cyber-and-careers

[polar rock]

Only on the weekends? I’ve never seen any opportunities like that

[lost willow]

Kk thanks. I have seen some in the United States but the opportunity was limited to the country

[edgy tiger]

I think the company meant, that they operate 24/7 and that you need to run a few shift inluding weekend ;p

[mint spear]

Amazing!
I'm a pharmacy student trying to diversify:sweat_smile: :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile:

[exotic oak]

Morning guys, I had my first 2 interviews as a Cyber Security Analyst after completing my MSc of Computer Science in Cyber Security. In both interviews I was told at the end that, they will get back to me within a week or and it has been 3 weeks now and nothing. Not even a feedback. How annoying and unprofessional those companies are sometimes its unbelievable. If we accept a job and never turn up without saying anything we are seen as bad

[static tide]

have you sent a follow up email?

i agree it’s shitty when they don’t get back but just for clarity it might be worth sending something

[exotic oak]

Hi @static tide I sent one this morning. Will wait and see. Even if they offer me a job now I won't take it and would only accept if I wasn't working. Fingers cross where I work there will be a Cyber Security Analyst role shortly. I was told by the Department Manager I work with sometimes that they are just awaiting for approval

[static tide]

yeah i’ve never been on the hiring side of the process so i’m not sure what goes on, good luck with getting an analyst role though :)

@exotic oak are you just looking for analyst roles or would you consider red team stuff too?

[exotic oak]

@static tide I would definitely look for red team stuff too. Just received an email for an interview with the NHS 🤞

[static tide]

ooh nice! are you based in the uk?

i’m guessing so since you got an interview with the nhs lol

do you mind if i dm?

[exotic oak]

@static tide yeah I don't mind. I am based in UK-Glasgow

[peak steeple]

Can anypne tell me what a Cyber Security Techologist? I have head hunted by a recruiter on Linkedin but the role mentions , boardroom meetings and aftersale .

[light urchin]

Kinda sounds like you'd be working for some kind of security vendor, so you'd be assisting with the sales and support teams ?

[pseudo creek]

I've never heard of that job title and sometimes job titles are very vagues, it definitely sounds like you would be part of supporting customers like EmptyBuffer said

[warm hinge]

@cobalt escarp

@olive orbit

[cobalt escarp]

-ban 305662488618336256 Stram scammer

[serene umbra]

🔨 Banned SAGI#1111 indefinitely

[cobalt escarp]

Stram 😩😩😩

[olive orbit]

stean comunnity

[gentle tapir]

Key skill is to look behind the titles. Recruiters are quite good at selling hype. So, basically agreeing with EmptyBuffer and Zojja here

[light urchin]

Agree on the 'selling hype' bit. Most recruiters know next to nothing when it comes to tech, they just spout keywords and buzzwords

talk to a real hiring manager at the company if you can

[hasty egret]

Hello guys im 16 years old and im trying to get into the cybersecurity fast as possible but i think i did almost everything i can in this age. I achieve couple certs made my website knowledge of assembly plain c and python. I really dont know what should i gonna learn next. Please any tips. My site is https://www.haban.dev/

[rain jay]

@hasty egret u can ping me I can guide u !

[uncut laurel]

can someone tell me whats better as carrer game devloping or ethical hacking

[static tide]

for a person that prefers game dev, game development will be better. for someone that prefers ethical hacking, ethical hacking will be better

[lavish cargo]

I think ethical hacking is less stressful than being a game dev tho, no experience in either domain tho so might be wrong

[warm hinge]

anyone knows about cybersecurity colleges to do masters?
Please lemme know if you know any good univs
thanks in adv.

[golden ore]

where are you located or looking to attend

[tidal wave]

Just try programming and ethical hacking...

And Go for the one that suits you

[light urchin]

Game dev is very very hard to break in to, and the quality of life there is pretty low. People tend to work ridiculous hours (and often at lower pay, at the smaller studios), simply because there are so many people who want to do that kind of work. People burn out very fast in that industry.

[tender tide]

DM ME wanna watch a movie scray movie

[flat sedge]

If you got paid taxable money for it, put it on the resume. If you didn't pay taxes, it's a hobby not a job

[languid hearth]

nope, you'll likely get asked about it in the interview stage of it's on your resume

[glossy jetty]

I guess that depends in between countries, but I've always been asked (and specified them in my cv) about hobbies, if those include doing a certain job even if it's for free (volunteering), that goes on my cv

[lusty stag]

Hi guys, I have a question about incident report in cybersecurity field for entry level. How important of it and will it help you with career growth? Thanks

[gentle tapir]

Just ask Hideo Kojima :p Or some random dev at Rockstar

Or people at Ubisoft ...

[hasty egret]

I have sent you a message in dms.

[flat sedge]

Let him know if it comes up in the interview - sending out corrections to a resume once its in a recruiters hands isn't a good sign to them. However, you are still really junior so a certain amount of figuring things out is expected

[slow ledge]

I am looking at taking a GPEN course before the end of the year. Any recommendations for training in the meantime to prepare for it? I have been going over the "Complete Beginner" path on TryHackMe for the past week and I am over 50% done.

[rain jay]

@hasty egret done !

[languid hearth]

McGraw Hill has an All In One GPEN book that I recommend to anyone in general, regardless of if they're taking GPEN or not

[untold oar]

Can anyone recommend me some good certs that i should try to get in order to get in infosec. Not the kinds of oscp that are insanely costly but enough for entry level stuff?

I am really willing to listen to career paths as well as advises if anyone is willing to discuss about it

[static tide]

@untold oar ccna and security+ are my two recommendations :) sec+ is probably the preferred when breaking into the industry, but ccna will make you 10x better imo

[ancient prairie]

scrape local job postings and see what they are asking for, certs carry different weight depending on the region and area of IT - I'd say get eJPT, Sec+ and start applying while studying for Net+

[flat sedge]

security is usually harder to break into as a first IT job. It's pretty rare that even 'entry-level' security anything gets hired with no experience and a few certs

[ancient prairie]

but overall a cert doesn't guarantee you entry or even an interview in cybersec, like juun just said I would look at help-desk, sys-admin work if you have no background

[flat sedge]

In my opinion and experience, it's easier to get a job as a junior network or sys admin, then flavor all your work with a security mindset to make the jump in 3-5 years

my own career path didn't follow that pattern, but i'm more the exception given what I've seen of others

[ancient prairie]

that is exactly my game plan 😄 starting to come up on my first year in IT and getting a bit itchy though

[untold oar]

yea, i wanted to get the ccna. however i was really confused about what certs i should try out in infosec domain.

