Looking at maybe IT Sec... any good place to jump in?

Wrighty11xbl · April 2018

Hi All,

Hope you are all well.

So, I've been an Systems Administrator for about 10 months now and I am looking to progress further in the field. Having thought about it, I like the idea of InfoSec or IT Secuirty and just wondering where to start.

Bit of background on what I do now.

I manage about 7 schools network from top to bottom. So pretty much doing anything like desktop support to network/internet firewall editing and full domain administration.

I know linux is one thing i NEED to learn, is there anything else I should do or maybe check out to assist in learning?

Thanks in adance.

mmcabe · April 2018

Wrighty11xbl wrote: »

Hi All,

Hope you are all well.

So, I've been an Systems Administrator for about 10 months now and I am looking to progress further in the field. Having thought about it, I like the idea of InfoSec or IT Secuirty and just wondering where to start.

Bit of background on what I do now.

I manage about 7 schools network from top to bottom. So pretty much doing anything like desktop support to network/internet firewall editing and full domain administration.

I know linux is one thing i NEED to learn, is there anything else I should do or maybe check out to assist in learning?

Thanks in adance.

Personally, I would concentrate on Linux first. Once you get past the basics, you can build all sorts of open-source security appliances--pretty much anything that's on the market. I suggest you work from the command line, which will teach you more about what's actually happening under the hood than a GUI.

Danielm7 · April 2018

Well, infosec can encompass about 10+ distinct areas. Do you know what you want to do in security? What in security attracts you? I'm asking this because I have people at work who tell me at least weekly "I want to get into security" and really don't have the slightest idea what that means.

I'm not trying to be discouraging, sysadmin > security is a totally reasonable transition depending on specialty. But, it's not really fast, easy or relaxing, so know what you're getting into. If you enjoy it and have passion for the field it can be great, but when I talk to some people about the real jobs they were more thinking about movie hacking scenes.

ITSec14 · April 2018

I jumped from sysadmin into security a few years ago. It was actually a pretty smooth transition for the most part. I got my Sec+ to reinforce some basic concepts and looked at how I could improve the security posture of the company I moved to. It was a pretty broad security role which gave me great exposure to the security space and how it supports the business. Definitely requires a willingness to learn a lot of new things, but it's exciting and very rewarding.

Node Man · April 2018

Wrighty11xbl wrote: »

I know linux is one thing i NEED to learn,

Learning Linux is a super broad statement. Sometimes all that is needed, is learn how to be a proficient linux user, sometimes someone needs to be a linux admin. Sometimes someone more or less, just needs to understand iptables and selinux. And sometimes.... knowing FreeBSD and jails is whats needed. . . .

yoba222 · April 2018

See what kind of tools and skillsets are asked for in security related job ads that catch your interest. Take advantage of all the things you have access to as a sysadmin and play with the security stuff until you can confidently talk about your experience with those tools in job interviews.

mikey88 · April 2018

Wrighty11xbl wrote: »

I know linux is one thing i NEED to learn, is there anything else I should do or maybe check out to assist in learning?

How about obtaining a security related certification to start? You are asking on TE after all.

Looking at maybe IT Sec... any good place to jump in?

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