Starting with Information Security and Digital Forensics.

Mol

Hi friends.I've completed my BSc[computers],I'm 22 years of age.I've been working as a Compliance officer for a year.My job requires myself to interact with security experts on daily basis regarding the complaints that I receive from my company's clients.The daily cases and problems that we face have really interested me into stepping into the Information Security and Digital Forensic field,however I have absolutely no idea from where to begin with.Do you guys feel that maybe doing CCNA would help me considering that I need to polish my networking knowledge before I begin with my security training.Also once I finish CCNA,which certification should I opt for?Is CEH a good certification for beginners? or is there any other digital forensics certification courses that I should opt after CCNA.Btw,I live in India and most of the security related jobs ask for CEH.I'm well versed with Cyber laws over here and have good knowledge of forensic tools and basic security concepts.Any help would be highly appreciated.Thanks.:D

nicklauscombs

any of the entry level security certs will be a good starting point after you finish up the ccna. ccna: security, security+, sscp, etc.....

itsgonnahappen

To add to the discussion...are the skills learned through the CCNA exam... skills those in InfoSec use often and daily or are crucial?

I'm personally more interested in the management and investigative end of the InfoSec field and not high on the configuring routers and switches end.

Can someone break into InfoSec WITHOUT Cisco certifications? Are Cisco certs absolutely key?

Mol

itsgonnahappen wrote: »

To add to the discussion...are the skills learned through the CCNA exam... skills those in InfoSec use often and daily or are crucial?

I'm personally more interested in the management and investigative end of the InfoSec field and not high on the configuring routers and switches end.

Can someone break into InfoSec WITHOUT Cisco certifications? Are Cisco certs absolutely key?

Investigation part,so do you mean digital forensics part.Thanks

contentpros

itsgonnahappen wrote: »

Can someone break into InfoSec WITHOUT Cisco certifications? Are Cisco certs absolutely key?

No, Cisco certs are not key in any way. If you look at the profile of most infosec professionals you will generally notice a common trend. Most of the infosec people I know, have worked with, or currently work with have all had extensive backgrounds as network, or systems engineers or admins. Infosec is generally not a field people hop directly into after coming out of school. Yes, there are some analyst and entry level SOC jobs you might be able to get into with little experience but I find those are harder to find. For most positions in infosec you need to understand how things work how and why most things break and how to effectively create and deploy the controls to help protect these resources. When you take a look at incident response and handling things like understanding a packet capture and recreating the events become a crucial skill. This is why you tend to see a more senior (skill-wise) people in infosec. That's not to say there are not exceptions but I think as a generalization you tend to see many senior people in infosec.

So will doing your CCNA help? Absolutely, does it need to be Cisco specific, no Juniper, Brocade, or any other will help. Anything to help bolster your understanding of networking is going to be a plus. Any sysadmin knowledge will be helpful. If you don't have any experience with Linux now would be a good time to start building those skills. Also consider learning a scripting language. Of all the things I wish I would have done sooner, mastering a scripting language or two should have been on my list!

HTH
~CP

the_Grinch

Have to agree, it's not the Cisco certification itself that is required, but the knowledge gained from the Cisco certification in regards to networking that matters most. This website should help you on your journey (it's for pen testing, but should work for most security positions):

http://www.infiltrated.net/pentesting101.html