@flat sedge can you tell me what are the roles of a network admin? what tasks does network admins do

[flat sedge]

CCNA is a good first place to start. It could be overwhelming without taking a networking class at a jr college though

Net admins, from what I can tell, primarily add allow any any to the first line of every firewall policy in the enterprise....

[untold oar]

yea i would say i got a fair share of introduction to networking because i am in my last year of comp science

[flat sedge]

Just kidding, they primarily deal with the network policies that determine how data is allowed to flow within an organization and across boundaries. They also manage firewall policy configuration, network architecture, router config, and switch config

[untold oar]

xD

[flat sedge]

Levi, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Networking is an optional elective in many programs. If you've taken a networking class, you are probably in a good place to start studying for the CCNA

[untold oar]

so the CCNA, what is the structure like? is it proctored or multiple choice question based or based on report writing?

[flat sedge]

AFAIK it's a proctored test that is part multiple choice and part practical config of different types of switches and routers

[warm hinge]

+1 for CCNA and Sec+

[north hill]

Hey, is the THM intership open to everyone now or is it still just confined to UK?

[cobalt escarp]

I don't think it's changing :)

UK Only

[north hill]

https://tenor.com/view/sad-walk-away-tiger-gif-13828540

[warm hinge]

that's gotta be the saddest gif

[severe sparrow]

What is the primary thing that software engineers do? I know software engineers work on the front end stuff and writing/coding in html, css and JavaScript. But when you code, do you code like features or just the looks of a website and do you link it with (and write) backend code for the front end stuff that you do? For example if I’m making a menu that should slide out when I press a button, then when I press the button it executes a function in JavaScript that will make the width of the menu extend. Is it that stuff that software engineers do or do you also link and write backend stuff that you don’t really see as a customer/visitors of the site but that enhances the experience as a visitor on the site?

Sorry if I wrote that weird or “formatted” it in a hard to understand way

[light urchin]

It really depends on the company and job, I think. What you just described is more of a "web developer" role than a "software engineering" role, which tends to have a slightly lower barrier to entry (i.e. a coding bootcamp is more acceptable here, as opposed to a 4 year degree). Some places like to hire for "full stack" roles, meaning you can do both back and front end, but IMO, those are stupid, and are indicative of companies that don't know what they want/are doing. People can specialize in any number of areas- both within the back and the front end, but the back end code tends to have more sub-areas to specialize in

[warm hinge]

whoa, that might be a bit harsh on full stack EmptyBuffer 🙂 Why do you say that ?

[light urchin]

The software industry is a huge space. Even someone who specializes in back-end development can't possibly know or even touch it all over their career. So to add front end to that is unreasonable/unwise, IMO- it shallows the skillset for everything that person knows. Much better, again, just IMO, to have front end specialists and back end specialists.

Companies that only hire "full stack" people are telling me that they don't really know what they want/are trying to develop, and that they consider all software engineers just interchangeable code monkeys- it's all "just typing" to them. The reality is that it's much more complex and nuanced.

[golden ore]

software engineering is an older job description, most of them now how some sort of developer type title to them now, makes it so they can get more granular

[warm hinge]

sure, but just as there's more complexity and nuance to the role, there's also complexity and nuance in the sea of different things every company can do

[light urchin]

absolutely

but if all a company wants is "full stack" people, that means they don't understand that complexity and nuance, which is indicative of bad management and other problems, just IMO and my experience.

[warm hinge]

I think you might be generalizing there, but I see where you're coming from

[golden ore]

fawaz is a full-stack dev, iirc

[flat sedge]

Software engineer is not an older job description, it's a more specific job description. Typically that role requires a much deeper knowledge of test methodology and the compsci formalisms than web devs are expected to know or really be familiar with. For a typical web app, it's unlikely that a full time engineer should be dedicated to the project. If there is a significant cost of failure, such as safety systems or financial penalty for data breeches, much more investment into verification and validation is warranted.

I wouldn't expect a full stack developer to really understand BDD or the full gamut of test types, but I would expect a software engineer focused on databases to understand validation and verification of data transformations for at least type of database and to have a pretty deep understanding of at least one database product, regardless if that product is a relational or non-relational database

[light urchin]

Agreed. And I want to be clear- I am not disparaging the role of full stack developers. They're valuable and skilled. I'm just wary of those types of job postings. In my experience, it's indicative of poor management understanding of the industry and the problems that need to be addressed.

[flat sedge]

I also wouldn't expect a full stack dev to be very familiar with performance tuning, but a software engineer better be able to at least explain how to tune their source code for better performance

[tiny basalt]

Hii

[flat sedge]

I'm not saying front end or full stack is useless, either. In my opinion, those are more general and/or more junior roles than software engineer

[light urchin]

And even within front and back end, there are numerous sub-specialties. AI/ML, graphics, drivers, database engines, angular, react, vue, the list goes on.

[tiny basalt]

Is it there any mentor that i may dm, i need some guidance in cybersec area, i just dont know with which path to go or follow

I feel kinda lost in that area

[stoic cave]

Just ask here

[flat sedge]

That's why we're all here, technopy 🙂 Drop your question and what you're thinking, I'm sure many of us idling here have many thoughts

[stoic cave]

I wouldn't survive as a software engineer

[light urchin]

Yeah, better to ask in public. One question will get you many answers, none of which will be 100% correct or the full story, but then you get to assess all of it 🙂

[stoic cave]

I just write code that somehow works and then copy and paste

Like my wonderful python script that opens and closes a file 10 times

[tiny basalt]

I just know that id like more red teaming rather than blue team

But i just dont know what 2 do next

[flat sedge]

https://tenor.com/view/monkey-developer-software-coding-debug-gif-15160023

[stoic cave]

Yuuuuuup

[tiny basalt]

Any advice ?

[golden ore]

what are you currently doing @tiny basalt

[flat sedge]

you haven't asked a question. All you've said is that you like red team more than blue team. What's your current area of knowledge? Do you have a current role and are looking for a next step?

