topic Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security in Career Discussions

Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rokey1 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:41:24 GMT

Hello,
I'm looking for some support as I am currently working in the world of Social Media, however am keen at looking into changing my career.
I'm very interested in Cyber Security, and have spoken with friends who work in the field.

I wanted to ask for some expert opinions on how likely this would be, and what people believe the best method might be.
I am not looking to go back to study full time and that's not a feasible option.

I'm wondering if part-time self-study is best, and which courses they may be and why?
Is experience more important first and how would someone go about getting that chance? It feels a little chicken and the egg.

Would a role in IT be a good stepping stone first?

I'm really excited to hear from yourselves, so if you have any support at all please do respond.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

Flyslinger2 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 17:57:17 GMT

I would start by reviewing the requirements on ISC2's website for the cert that you are interested in. I've included the CISSP requirements as a starting point. It's certainly an excellent field to work in and the certifications give you a huge boost in your career. The money is amazing as well.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rslade — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:20:04 GMT

> rokey1 (Viewer) posted a new topic in Career on 02-11-2019 09:41 AM in the

> Hello, I'm looking for some support as I am currently working in the world of
> Social Media, however am keen at looking into changing my career.

I'm very hesitant about advising you, since you don't seem to have any real reason
to get into security. (Also, your comment about getting into IT first is worrying:
do you have *any* real background in tech?)

> I'm very
> interested in Cyber Security

Why are you interested in security? What is it about security that interests you?

> and have spoken with friends who work in the
> field.

And what is it that they said that interests you? Also, what do *they* think about
how you should go about getting into security?

> I wanted to ask for some expert opinions on how likely this would be,
> and what people believe the best method might be. I am not looking to go back to
> study full time and that's not a feasible option.

So, you want it cheap and easy?

Well, I doubt it's going to be easy. But we can start you out with cheap. The best
single text in the field is "Security Engineering," By Ross Anderson. You should
buy it, but, if you don't want to spend any money, you can read an earlier edition
online for free: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/book.html

> I'm wondering if part-time
> self-study is best, and which courses they may be and why?

Well, I did it with independent research and self-study, so I know it can be done.
But I also know I wouldn't exactly call it part time. I put in thousands of hours
over the years ...

> Is experience more
> important first and how would someone go about getting that chance?

You don't wait for a chance to get experience, you go and *get* experience.
Study your own computer. Are you safe? Can you make yourself safer? What
about the social media work you do now? Is it safe? Can you make it safer?

> It feels a
> little chicken and the egg. Would a role in IT be a good stepping stone first?
> I'm really excited to hear from yourselves, so if you have any support at all
> please do respond.

Where are you? Find a local security group. The Vancouver Security SIG always
has lots of attendees/members who are either students or looking to change careers
and get into security.

Once you get through "Security Engineering," here are some other texts you
should look at: http://victoria.tc.ca/int-grps/books/techrev/mnbksccd.htm

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does not interest them. - T. S. Eliot
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Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rslade — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:38:04 GMT

> Flyslinger2 (Contributor II) posted a new reply in Career on 02-11-2019 12:57 PM

> The money is amazing as well.

He's lying. You probably won't starve to death, but you'll never make a ton of
money in security.

Unless you're in sales ...

(And then you're really not in security, are you? ...)

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rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@computercrime.org
He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead.
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Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

Flyslinger2 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:08:06 GMT

@rslade wrote:
> Flyslinger2 (Contributor II) posted a new reply in Career on 02-11-2019 12:57 PM

> The money is amazing as well.

He's lying. You probably won't starve to death, but you'll never make a ton of
money in security.

Unless you're in sales ...

Yes, I make it practice of lying. Suffice it to say that I did extremely well in my role last year and my work will double this year. You can make a lot of money in any career field if you make yourself valuable.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

mgorman — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:00:26 GMT

The first thing I would do is look at the field, and see what you want to focus on. There are a lot different pieces of the cybersecurity field. Policy, regulation, compliance, security operations, application security, analysis, network security, on and on and on. It sounds like you are really starting your career, so if you don't have a lot of background, you might not have a lean in one direction or the other to start with. I would spend some time here, and on other communities and blogs, etc. to get a feel. You might also look at cybrary.it. They are a free (of course they have a premium version, too) web based training resource. They lean towards certifications, but taking even their free courses on the certs will give you an idea of different aspects of the space, and the kinds of skills you might want to develop.

