IT / Cybersecurity

[VOLinAL]

Curious to see how many of us are working in the IT or more specifically the cybersecurity field? I am a cyber student finishing up an associates soon after leaving a law enforcement career. Also could be a general thread about computer hardware, software, and security related questions.

 

[DocVOLiday]

I'm a web developer. I think there are a decent amount of devs/engineers, data people, and other IT folks on here

 

[VOLinAL]

I'm a web developer. I think there are a decent amount of devs/engineers, data people, and other IT folks on here

Thats good to know. Challenge for me will be finding a job at the end of the year though thankfully I am in a cyber hub. I may look into getting a networking degree following my cyber degree as networking came to me pretty easily. Im assuming you do a fair bit of coding, if so what language are you using?

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

I know that Cybersecurity is all the rage right now, but even with the amount of money that it can pay, I prefer my onsite technician job. You quickly realize how important selecting the right people to run your business is, mainly due to the ignorance of a lot of people and technology. Don't believe me? Run a KnowBe4 phishing exercise and you will realize just how digitally unsafe a lot of regulated businesses are and how important it is to mold your users. Just giving people technology and expecting them to know to be safe with it is the biggest problem in business security today. It's very rewarding to be able to help mold users, their habits, and work to keep a company and their clients data safe by just training their people the right way. You can't completely eliminate issues, but you can mitigate most by proper training.

I would seriously look at being a business security technology consultant working at the user level, just because its a heck of a lot more rewarding personally than reading and comparing firewall logs everyday, which most of your SIEM integrations due anyway.

 

[Hurley Mooncalf]

My degree is in Network Forensics and Security but I work as a network admin.
g8terh8ter_eric is right about users being a huge security hole. You have to train and remind often the threats that are out there. And you will still get compromised at some point. City of Knoxville got hit with ransom ware last week and shut them down. I know that we've been hit several times where I work and have been fortunate to be able to avoid large losses.

 

[utvolpj]

Not security but have been an IS systems analyst for the last 15yrs. Mainly in the warehousing systems area

 

[VOLinAL]

I know that Cybersecurity is all the rage right now, but even with the amount of money that it can pay, I prefer my onsite technician job. You quickly realize how important selecting the right people to run your business is, mainly due to the ignorance of a lot of people and technology. Don't believe me? Run a KnowBe4 phishing exercise and you will realize just how digitally unsafe a lot of regulated businesses are and how important it is to mold your users. Just giving people technology and expecting them to know to be safe with it is the biggest problem in business security today. It's very rewarding to be able to help mold users, their habits, and work to keep a company and their clients data safe by just training their people the right way. You can't completely eliminate issues, but you can mitigate most by proper training.

I would seriously look at being a business security technology consultant working at the user level, just because its a heck of a lot more rewarding personally than reading and comparing firewall logs everyday, which most of your SIEM integrations due anyway.

I would pretty much always agree that people are the weakest link in infosec. And not people with tech skills trying to steal data, its the people that are blatantly uneducated to basic security policy and procedures. I thought about doing physical pentesting as that incorporates a little of the work I did at the last jobs as well as social engineering with people.

 

[VOLinAL]

My degree is in Network Forensics and Security but I work as a network admin.
g8terh8ter_eric is right about users being a huge security hole. You have to train and remind often the threats that are out there. And you will still get compromised at some point. City of Knoxville got hit with ransom ware last week and shut them down. I know that we've been hit several times where I work and have been fortunate to be able to avoid large losses.

Out of all the classes I began with, my cisco classes seemed to be what I gravitated to and was better than most at. I may take a few more that arent needed after I graduate.

 

[DocVOLiday]

Thats good to know. Challenge for me will be finding a job at the end of the year though thankfully I am in a cyber hub. I may look into getting a networking degree following my cyber degree as networking came to me pretty easily. Im assuming you do a fair bit of coding, if so what language are you using?

I got into web development a few years back (didn't get a CS degree or anything). So far I've done a decent amount of frontend stuff (JavaScript/TypeScript/React), but trying to find another role to do a bit of everything. I've been messing with Python a bit more recently, and occasionally I mess around with Go just for fun.

I've always been interested in networking, but never learned more than the basics. I've been thinking about doing an online CCNA course

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

Those mentioning CCNA, there are so many other platforms out there that are in use (Sonicwall, Fortinet, Juniper, Open Source), that it almost a waste of time to get it. It only lasts 3 years now, and you have to keep going to re-certify your active status.

Get to know as much as you can on the surface about each, that way if you get a job that is using pfSense, its easier to walk-through versus just knowing CCNA command line. I know that people like to sport their knowledge in command line, but being able to see what is going on in the GUI is more important, IMO.

 

[VOLinAL]

Those mentioning CCNA, there are so many other platforms out there that are in use (Sonicwall, Fortinet, Juniper, Open Source), that it almost a waste of time to get it. It only lasts 3 years now, and you have to keep going to re-certify your active status.

Get to know as much as you can on the surface about each, that way if you get a job that is using pfSense, its easier to walk-through versus just knowing CCNA command line. I know that people like to sport their knowledge in command line, but being able to see what is going on in the GUI is more important, IMO.

Im not exactly sure, but I thought CCNA was going away anyways and it was going to be a different cert. Dont quote me though.

 

[VOLinAL]

I got into web development a few years back (didn't get a CS degree or anything). So far I've done a decent amount of frontend stuff (JavaScript/TypeScript/React), but trying to find another role to do a bit of everything. I've been messing with Python a bit more recently, and occasionally I mess around with Go just for fun.

I've always been interested in networking, but never learned more than the basics. I've been thinking about doing an online CCNA course

Im in a Python class right now for linux scripting. First programming ive ever done.

 

[imw8n4u]

Not security but have been an IS systems analyst for the last 15yrs. Mainly in the warehousing systems area

What warehousing system? I have spent the last 15 years on WMS implementation and upgrade projects. I'm mostly on the business configuration side but have quite a bit of technical capabilities as well.

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

Im not exactly sure, but I thought CCNA was going away anyways and it was going to be a different cert. Dont quote me though.

It's going back to the test it used to be, one big test for the whole thing. Now it's two different tests, and if you get the first one it's just a CCENT.

 

[Hurley Mooncalf]

It's going back to the test it used to be, one big test for the whole thing. Now it's two different tests, and if you get the first one it's just a CCENT.

They review the material every few years and update the tests accordingly. I do have a current CCNA but I haven't decided whether I will renew it or not. I've done a lot of CCNP study but I don't really have the desire to test for it or to go after a CCIE. The depth of knowledge on those tests is pretty far ranging.

It is interesting to see how the CCNA test changed from when I first studied to when I actually took the test. It went from having emphasis on wireless and security to completely separating those to back to having wireless back in it. I believe it will focus more on the GUI based system Cisco is pushing now going forward but in the field, command line is where it's at. No doubt about it.

 

[utvolpj]

What warehousing system? I have spent the last 15 years on WMS implementation and upgrade projects. I'm mostly on the business configuration side but have quite a bit of technical capabilities as well.

I've done Highjump and currently use Infor wm with a little work in Softeon for fulfillment. We have a couple of warehouses running red prairie but they support through the customer

 

[imw8n4u]

I've done Highjump and currently use Infor wm with a little work in Softeon for fulfillment. We have a couple of warehouses running red prairie but they support through the customer

Red Prairie (now Blue Yonder) is my area of expertise, but I am familiar with both Infor and Highjump. We are upgrading almost 30 sites from an old version to the 2020 version. We got 1 done earlier this year before the shutdown stopped us.