[tiny basalt]

Mm nothing much, im grinding my django knowledge and skills

[stoic cave]

It's good you know what you like but I would also like say don't let that get in front of opportunities that you think are "undesirable"

[tiny basalt]

But i haven't made that much in cybersec actually

[stoic cave]

Jobs aren't forever

[flat sedge]

Why are you grinding python and django?

[stoic cave]

You can always leave but the experience you gain is important

[tiny basalt]

Question: ¿What do you recommend to follow in red teaming, any topic, or thm room?

[stoic cave]

#start-here

[tiny basalt]

Lemme check if grinding means what I think

[golden ore]

most of THM is red teaming except the new blue team stuff

[stoic cave]

Also another good piece of information, "red teaming", at least in the US, generally isn't an entry level position

[tiny basalt]

Ok, grinding wasn't want i wanted to say, i mean polish

[golden ore]

red team has different definitions as well, most red teams are ran a bit different than a pentester as well

[tiny basalt]

I know, but i first want to stablish some General knowledge

[stoic cave]

Yes to me, red team encompasses all facets of security in both the cyber and physical realm

[flat sedge]

General knowledge of what? ISC^2 recognizes 8 different IT domains

[golden ore]

if you want to break into the red team, Comptia Pentest+ or eJPT are good starting points

[flat sedge]

That's... not a helpful view of red team moose.

[stoic cave]

And they are looking for people with established skillsets to bolster their teams

[flat sedge]

Red team, I think, is a specific application of security knowledge to simulate real-world attacker scenarios with specific narrowed scope and pre-determined levels of risk acceptance for those scenarios

But I don't particularly care for the whole 'red/blue team' names. Business folks who have no real interest in security have co-opted the terms for their buzzword dictionaries and I think they have watered down the meaning to a point where it's like having 'entrepreneur' on the resume.

[severe sparrow]

Thank you @light urchin & @flat sedge for clarifying software engineering for us ♥️

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @light urchin

[light urchin]

+rep @flat sedge (since the previous comment only tagged me) 🙂

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @flat sedge

[severe sparrow]

Gotta get them reps

:)

[golden ore]

those are covered under the CISSP, if you are just starting you may want to go more entry level i.e Pentest+ or eJPT that cover a lot of the basics that most red teamers need to know

[flat sedge]

I think the 8 domains are a good place to get an overview of where security can go; from a ground up perspective, blackdragon is right

[tiny basalt]

Thx, ill take a look and then if i need, ask again but more precise

@flat sedge may i dm u?

Or you prefer to talk in
here ?

[flat sedge]

about what? your question (and answers) may have value to otherse

[tiny basalt]

Ok

I saw the 8 domains and i think i will go with this one

My question is

[flat sedge]

That's largely a compliance and governance domain. Red team specific to that is very very rare.

[tiny basalt]

Which room/s should i make, or what do i gotta learn to at least know the basics

[tiny basalt]

Mmm

[flat sedge]

parts of pentest may fall under it, depending on the SoW agreed to for that engagement; but most jobs will be compliance and governance focused

[tiny basalt]

SoW?

[flat sedge]

statement of work

[tiny basalt]

Ok ok

Interesting

[flat sedge]

basically the document that tells the red team the scope of targets, allowed and disallowed vectors, as well as what constitutes the risk boundaries of the system(s) under test

[tiny basalt]

Noice

Its like the rules of, u can do this but dont touch this

No?

In a very simple way ofc

[flat sedge]

If you really want to go down that route, I recommend downloading the NIST SP 800-153 and NIST CF 1.1 documents from the NIST website, then going through both to harden a linux distro and application of your choice to understand what the requirements are, what your controls should do, and any gaps in the controls you implement

that would be the way i would explain it to an account manager who isn't technical

[tiny basalt]

Ok

[flat sedge]

If you feel overwhelmed doing that, you are correct in feeling that way. A real implemention of those controls is usually an entire team of security engineers collaborating and coordinating with the relevant IT teams of developers and operations administrators

[tiny basalt]

Im kinda lost about the Cyber Security world's structure, if i can say i like that

[flat sedge]

as well as communicating with the business folks so they can analyze impact as it goes

[tiny basalt]

XDD

[flat sedge]

Yeah, that's not uncommon. You picked a really complicated place to start

[tiny basalt]

And what places to start exist?

The 8 domains??

[flat sedge]

You can start anywhere. Where you should start is up to you, and what your interests are

The most common routes I see are: network; sys admin; or developer

[tiny basalt]

Yeah, but... Which are like the most usual ones

[tiny basalt]

Ok

[flat sedge]

In most cases, security positions grow out of interests and specialties in those paths

[tiny basalt]

May be a newbie question, but what is the difference between the Network and sysadmin routes?

:/

[golden ore]

sysadmin is more linux/windows servers, network admin is going to be router/switches/etc on the network

[tiny basalt]

Aaaa

I prefer sysadmin so

What do i gotta do next, some good reading or thm room recommendations?

Teach me plz

[golden ore]

I started on the network admin side before moving to cyber, both are good learning points though

[tiny basalt]

Mmm

[golden ore]

have you done the Comptia Pentest path yet

[tiny basalt]

Yup

[golden ore]

Offensive Pentest

[tiny basalt]

Now idk what to do, im like "what's next?"

[tiny basalt]

Interesting

[golden ore]

it's another one of the paths

[tiny basalt]

Any room recommendation of that path?

[golden ore]

most of them are really good for learning pentesting stuff, I have completed all except the BoF (not good at it yet)

[tiny basalt]

xD

Thx @golden ore

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @golden ore

[tiny basalt]

John Hammond has a good BoF tutorial i think

[golden ore]

ya, there are some good ones out there, and some of the community is really good with it as well

[tiny basalt]

Yeah

[flat sedge]

Use a linux distro as your daily driver for the next year. Use a linux vm to try out deploying products and practice setting up common enterprise-like tools. Learn how to duplicate system config across multiple systems with a tool like puppet, ansible or chef.

I only say linux because unless you have a school account partnered with microsoft, the licensing for the MS equivalents can get pricey

[tiny basalt]

I used a long time Linux, and i use a raspberry pi for experiments and IoT

Now im gonna do a Greenhouse automation and monitor

[flat sedge]

I used ubuntu as my daily driver for 8 years. I learned more about linux in my first year as a sysadmin than i did in the entirety of that time

[tiny basalt]

I used Linux Mint and then Manjaro

I 've been thinking to make again a dual boot in my laptop

[flat sedge]

Setting up a pi is great to learn the basics, but if you want to do anything useful to a career with sysadmin stuff, set up a home lab of VMs or cheap commodity hardware to emulate an enterprise-like environment

[tiny basalt]

But i gotta buy a larger disk

[flat sedge]

Dual boot is a great way to hate life. Stability > flexibility when you have a list of TODOs

[tiny basalt]

TODOs?