If you can't go back to school full time, I would seriously look at a certification. Especially if you are outside the field trying to get in, they can help get you through the automated screening systems in place with HR teams these days.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rokey1 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:42:35 GMT

Hello @rslade, thanks for taking the time to respond to me.

Not that it should matter, but mortgage repayments mean I would need to aim to earn similar salary to what I am earning now, and this would be difficult/ impossible to do so if I went back into full time study.

I do not want it "cheap and easy" but instead am looking at a sustainable way to venture into an exciting new career.

I'm quite interested in social engineering, and ethical hacking, however I do not have coding skills.
My comment about IT came from advice from a security architect – apologies that this seemed to worry you.

As previously stated, I currently work in Social Media Management, not tech.

I came to this forum for support, hopefully your response could be exactly that, rather than what appears to be a knock at confidence.

For clarify, I dont have experience in this field, but It is something I have an interest in and am keen to get involved.
Thank you.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rokey1 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:46:48 GMT

hi @mgorman this was really helpful advice!

Thank you so much.

I'm interested in social engineering I think, especially after a friend told me a story of how his business had their security tested from someone attempting to steal their own data by hiring a team to pretend to be from the business' internet provider, break in, and steal their data by attaching something to their printer.

I'm also interested in the threat and risks within social media, and wonder if I could use this as a way to boost my chances of an entry level role.

Which qualification would you recommend for a complete beginner?

Thank you.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

mgorman — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 22:21:15 GMT

I'm not sure about certs along the lines you are looking at currently, though social engineering and user behaviors are key. I would say to look through cybrary and other sources, like stack skills, etc (there are a lot) and take some of their social engineering courses, they may have some good resources that can guide you more, and keep asking here, others may have a better idea. I just don't have a lot of experience on that side, I come from a Network Engineering background, with Cloud and Software more recently.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

Shannon — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 08:33:48 GMT

@rokey1 wrote:

I'm also interested in the threat and risks within social media, and wonder if I could use this as a way to boost my chances of an entry level role.

Getting into a role related to this will depend on your skills, experience, & credentials --- if employers do look at your interests, it's after the other criteria are met.

Nonetheless, you needn't depend on a post to garner skills; as @mgorman said, you can use online sources for this. (I'd begun a course on social engineering on Cybrary but got too bogged down with my work, & have yet to complete it)

After developing skills, you can attempt to portray them --- legitimately --- either where you work or elsewhere to get recognition and more opportunities.

Like @rslade was saying, you might not see the monetary fruits of your labor, but if you've got an interest and aren't solely motivated by financial benefits, that shouldn't stop you...

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rslade — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 17:56:04 GMT

> rokey1 (Viewer) posted a new reply in Career on 02-11-2019 03:46 PM in the

> I'm
> also interested in the threat and risks within social media, and wonder if I
> could use this as a way to boost my chances of an entry level role.

There's always *lots* of opportunity for improvement there ...

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Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into
being? - Isaiah 66:1,2
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Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

rslade — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:18:40 GMT

> rokey1 (Viewer) mentioned you in a post! Join the conversation below:

> I'm
> quite interested in social engineering, and ethical hacking, however I do not
> have coding skills.

You don't necessarily need coding skills, although knowing a few languages (particularly assembly or machine language) helps a lot.

Social engineering doesn't really help you much in terms of defence. Protecting *against* social engineering requires significant knowledge of education and psychology.

Ethical hacking definitely needs tech skills, and plenty of them. If you are simply going to use commonly available tools to do some fuzzing attacks, well, clients could do that themselves. You need to know network and operating system internals to make a contribution in that area.

> I came to this
> forum for support, hopefully your response could be exactly that

You gonna take any of the advice?

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

Leoh — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 21:01:06 GMT

The field seems to be saturated with lots of "CISSP guys". I don't know if you absolutely need this cert even though you are not going to be managing anything in the beginning.

Job descriptions can be pretty unrealistic but again that is in any IT field. Be prepared to write on your resume that you have Cisco + CompTia + Oracle + French + Japanese and 50 years of experience... or be very good at lying about having those skills (yes, people DO lie to put bread on their tables when applying for unrealistic job postings).

