Re: Education and Security

[Cl Clay <cclay2 () csc com>]

Someone made a comment about getting a degree in mathematics.  My hats off
to you.  If I had to do it all over again that is what I would have done.
With a degree in mathematics yet set your own limits.  Some people change
careers every five years.  You can get into programming, security ,
cryptography (oh boy!) and even business.  Remember the bottom line of any
big business is profit.  Also, much of what is taught in the classroom can
be obtain through self- study, certifications, and good old hands-on.
Generally, employers will automatically assume you are competent enough to
handle any task is you have a background in mathematics.  Everything you do
involves some level of mathematics.  You can't go wrong with a degree in
mathematics.  The only disclaimer I have is if you don't like math then
focus on what you particularly enjoy and perform the necessary research to
accomplish your goal.





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                      Andy Blair                                                                                        
               
                      <blai0015                To:      "Gaydosh, Adam" <GaydoshA () ctcgsc org>, security-basics () 
securityfocus com       
                      @umn.edu>                cc:      Daryl <dwalleck () satx rr com>                                 
                  
                                               Subject: Re: Education and Security                                      
               
                      04/07/2004 03:34                                                                                  
               
                      PM                                                                                                
               
                                                                                                                        
               
                                                                                                                        
               




My university does not offer the IA major, but I am emphasizing in computer
security. I also got a management minor from the business department here
(University of Minnesota) which allowed me to take courses that taught
business concepts as well as technical concepts. The electives I took for
the management minor were MIS courses which most business schools will
offer. They had a course in security and another in e-commerce which helped
tie the two fields together.

My suggestion would be to focus on what you want to do with your security
degree. If you want to work in a corporate or consulting environment with
businesses, the Infrastructure Assurance might be a better focus. If you
would rather do secure programming, academic or lab research on security,
the CS degree would be the way to go. Because of the different core courses
you'll need, double-majoring might be long and expensive. I would pick one
as a focus and try to round out the other with electives or a minor.

Good luck!

Andy



On 7 Apr 2004, Gaydosh, Adam wrote:
> dual-major!  You will ultimately want a balance of the skills offered by
=
> both degrees for your professional career..but if you find that's not =
> feasible, then I suggest you go for the BA, and take a few CS electives =
> to round out your technical background.  It is increasingly important =
> that the techies can use their skills to enable business, not just =
> support it.  Also, I find that most undergradutate CS programs teach you
=
> core concepts, but often not much of the actual technologies you will be
=
> working with out of school...so that you will have to continue your =
> technical education [even if only self-study] beyond undergraduate =
> courses regardless of which major you choose...HTH!
>
> -adam
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Daryl [mailto:dwalleck () satx rr com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 10:38 AM
> > To: security-basics () securityfocus com
> > Subject: Education and Security
> >
> >
> >    I believe questions similar to this have been asked before but my
> > version is a bit different. I'm currently a computer science major (not
> > too far along) who's always been interested in the security field. I
> > chose CS for a major since it was the closest thing. Recently=20
> > my college
> > began to offer a full BA in Infrastructure Assurance, their=20
> > version of a
> > security degree. My only worry is that the degree plan is rooted in the
> > school of Business and therefore requires a large core of business
> > classes and not as much technical work (a copy of the requirements can
> > be found here
> > http://business.utsa.edu/undergraduate/degrees/is/BBA_IA.pdf). At this
> > point I think I've thought the issue to death in my head and I could
> > really use some outside input. Any thoughts?
> >
> >    Daryl Walleck
> >
> >
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any course! All of our class sizes are guaranteed to be 10 students or less

to facilitate one-on-one interaction with one of our expert instructors.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethical Hacking at the InfoSec Institute. Mention this ad and get $545 off 
any course! All of our class sizes are guaranteed to be 10 students or less 
to facilitate one-on-one interaction with one of our expert instructors. 
Attend a course taught by an expert instructor with years of in-the-field 
pen testing experience in our state of the art hacking lab. Master the skills 
of an Ethical Hacker to better assess the security of your organization. 
Visit us at: 
http://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/ethical_hacking_training.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------