Aah

[flat sedge]

as in a list of things to-do

[tiny basalt]

XD

Yeah yeah

Why is it a great way to Hate life??

[flat sedge]

Because windows likes to thrash the bootloader

[tiny basalt]

Ou

Tru

[flat sedge]

then you have to reboot to a recovery mode to re-locate the linux bootloader

[tiny basalt]

It happened me 2 times

I had to like re install grub

I dont remember too much

[flat sedge]

I have also had a laptop that had a recovery partition that restored the original disk image - including the original partition table. Goodbye, linux.

[tiny basalt]

Over all when i had the Manjaro os

What may i do so?

Cuz i use many windows only programs

And my laptop is not that good about processing resources

[flat sedge]

In my opinion, any linux distro has the capability to teach you a lot. But there is a reason that many organizations use linux as the sysadmin backbone for many of their company intranet services.

[tiny basalt]

Ill check the alternative to switch again to Linux, i gotta be honest, i miss Linux a Lot

What is your favorite linux distro @flat sedge ?

[flat sedge]

I don't have a favorite, I'll use whatever my client tells me they want

For my own stuff, I commonly use CentOS or Debian as servers when I'm doing a proof of concept for myself

A lot of open source tools are engineered with one of those two as the 'standard platform', so it can make config of some things easier on those

but it's pretty straightforward to compile a source code project into an .deb or .rpm to distribute to any DNF or APT package manager

[tiny basalt]

Mmm

Noice

But for desktop usage ?

[flat sedge]

Anything I can install gnome on

[tiny basalt]

XDD

[flat sedge]

Honestly, 99% of my linux work is done through ssh

[tiny basalt]

LoL

[flat sedge]

not a joke. With windows including ssh as part of cmd and powershell utils now, and git-scm including a version of bash with those tools, it really doesn't matter what is connected to my monitor because i'm more than likely ssh'ed into whatever i'm actually working on

[tiny basalt]

Noice

Many thx @flat sedge

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @flat sedge

[tiny basalt]

Yo @flat sedge im switching to linux again (ubuntu) wish me luck

[shadow bobcat]

@here I'm currently in a Cyber Security course through a prominent school in my state. I'm also working on my Associates Degree but I have 20+ years of (unrelated) work experience. I've owned a computer since the age of 12, built my current PC from parts, and am no newcomer to software, troubleshooting, etc.

Any opinions, suggestions, or thoughts on the best way to get into a Cyber Security career? Something entry level that doesn't require a bunch of years, a degree, etc. I should around the end of the year end up with a CompTIA Security+ cert if I pass the test.

I've heard IT Help Desk as an option... I'm literally not opposed to anything.

[untold oar]

@flat sedge can you tell me what questions did they ask you in your interview?

[north hill]

Guys, I need some suggestions on infrastructure design. Anyone open for DMs?

[flat sedge]

What interview?

[boreal zephyr]

Sec+ is a great start. Consider getting an OS cert as well, like Linux+. Typically I tell people to avoid helpdesk positions, its easy to get trapped there and hard to be noticed as anything other than IT support. I suggest looking for SOC work as an entry point. Its shift work, the hours can be long too, but it will get your foot in the door. Spend a year or two there and figure out where in the cyber community you want to specialize and go from there.

[untold oar]

@flat sedge cybersecurity interview or sysadmins or network admin interviews

[flat sedge]

It depends on the environment and what the organizational needs are. Questions also get asked about the things listed on the resume, in each category.

[glossy jetty]

Just out of curiosity. Looks like elearn security's certs are not as popular in between employers in the UK as comptia? At least looking at job offers online. What's the word around in the industry?

[languid hearth]

eLS isn't generally respected; CompTIA is, there isn't much more to it tbh

[glossy jetty]

Thanks

[languid hearth]

look at it this way, you'll know where you can improve for the future.

[warm hinge]

@eternal estuary sorry in late to the game, what did you apply for/what was the job

[leaden yew]

How do you usually study/prepare for a technical Interview ? Especially if one of the goals is to show that I can pass certifications and that I am skilled in tools such as Burp, Metasploit, ZAP and so on

[edgy tiger]

I have never prepped myself for an interview xD, the only thing that I have done is click through the website to see what they offer

So that would be my advice, and read some extra on the skills they ask for.

[quick forum]

You're gonna get a CTF style challenge most likely

[spring iris]

Hello, I want to be a great Pentester, what path should I follow?

[past shuttle]

Hey , currently i’m doing 3 year computer application undergraduated degree. Is it necessary to have post graduation in computer application to get into cyber security??

[golden ore]

an undergraduate is good for just getting in, a higher level degree can be useful later on depending on the company

[quick forum]

Post grad tends to be management etc

[past shuttle]

Is that necessary for cyber security?

Master of Computer Application

[golden ore]

not necessary to say, sometimes can be a hindrance if you don't have experience to back it up when it comes to pay

[quick forum]

Not really.

Take a look on LinkedIn.

Look at jobs you would want to apply for. See what they're asking for.

[spare pike]

Im sure this question has been asked often, but I'm about to finish a degree in Cyber Security, and I hope to get into that field right away without having to go the Help Desk route first. I do not have prior experience in Cyber or any IT. Is it realistic to think I can avoid the help desk route and jump straight into Cyber? If so, what is the best way to go about it? I have seen videos of recruiters suggesting putting TryHackMe on my resume, as I am working through these challeneges. Would it be good to immediately pursue some certs after or while finishing my degree? Thanks for the help!

[forest knoll]

The golden trilogy is, knowledge, degree and certs. The industry is wisening up to the fact degrees don't equal knowledge, certs do. Hence the need for certs. Best thing to do is look at jobs ud be interested in and check the requirements, jobs and areas can be vastly change the requirements.

