have a buddy that does exactly this in technology. He does penetration testing and pulls down a salary of nearly $100,000 a year and has about 3 to 5 job offers a week. It is his niche in security that his employers seem to want. I guess I don't know what specific questions to ask... but I'll shoot from the hip.

Is this a good "path" to take? The 401, Cissp, and the Cisco Certs? I'm pretty good at absorbing info and will be able to go "all in" for awhile to achieve this. I'm a geek at heart.

I guess I'll just ask for thoughts, advice, etc... thanks!

Mike

dynamik

Do you want to be an information security manager, a security engineer / analyst, or a network engineer / admin?