Re: career advice

[Robin Wood <robin () digininja org>]

On 22 November 2011 21:52, Nathalie Vaiser <nvaiser () gmail com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm hoping to get some direction/advice from some seasoned IT security
> professionals...
>
> In short, I've been in IT for about 10 years (mainly as a system
> administrator / helpdesk type of role - web servers).  I've always
> been interested in security and have recently taken and passed the CEH
> exam so that I can get some kind of foundation to build upon. I know
> what I've learned so far is only the 'tip of the iceberg' and I've
> been having difficulty deciding where I should focus my learning now,
> in terms of preparing myself for a career in security, ideally as a
> pen tester but possibly just in a defensive security role.
>
> I find it ALL very interesting, but I've been struggling with finding
> a direction and focus for myself.  My current job duties don't involve
> much security work but I'm hoping to eventually grow into that role
> there. For now I'm taking time outside of work to further my IT
> security skills.
>
> It seems 'web application security' is in high demand right now -
> however - I'm not a developer nor programmer, and probably could never
> be a good one if I tried (it just doesn't come easy to me).   I assume
> if my focus would be on web application security I would need to know
> more than just how to find vulnerabilities - I would need to be able
> to at least consult or work with developers on fixing the problem, so
> I'd be very limited and at a disadvantage without any programming
> skills (am I right about this?).
>
> I do feel I would be at a disadvantage, for example I've started
> practicing using OWASP Webgoat and am struggling with parts of it,
> mainly for my lack of knowledge of Ajax, SQL, etc..
>
> If that is the case (that web application security shouldn't be my
> focus since I have no programming/dev background), then I'm not sure
> what to focus on, and what would make sense in terms of a viable
> future career in security.  Possibly network security may be of
> interest, which means I should probably consider studying for the CCNA
> to get a much better foundation in networking.
>
> I know no one can decide for me, but what I'm looking for is feedback
> on what scopes I may want to consider in the security field that are
> large enough that they do encompass a career/job position, with the
> caveat that my programming/dev skills are currently nill, and even
> though I am considering learning some kind of programming (probably
> Perl or Python) I can't see myself ever being extremely proficient
> with it.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
>
> Nathalie

Reading this it looks like you've chosen web app just because you
think there is work going in that area but that contradicts what you
say earlier about being interested in security. My best advice for
this is look at what you are interested in and work on that area to
start with.

As you've been a sys-admin then maybe look at network security, if
your background is MS then what areas have you been working in, AD,
MSSQL, Sharepoint etc, if Linux then same question, configuring
Apache... Take that knowledge and look at how it can either be secured
or how it is naturally insecure. I'd guess you've made lots of
mistakes setting things up over the years, think of those and how many
of those mistakes others would also make, quick example, giving a DB
user full privs rather than just the limited ones they need. Start
with simple things like that and work up, see how others have
exploited these holes and add your own experience to it.

Basically have fun, there is no point in changing in to security and
ending up doing things you don't enjoy.

Robin

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