[spare pike]

Thanks for the reply. I have come to this realization as well. I have been a bit disappointed with my degree program, so far. Not enough practical application and too much writing. I have learned so much from TryHackMe and other sites like it. I think I will be going for the Sec+ cert first.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @forest knoll

[forest knoll]

Im glad TryHackMe has helped you, practice as much as u can, it'll make a heap of difference :)

[spare pike]

Will do! I'm still slogging my way through the beginner's path at the moment, but moving along steadily.

[past shuttle]

I’m from India and a degree graduate. What’s your all opinion about taking Msc in cyber security from UK. ??

[peak steeple]

@past shuttle I'm from UK. Why not head to US or Austalia? In UK are soome excellent options available.

[past shuttle]

Which country you prefer the most?

[peak steeple]

@past shuttle Pre-Brexit: There is no place like UK for me. Post Brexi- things are different. UK pentesting standards for TOP jobs require QSTM or CREST but these are just UK recognised. OSCP is good but they will still direct you these exams. USA and Autralis are more flexible in what they require of their pentesters. I recommend searchimh Linkedin jobs to decide.

I'm trying to head ts Spain or Autralia but need to brush my Spanish BIG time 1st 😦

https://pentest.co.uk/about-us/certifications/

https://equilibrium-security.co.uk/advice-and-consultancy/penetration-testing/what-is-crest-penetration-testing/

[quick forum]

Most of the pentest roles I see advertised on LinkedIn ask for OSCP

They'll CHECK train you or whatever

[peak steeple]

@quick forum OSCP is indeed highly regarded and will train up indeed. However why enter at the bottom and fight your way up when you can start with an advantage. OSCP allows you to bypass CPSA written and go strait to CRT practical sooo also nice 🙂

[quick forum]

The requirements there actually kinda suck

[peak steeple]

CREST will take from Middle and then train up.

[quick forum]

Like for doing the cert equivalency

It doesn't work.

[peak steeple]

I too dont understandf why they are sooo strict and the exams are pricey.

[quick forum]

OSCP allows you to bypass CPSA written No, it does not.

CRT equivalency will be granted where the candidate has taken and passed the OSCP certification within three (3) years* of the date that they apply to CREST for recognition and provided that they also hold a valid pass in the CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA) qualification. The CPSA qualification may not have been attained under any other equivalency programme. CRT equivalency will be granted from the date that the CPSA qualification was issued.

You need to have passed CPSA.

[peak steeple]

https://www.crest-approved.org/professional-qualifications/certification-equivalency-recognition-programmes/offensive-security/index.html

[quick forum]

That is, in fact, the exact page I just quoted from.

Please read the content on the page.

[peak steeple]

@quick forum You are right! I need a coffee.

Let me reread that.

[quick forum]

Are you in the UK? You seem to have made a number of weird statements that very much disagree with the job advertisements I keep seeing.

[peak steeple]

I am in UK - yes!

[quick forum]

However why enter at the bottom and fight your way up when you can start with an advantage. because that's how the heirarchy works. You start at an entry level position, and work up.

The entry level for pentest jobs is quite high.

[peak steeple]

Yes, true. Like I said OSCP is highly regard but CREST/QSTM more soo in UK atleast. Having spoken to recruiters and folks in Linkedin groups this what am told.

[glossy jetty]

Not many good opportunities in Spain. I haven't worked in the industry, but I'm Spanish and know people working in it. It's much better in the UK from what we've been able to compare. But not everything revolves around a job 😅

[peak steeple]

@glossy jetty There goes one dream 😉

[glossy jetty]

Just get something you can do remotely and enjoy the weather while working for a British company 😛

[twilit gazelle]

Yeah

Am from new York

And you

[static tide]

i agree with this

you need to work with a ctl in order to be eligible for ctm too

[quick forum]

I just got a pentest job and they literally said they'd train me for check team member or whatever

[static tide]

ye i got my exam next week

😩

[peak steeple]

@static tide Good luck my Friend! What exam hae you got next week?

[static tide]

thanks :) cstm

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @peak steeple

[peak steeple]

@static tide Great choice! I was drawn to that but cause I dream to CCT Infra so live stick with CREST.

[static tide]

oooh infra

i think i’m gonna go with web when i get to ctl level but that might change :D

my manager is a web guy so i’d probably have the best chance with web

[peak steeple]

I am web app fan but my Red Team mates say I need CCSAS which a sub exam of infra... Still early days for me trying get my CPSA next month.

[static tide]

that’s the theory one right?

[peak steeple]

Yes, I hate theory.

[static tide]

mood

hopefully we’ll both be ctm’s soon then hehe

[peak steeple]

Let us know hope it goes 🙂

[static tide]

will do :)

[lofty ibex]

Additionally @peak steeple if you have CPSA + OSCP, you can get the equivalency but you are unable to apply for CHECK team member (CTM) so CRT cannot be bypassed which is what companies look for mostly

(sorry for the ping James, forgot to disable it)

[quick forum]

Well I don't see the point of the equivalency then lmao

[lofty ibex]

There really isn't much point

[past shuttle]

CEH or Msc cyber security? What do everyone prefer?

[quick forum]

Neither.

[flat sedge]

MSc but only if a job requires it as part of advancement

[undone shore]

Yeah, there's zero point in the equivalency between CRT and OSCP -- even if they were actually equivalent.

Only reason to get CRT is for CHECK membership, and the equivalency doesn't give you that. All the equivalency gives is three extra letters after your name, and not even useful ones at that.

[distant pier]

Gatekeeper™️ Certs™️ 🤣

[forest knoll]

Thank you for ur advice, I passed :)

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @split plank

[sand furnace]

replying 3 months back msg

[split plank]

Ayy nice job!

[forest knoll]

Gotta appreciate the people who help u :)

[sand furnace]

Yeah

[sand furnace]

Btw Congratulations Magna on OSWE

[forest knoll]

Thank you :)

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @sand furnace

[lusty stag]

Hi there, is anyone able to point out the main difference between crowdstrike and dark trace?

From what I know both of them are detecting and preventing websites and computers

[polar rock]

detecting and preventing websites and computers

wut

I mean theyre both enterprise security platforms

Ive only really looked into crowdstrike but tbh what do you need an enterprise platform for?

they will typically be selected based on the needs of the environment and team itself

[stoic cave]

To add whatever makes them unique is probably company proprietary as well. It will be what gives them an advantage over the competition

[lusty stag]

I don't need it for my personal use, it the tools I will be working with for my new role

I'm just curious what are the advantages and disadvantages between them. As far as I know, Crowdstrike is resourceful than Dark trace.