I suggest getting into GRC Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Management which is, well, the name explains it all....basically business security and is more streamlined in terms of career, I'd say it has a broader scope than cyber sec because in GRC you will measure the effectiveness of cyber sec among other things, cyber sec is just cyber sec but if you like it go for it.

Keep in mind that technical positions generally make less money than managerial/governance positions which is why I left software engineering to go into business analysis/GRC.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

mango — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 04:50:00 GMT

Hi Rokey1,

Cybersecurity professionals are in great demand. A career in cybersecurity is as rewarding as it is equally demanding. Cybersecurity professionals are wanted in large numbers worldwide because of the vast gap between the number of existing cybersecurity professionals and the cybersecurity challenges faced daily. There are various levels of roles that can be taken in the profession, from entry-level positions like Network Administrator to the advanced role like Cyber Security Architect.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

joseph_butler — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 00:14:57 GMT

@rokey1Check out this site...there are quite a few opening for "New" Cyber professionals....https://jobmine.himss.org/

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

CISOScott — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:09:23 GMT

Look for experience where you can get it. Is there anything at your current company that is in IT/security that you could take on? I rose in my career by noticing jobs that weren't being done and volunteering to do them, even if I was being paid the same. I was getting paid in experience, not dollars. I surpassed many people in career advancement because I was willing to do it for free now and get paid by advancement later, versus waiting to get paid more and then doing higher level work.

Need experience? Create your own. Go buy second hand computers/routers from junk/thrift stores or buy old ones from individuals. Then create your own network at home. By building a lab to work on, you will gain experience and see if you really like this type of work. It will also give you an understanding of how the technology beneath the security roles you seek, actually works. By knowing how stuff works, you can learn how to attack it. And then learn to protect it. Plus, if you own it, you can legally hack it (provided you do not stray beyond your legal boundaries.) Download free security tools and play with them. Don't know programming languages? Then learn Python. By teaching yourself you will learn lots of things. You really could choose any language but Python seems to be of use in the security roles. There are plenty of free resources out there.

Can you get rich in information security? Depends on how motivated you are. The profession does pay well and you can go as high as your ambition will take you. I make six figures in the U.S. Many people consider that rather successful. However the most important thing since I got back into IT/IT Security is that I LOVE WHAT I DO. I got back into this field 18 years ago and do not feel that I have really "worked" a day since then. I have loved coming into work and never dreaded it during this time. I also am ambitious, a continuous learner, and have learned leadership, management, and the difference between the two. I also thoroughly love being in IT and IT security. Having said that, I will also say this: Don't get into the IT security field (or any field for that matter) for the money alone. You will come to despise your career. I have seen many people burn out in their careers because they were not willing to keep up with the constantly changing environment. They also stopped progressing in their careers because they hated having to try to keep up. They got into INFOSEC for the money and ended up hating their careers, but then felt locked into them so they "couldn't" quit. If this career path does not excite you, then find another career path. There are many different careers you can have in IT and IT security so try several of them.

I recommend getting experience in a helpdesk role. It will help you to learn customer service. That skill becomes very important if you want to get into management. Too many in the security field want to say no before understanding the customer need. You need to be innovative and look for solutions instead of just offering one solution.

Re: Looking for advice on career change into Cyber Security

sherfy77 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 06:10:51 GMT

@rokey1 wrote:
Hello,
I'm looking for some support as I am currently working in the world of Social Media, however am keen at looking into changing my career.
I'm very interested in Cyber Security, and have spoken with friends who work in the field.

I wanted to ask for some expert opinions on how likely this would be, and what people believe the best njmcdirect method might be.
I am not looking to go back to study full time and that's not a feasible option.

I'm wondering if part-time self-study is best, and which courses they may be and why?
Is experience more important first and how would someone go about getting that chance? It feels a little chicken and the egg.

Would a role in IT be a good stepping stone first?

I'm really excited to hear from yourselves, so if you have any support at all please do respond.

I would suggest you to change your career into cyber security if you're really think that you've passionate about cyber security.

It's a huge field and it'll take you some 4 to 5 years to be a giant in this field.

Well in this time, nothing is impossible and if you've created your mind to change your career into cyber then i would must suggest you to some of the documentation and online courses which must surely would help you to acheive your goal and persue this new journey.

https://www.cybrary.it/course/social-engineering/

Here some of the online courses you can find on

cybrary

udemy

edx

coursera

simplilearn

Hope these would help you to persue your career in new field.

Best wishes.