Re: What is being a pen tester really like?

[William Hancock <williamrhancock () gmail com>]

It's just like them movie hackers. =D

I'm about 50-50 with Chris, it is still just a job but when successfully
done and you take all the pieces of the puzzle apart you feel like 'the
man'.  Business owners, your customers, really and truly are interested
how you did it and what you did.  It's not just, "Nice, thanks for all
your code.  Now get lost.".  If you become a real professional you can
guide business decision, you will command great respect from everyone,
and you can afford to go to Disney land whenever the hell you want. 

The tricky part is there is no course, class, or video professor session
that can make you in to a good pen tester.  My personality has always
been geared towards this line of work, but it was the 17 years of
experience chipped away all the peripheral things that kept me from
being really good at it.  Things like being liked by everyone, the need
to talk about things to 'be cool' in front of others, the need to try
and be the uber geek in the room, and the ever present need to impress
people need to get thrown out of the window.

So I believe a pen tester encompasses the following things;
An MBA
A programmer
A damn good sysadmin
A public speaker
"That guy" who everyone seems to really like, but you can't figure out why.
The yardstick of professionalism that everyone should measure themselves by.
The person the IT department is afraid to talk shop with cause you know
more then they do.
A professional writer
An accountant
A total and complete QA department
And for the dark qualities;
A bit of a theft at heart
A gambler for certain
The person not to get on the wrong side of cause you know what they're
google-ing after hours.
Perhaps an adrenaline junkie

Um, yep that about covers it, just my two cents.

Regards,
Bill

~~~~~~~~~~~
Exact Consulting Inc
www.exactconsulting.com
+01 512 944 7253


Chris Serafin wrote:
> It's still a job
>
>
>
>
> rahul.joshi2 () googlemail com wrote:
> > Hi Guys,
> >
> >
> >
> > I am currently a Java developer but I'm seriously thinking of
> > changing paths to a career in security and pen testing.
> > What I would like to know is what is being a pen tester really like?
> > I understand the functions a pen tester performs, but I would really
> > love to hear what it is actually like on a day-to-day basis, on the
> > coal face so to speak. What are the good things about the job, and
> > what are the bad?
> >
> >
> > Your experiences/advice would be hugely appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Rahul
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Concerned about Web Application Security? Why not go with the #1
> solution - Cenzic, the only one to win the Analyst's Choice Award from
> eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise, you need
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This List Sponsored by: Cenzic

Concerned about Web Application Security? 
Why not go with the #1 solution - Cenzic, the only one to win the Analyst's 
Choice Award from eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise, 
you need to proactively protect your applications from hackers. Cenzic has the 
most comprehensive solutions to meet your application security penetration 
testing and vulnerability management needs. You have an option to go with a 
managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure) or an enterprise software 
(Cenzic Hailstorm). Download FREE whitepaper on how a managed service can 
help you: http://www.cenzic.com/news_events/wpappsec.php 
And, now for a limited time we can do a FREE audit for you to confirm your 
results from other product. Contact us at request () cenzic com for details.
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