Infosec Guidance

Fullmetal_Dilka · July 2015

I really want to get into cyber security but I feel VERY overwhelmed. I am very good at researching which is great and all but I also am very good at psyhing myself out from it which leads to frustration, depression, and ultimately giving up.

I have an associates degree and understand it means VERY little, and plan on buying a prep kit from ********.com for Security+, I have gravitated towards wanting to be a penetration tester. With little wiggle room financially I really want to do things right and not burn money and time on wrong skills...where do I start to make this work?

I don't have anyone to turn to for guidance so any help would be a huge relief.

TheFORCE · July 2015

Put your research skills to work and start researching. Certifications are good place to start. I am of the mind frame that a pen tester needs to have deep understanding of many different technologies and use the best for the job. As such you need to learn to use different tools, pentesting tools and the like. You need to be good in networking and on software systems and you always need to keep your eye on new vulnerabilities and flaws.

If as you say you get easily frustrated and depressed from not seeing progress then maybe you should start with something different than pen testing.

Not everyone has a nack for pentesting and security, some people just get infosec and others do not.

BlackBeret · July 2015

tldr; Check the job boards and see what you need for your local market and interests.

It depends on where you're starting from honestly. You can pursue formal education and go for another degree. Depending on the program it can give you a lot of knowledge or very little as far as security goes. You could also pursue certifications. These would be a lot more specialized towards security and are great once you have experience to back them up. The big thing you need to go after if possible is experience. Again I don't know where you're coming from, so I'll assume that you're starting out with no IT work experience.

With an A.S. in IT or security you should know enough to find a job as a Jr. Sys admin or something similar somewhere. If you're young, single, and willing to move start applying for jobs all over the country. Experience is the single most important factor in getting jobs in security. If you do work in IT already, security+ is a good starting point. One thing I would caution against is studying for the test itself. The test only covers a small portion of the material, learn it all and soak up as much as possible. I don't know what certification kit you're getting, but a few books are really all you need.

Keep in mind also that certifications are job dependent, but most have some foundational knowledge that you need before hand. You can study the A+, Network+, Security+, CEH, etc all day long to learn without paying for the test. Go to the local library (They DO still exist), and borrow the books for free! Learn as much as possible. If you're trying to stay local then hop on indeed, dice, monster, etc. and see if you can find entry level roles that you're interested in. See what's required and preferred. If you see a lot of companies want you to have security+, great, take the test when you're ready. No need to pay the money for A+, Net+, CEH, when all they want is a Sec+ cert, but you still have the extra knowledge to back it up. For free if you use the library..

BlackBeret · July 2015

Also, if you're not on it already, check out Cybrary.it for free videos.

Infosec Guidance

Comments