[static tide]

my old job i used darktrace a tiny bit

and crowdstrike was just getting introduced but i still got certified for it just in time 😎

[lusty stag]

Do you know the main difference between the two?

Thanks in advance

[static tide]

not really lol sorry

crowdstrike is much more intuitive

but in terms of how they perform, i'm not sure which is best

darktrace spent millions on their data representation graphics thingy though which no one likes or looks at

[languid hearth]

crowdstrike really be like "haha splunk go brrr"

[static tide]

lol just went to sign into crowdstrike university and my old company email still works

@lusty stag sign up for this though if you can, pretty sure they have some free training on the platform: https://www.crowdstrike.com/endpoint-security-products/crowdstrike-university/

this is probably the one to look into: https://www.crowdstrike.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ccfr-certification-exam-guide.pdf

[lusty stag]

Amazing! I just signed up and waiting for it to get back to me

[static tide]

awesome sauce

[lusty stag]

I'll get it after the free training

[languid hearth]

@static tide thanks for sharing that, I didn't know CS did certs. I'll definitely add that onto my 2021 goals

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @static tide

[languid hearth]

we use Falcon and we're establishing a hunt team soon

[static tide]

i did ccfa, not ccfr so not sure if ccfr is practical or not

but ccfa was just multiple choice

[languid hearth]

odds are our team is going to become the hunt team and or repurposed to aid the hunt team

[static tide]

ooo that sounds pog

i wish i got to do more than just be ticket monky while i was there 😔

[distant pier]

Ticket monkey 🤣

[tardy notch]

err hello ?

[mighty saddle]

hwllo

[past shuttle]

Do we need to to study web development before going into cyber security?? What essential things we need to study from the web side section?

[peak steeple]

Most pf these things you can study on THM in context. Web dev focusses on dev side while THM will focus on cyber side. Also portswigger acadey to cement it.

[past shuttle]

What about web applets?

Is that important?

Where to study that?

[steep ermine]

learn JS,HTML,(maybe css isnt compulsory), PHP and SQL and then learn web hacking as ull need these languages to bypass and get admin privileges.

this is only if u want to go into the web security side of cyber sec

thm has given an excellent learning pathway to boss web fundamentals

[pseudo creek]

lots of applications these days are web applications so having an understanding of what web applications are, how they are implemented, comon vulnerabilities, etc would be good. There is a web security path within THM that you can review

[sick glacier]

hmm

[tribal apex]

This might be a good place to start - https://danielmiessler.com/information-security/

[warm hinge]

I’m more interested in the Digital Forensics side of CyberSec the more I learn

How do you get into that role? Is there a certification that is looked for typically?

[peak steeple]

@warm hinge Not sure if this is what you are talkin about: https://www.edusum.com/blog/which-top-5-computer-forensics-certifications-are-demand

Also this:https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/big-list-computer-forensics-certifications/

[warm hinge]

Thanks!

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @peak steeple

[lusty stag]

Is SOC analyst level 1 is a good entry job for cybersecurity?

[dapper fractal]

Why not, I guess every job in Soc is a good entry job 🙂

[pearl lantern]

yup

[lusty stag]

I just signed a job offer for SOC

[dapper fractal]

Congrats @lusty stag

[lusty stag]

I know my working hour will be hectic

[pearl lantern]

congrats!!!

[dapper fractal]

Wish I could say the same 😄

[pearl lantern]

not for this XD

[lusty stag]

I will be on call outside my working hour

[dapper fractal]

Sounds normal 😅

[lusty stag]

You are saying the job is not stressful?

This is going to be my very first cybersecurity job after uni

[dapper fractal]

I wouldn't say it wont be stressfull, but hectic would mean you are on call 24/7 and every few minutes something big is happening

[lusty stag]

I will try to gain useful skills from this position and attempt OSCP in the future

[dapper fractal]

I guess even working in that field of work generally will teach you much, so you will def. benefit from that job!

[lusty stag]

I'm willing to keep up with the work hour

Thanks for the insight @dapper fractal

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @dapper fractal

[dapper fractal]

Sounds great, hope you will be happy with the job! 😊

[dapper fractal]

No problem ☺️

[static tide]

congrats on the offer :)

[lusty stag]

Thank you, Jake

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @static tide

[north hill]

Hey guys, recently I have been applying to a bank and would soon probably have an interview with the same. Any good SOC stuff which I can do in the meanwhile?

[hot fog]

Hey guys, I'm planning on taking the Net+ in a couple of months. I barely have real experience with networking, and I was wondering if these sources would be enough:

Jason Dion's udemy course

Professor Messer's videos + course notes

Mike Meyers all in one book.

Thanks :)

[warm hinge]

Mike Meyer's book, Practice exams that come with that book, and Professor Messer videos to review leading up to exam. I purchased dion's practice exams for net+, but you could tell that Dion didn't have a good grasp on the subject at all. Would avoid his content completely.

[stable delta]

Hello everyone, hope you’re all well. I have a query and wanted to talk it out with someone who may be able to give me a little more insight. I’ve been looking into other roles in cyber security but I’ve come to a point where I cannot decide which path to take as all three roles have peaked my interest. I’m stuck between SOC analyst, forensic analyst and osint analyst. I’ve got the transferable skills to move to any of these roles at entry level but I’m not sure which path to take and wanted to see if anyone else in this predicament or not. I know the obvious answer is to do as many online rooms/labs available out there for each field and see which I enjoy the most but so far and I’ve enjoyed what I've learnt. I guess I just wanted to talk it out with someone who may have been in this situation or is and what they’re doing too. Thank you!

[static tide]

soc analyst is the easiest to get into imo, i’ve never heard of an osint analyst but i assume that’s just another term for some type of researcher? forensics from what i’ve seen will require some previous experience, which a soc can provide for you

[stable delta]

So from my understanding the actual title is called OSINT intelligence analyst and yes it is what you said a researcher from the job descriptions I've looked at. But thank you anyway, this gives me a little more clarity on what paths to take, I'd assume the same would go for osint role as well? From soc to osint...

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @static tide

[north hill]

Any good SOC stuff which I can go through for my Bank interview?

