Leadership and Anaylitical Experience without IT Experience

mooed_music

I put this question out there in the security+ forum but realized this is a much better place for it. I hope that is ok.

A little bit about myself: I do not have experience in IT. In the past 4 months I have earned certs in A+ and NETWORK+ and I'm a couple of weeks away from taking SECURITY+. Although I have no official IT experience I do like to "dabble", specifically with adding a ubuntu server in my home, flashing ROMs on my phone, helping friends and family with their computer problems.... very basic stuff. The kind of experience I do have is being an analyst for the military as a soldier and contractor. This included leading a team in delving through large amounts of data to determine patterns, predict and prevent future actions, and answer any and all questions from the higher ups. Also, finding flaws in our own procedures and creating documents explaining the flaws and how best to correct them. All of this in an organization where Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability is of the utmost concern.

Does being an analyst (I understand how broad of a term that is) for the military in an environment with such a focus on security help in transitioning into a security analyst? Would those in charge of hiring see this as a plus or as not being applicable?

What I'm hoping for is that my analytical and leadership experience on top of my entry level certs would help land a security analyst position as my first gig. Thoughts?

networker050184

Yes, I think it would definitely help you. Certainly more help than no previous experience at all. Especially if you go the government contracting route.

SwitchingGears

Great question, I have similar questions too. I am also a newbie to IT, but have worked for myself for many years as a private investigator, and as expected, have strong research and analytical skills.

In my area (SoCal), the job postings I find for the analysts positions reflect employers are looking for people with a strong network security background, coupled with the information security aspect - the ability to understand, write and implement policy (which you are describing with your past military experience - look up the "the basic principles of information security" and the "Deming Cycle).

I took an information security class at the local college, and walked away with a much more thorough understanding of computer functions, exploits, passwords and encryption, and of course, about security policy ( I also have a Certificate in computer forensics, and have completed Cisco Academy A/b, but the info I learned in th info sec class seems more relevant). The text we used is Elementary Information Security by Richard Smith. I thought the textbook itself was somewhat hard to follow, but it is chalked full of valuable information; it will always serve as a great resource guide. I am scheduling my Security+ within the next month, the topics between the info security class, and the Sec+ exam are very similar.

Having taken the info sec course, and reviewing job postings, it appears to me there is no shortcut in getting around the grasp of network security.

My plan of attack is to finish up my CCENT (I got caught in the CCNA/CCENT change last year), and then on to the CCNA Security since CCENT can now be used as a prerequisite for the CCNA Security; not just the full CCNA. To help with that, I am also taking a network security class at the local college. Also will do A+, maybe Linux+, and the CEH (I also joined the college cyber security team).

Hopefully that will be enough of a foundation to break in to an analysts role; and from there, start working towards CISSP.

Maybe find an info sec class so you can see how the different components of "security" correlate/flow with each other. By taking the info sec class, I realized there was a whole lot to learn!

Hope it helps