So, where do you start? I would be lying if I said there was ONE path into InfoSec. There isn’t. If I were to attempt to write about every single way someone could get into InfoSec, this post would be pages long. So, in order to make this as informative as possible, I’ll cover the basics. The foundation of your knowledge is just as important as the foundation of a house.
Most people who enter InfoSec often do so through some IT role. This is often from system administrators, network admins, programmers, or others. Having a basic foundational IT understanding is very important. Understanding and having experience with Windows servers, Linux servers, Networking, or programming can really help an InfoSec practitioner do well in their role. However, it’s not always a requirement for all InfoSec roles. So, don’t get discourage if you don’t have any of this experience.
The important part is getting the foundational knowledge that you will need for any role in InfoSec. So, what is the foundational knowledge? I have always recommended that anyone interested in InfoSec prepare for and take the CompTIA Security+ certification.
There’s a couple reasons for this:
- Security+ certification is about $300 and is one of the cheapest certifications out there.
- It’s a well-known certification and is also DoD accepted/required for certain roles.
- It solidly covers the basic fundamentals of InfoSec (Cyber Security) and is even referenced in college courses.
Now, I will clarify that Security+ isn’t the only certification out there designed for beginners. However, it is my recommended certification for the reasons above. If you’ve found another certification that you’d like to go after then definitely pursue it. The bottom line is that you should work towards gaining that foundational knowledge and having a certification showing that you know and understand the basic security concepts is important to employers.
As a side note, I will also add a host of resources on Part 6 that will help you with this foundational knowledge. Most of these will be free resources that you can leverage to help you on your learning journey.
Lastly, let’s discuss the field. There are numerous roles within InfoSec and companies will have varying levels of maturity in their InfoSec program. Some will have more advanced teams, like threat hunting or full time red teams, while others may just have set up their first SOC. You’ll likely be drawn to one or more roles within InfoSec. The importance is to identify what REALLY interests you. Does the thought of being a front line defender in the SOC, actively stopping bad guys from penetrating the network put a smile on your face? How about the thought of opening a piece of malware in a sandbox environment and examining what it does? Does the thought of being a white hat hacker, probing and finding ways into the network and then detailing those findings excite you?
Whatever role it is that really makes you excited is where you should aim to be. Here, I’ll lay out some of the most common roles that you will find.
- Application security
- Data loss prevention
- Forensics
- Incident response
- Network security
- Security architecture
- Threat intelligence
- Vulnerability management
- Penetration testing
- Endpoint security
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, most of these roles are what you will see in most companies. The bottom line is to figure out what excites you about any of these roles. At my company, the interview process starts with the manager and then an interview with the team. One of the main things that I look for in interviews is a sense of excitement and eagerness to learn. We’ll cover this more in Part 4, however. I would rather have someone on my team that is excited about InfoSec and eager to learn than someone who just wants a job.
I do hope that this helps you in your journey. If you have any feedback, please leave a comment. Good luck to you on your own journey!