[warm hinge]

any1 suggest me a good book for Security+ exam...??
thinking to buy this course - CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501 & SY0-601) Complete Course & Exam by Jason Dion

[warm hinge]

Darrel Gibson's book is the best option for Sec+

[ancient prairie]

Hey Quirky, hope you've been well 😄

So for the OSINT Analyst part specifically, I have a few resources that might be able to help guide you there. Michael Bazzell (regarded highly in the OSINT community) has recently released a certification specifically for OSINT that looks to be really comprehensive https://www.inteltechniques.net/courses/open-source-intelligence. Look over the curriculum and see if that still interests you. I have quite a few OSINT Discords with active professionals I could DM if you'd like.

But just bear in mind the market for this job can vary, I don't think I've ever seen an entry-level role for this sort of job but don't let that discourage you. There is also some significant overlap between an OSINT Analyst and someone in the Threat Intel space which you could also branch off into.

[gentle parrot]

Hello, i have a question regarding certificate, I'm still in college but I want to have atleast one certificate that's regarded so that i can compete with those who already have experience, are there any suggestions for level entry certification? I heard about CompTIA security+ and SEH, SEH is highly regarded but it requires 2 year of prior experience, cost quite a sum, and the company is a bit shaddy. Is CompTIA security+ highly regarded as well?

Maybe after getting one of these certificates I'll try to get oscp but before that I'm not sure i can pass the test

[quick forum]

I'm guessing you mean CEH rather than SEH

Avoid CEH unless you're in India. It's not a good cert.

[gentle parrot]

Yeah it's CEH

So other countries besides India didn't highly regard CEH?

[quick forum]

Correct.
It used to hold some weight with the US department of defence but now other certs check the same box and are actually valuable

[gentle parrot]

Ohhh ok

So I'm better off getting the CompTIA security+

[quick forum]

Sec+ is a nice generic security cert

[gentle parrot]

Thank you @quick forum

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @quick forum

[gentle parrot]

Is sec+ entry level?

[quick forum]

But from my research, certs do NOT make a substitute for experience

Yes

[gentle parrot]

I know

But at least I don't came out as literal fresh graduates

I have something else up my sleeves so to speak

Sorry I'm not a english native speaker so pardon the weird wording

[flat sedge]

One thing I'll add, is that if you are in a university program, go out of your way to look for practical and real-world learning opportunities and internships.

[warm hinge]

There's no other option than purchasing the book🥲

[stable delta]

Thank you for this Droogy! I really appreciate it and sure you can DM me the discords, my DM's are open so you can send the links whenever 🙂

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @ancient prairie

[north hill]

EC Council is gradually losing ground in the infosec community. A major chunk of Cyber Security professionals are ditching EC Council(like TCM). This might mean that Comptia and ELearnSecurity might gain greater grounds in the near future.

Also, any help on how I can prepare for SOC 1 roles? It's in a major bank and I really wanna be prepared for it.

[quick forum]

Ec Council is rapidly losing ground as they get called out for sexism and plagiarism

[static tide]

what technologies do they use?

[north hill]

I don't exactly know. But it's mostly SOC stuff. I have some experience in Risk Gap assessment and architecture design but that's trivial and irrelevant I guess.

[flat sedge]

If you are in the SOC, you are likely going to be staring at log consoles and looking for event correlations. Understanding how logs feed into a SIEM and how correlation tuning works is probably going to be a thing they will want you to (eventually) know.

[north hill]

Any good resources where I can study that? A connection from LinkedIn suggested Rangerforce, but the demo request takes about a week to be processed.

[flat sedge]

Splunk is a good resource.

IIRC THM has a Splunk room; failing that, you can always set up a simple VM lab with a webserver and a splunk server

[north hill]

Yeah I guess splunk has their own free course as well. If that's the case, I'll check it out as well. Thanks @flat sedge :D

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @flat sedge

[north hill]

Thanks @flat sedge

[gentle parrot]

Thank you, i will look into it

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @flat sedge

[gentle parrot]

I'll go check out ELearnSecurity, thanks

[quick forum]

eLearn still doesn't hold the weight that offsec or comptia does

[slate ridge]

Ain't it easier to get into though?

[quick forum]

Huh?

[raw current]

remember though when looking at what certs to get, whether elern, comptia, offsec, EC council or any others to first check at job descriptions locally, some regions or states prefer certain certs, no point getting a cert if only firms on the other side of the country know what it is

[slate ridge]

Certifs like eJPT is easier to get into and covers the basics for bigger certifs like OSCP

[quick forum]

Yeah, but they don't have the same value. Those are also all pentest certs.

Something like Sec+ is a good generic security cert.

[slate ridge]

True

[lavish cargo]

What route should you go for certs? I mean it as what to get first second etc etc

[pseudo creek]

for what purpose?

security+ is a great first security cert

lots of people find that network+ or ccna give them a solid networking foundation

cloud certs like Azure and AWS carry a lot of weight if you are trying to break into IT

[stark marlin]

If you are looking to get into cyber security Red Teaming/Pentesting Side : I would recommend eJPT -> eCPPT(Very good for knowledge )/OSCP(Very good for market value) , If you are going blue teaming try eJPT, eCIH (Incident Response), Blue Teaming Labs etc.

and then see the niche you like AD/Exploit dev and aim for certs in that field

OSEP -> Red Teaming , OSED -> Exploit Development , OSWE -> For Web Pentesting etc.

[slate ridge]

Which one is more financially rewarding tho

[quick forum]

My current company genuinely said if I get OSCP they will give me a pay rise.

[slate ridge]

That I do hear about a lot

OSCP's got stupid amounts of relevance and value

It's equally as hard to get though

[quick forum]

It's a spicy CTF. That's what everyone who's passed it says.

[modest cradle]

it tests your ability to do a writeup just as much

[forest knoll]

Congrats @cobalt escarp on CEH

[cobalt escarp]

It was tough, but I made it. Thank you for your congratulations @forest knoll

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @forest knoll

[forest knoll]

No, really, thank you. You're an inspiration to all of us.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @cobalt escarp

[golden ore]

jabba is good at memorizing things

[cobalt escarp]

It was difficult, especially the question about the Lemon?? I don't remember that on the resources

[quasi stream]

Someone's gotta do it

[forest knoll]

I was channeling my inner LinkedIn warrior

[quasi hinge]

[burnt steppe]

How does eJPT difficulty compare to OSCP?

[undone shore]

Uhhhhhh

They're a considerable distance apart

[burnt steppe]

thanks that's what I was looking for basically

[undone shore]

eJPT is kind of a "get your feet wet in infosec" thing

It means very little to employers, and effectively gets you into the swing of "how to do an infosec exam"

[burnt steppe]

Would you say it's more or less well regarded compared to something like CySA+ for a blueteamer who wants to get more certs under their belt?

[undone shore]

OSCP is the gateway into the industry for a reason -- it's entry level, and you can argue about its value until the cows come home, but it's a hell of an exam

I'm not a blueteamer I'm afraid -- that's not something I can answer

(Droogy is almost certainly typing out a definitive answer though 😆)

[ancient prairie]

just bear in mind that HR usually cares way more about certs than your superior/co-workers will, so while eJPT doesn't have any weight as far as getting you past HR, if you can get in a room with someone and talk about your experience with it then its a great help

[burnt steppe]

Thank you for answer @undone shore ! I want to get some red team stuff under my belt more as I think it really helps understanding to do some on both sides.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @undone shore

[ancient prairie]

my boss/interviewer literally had no clue the job posting we had up even asked for certs, I told him about eJPT and it led to a good conversation, never forget getting hired does involve soft-skills :p

[undone shore]

A lot of people get jobs without ever sitting an exam. Experience and being able to talk about industry stuff goes a long way

[ancient prairie]

im also very biased towards eJPT, the more people get it, the more mine is worth haha

[flat sedge]

Not necessarily

there is a happy medium

[ancient prairie]

but yeah Id also much rather find out I have bad exam anxiety or something taking the eJPT over the OSCP, its an easy test but you'd be surprised how your brain can sabotage you

[flat sedge]

when online MBA programs became ubiquitous, a LOT of folks saw a loss of value in their degree

[ancient prairie]

true but at least a lot of jobs aren't hinging on eJPT at all, but anecdotally I can definitely say the exam has gotten a ton of traction since I took it last year

[distant pier]

Be passionate about the job and the work involved. Passion to learn goes very far.

[normal sparrow]

Hello guys i just want to us if its possible to recon the version of nginx if it server token is off?

[hybrid imp]

how relevant is data structures for a cybersecurity career? on a scale of 10, how much should I prepare for data structures? please i want some insights from you guys im honestly confused

[north hill]

Guys I got a walk in interview from a National Bank

I'm shit scared

It's SOC stuff

I'm doing Splunk

But any more resources?

[acoustic jewel]

you can get a splunk trial and play around with it

[north hill]

That's what I am doing

Imposter syndrome is kicking in hard

[wooden tendon]

do the 2 splunk rooms to freshen up too

[peak steeple]

Good luck! What does 'Walk in Interview' mean ?

[languid hearth]

do the splunk fundamentals 1 course offered by splunk

it free

bringing items you can actually show in an interview is good

ex. maybe you made a splunk cheetsheat that's on GitHub for everyone

you'll definitely stand out and make yourself more memorable if there's things about yourself that you can brag about in a non braggy manor

ex. blog posts, community mentorship, etc

[glacial swallow]

Hey there. Im following the 'Complete Beginner' path on tryhackme, and looking forward to earn certificate for this pathway. I want to mention about this ongoing certification on my Resume. 'Complete Beginner' will not give the reader idea about what this is about. What should I name it?

[glossy jetty]

Personally I would just mention a basic understanding of any technologies or tools covered by that

That's how I feel as I get further on that path - that I'm doing as well

[glacial swallow]

👍

[flat sedge]

Depends on what you do in cybersec. One part of a previous infosec role I had was to create customized reports on a per-division basis for vulnerability remediation. The standard reports were useless for that, so understanding data structures helped me immensely to group and summarize gigabytes of vulnerability scan data.

[boreal zephyr]

Not really a resource but some really sounds advice: Don't bullshit your way through the technical interview. Be up front about your experience and honest if you aren't well versed in a topic. Some of what your feeling might be imposter syndrome, but some of it is almost always "you don't know enough". The person your interviewing with almost always be able to tell the difference. "I don't have a strong working knowledge in Splunk, but I took some training classes on it in preparation for this interview and I understand what it is used for" is much better than taking a few online courses and trying to pass that off as direct experience. Good luck!

[boreal zephyr]

As a blue teamer: Security+ is your ticket in the door to most places. Cysa+ is a better cert, but it doesn't have the ubiquity of Sec+. The reason is that Security+ is listed as a Gov't (US government, for clarification) approved certification for IAT up to Level 2 in the Cyber Workforce. The second most ubiquitous after Security+ is CISSP, which has been on nearly every management level job posting I've ssen. You could easily do your first five years of blue team with just those two certs if you have a solid skill set

[burnt steppe]

good stuff- ty!

[hot fog]

I'm not sure why, but I just feel like defensive operations sounds way cooler than being on the offensive side of things.

[peak steeple]

Thats good @hot fog We cannot all be attackers. A good Team I believe needs an offense and Defensive all star Team :

[hot fog]

Purple teaming should be mentioned more often ngl

[peak steeple]

You mean Prince, don't you?

[hot fog]

LMAO

rip

[peak steeple]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Rain_(album)

How did we go from Blue Team to Prince <RIP> ? 😅

https://danielmiessler.com/study/red-blue-purple-teams/ This is a good breakdown of the roles each play.

[north hill]

Thanks everyone for the Advice, I really hope that I'll be able to make it. I am brushing up all my SOC knowledge. And yes, I'm basically more than halfway through the Splunk room. It's probably gonna be sometime next week and by then, I might as well brush up my tech stack.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @boreal zephyr

[flat sedge]

@quick vine Please read the rules before DMing people - that said, you'll get a better cross section of answers if you just ask your question here.

[boreal zephyr]

Good luck to you, friend! Go on and do great things 🙂

[boreal zephyr]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I did two back-to-back technical interviews today with Leidos (contract to hire) and Boeing(direct hire) for a senior cyber analyst role, was given a verbal offer on the spot for the latter. Happy to answer questions about the process.

[static tide]

congrats !!

one of my old colleagues just got a job at boeing too, but in networking :D

[ancient prairie]

congrats! mostly curious how you landed the interview, i.e. Linkedin/Indeed or you knew someone?

[rain sigil]

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on whether I should go to college to get a degree, or just go for certificates if I wanted to become a penetration tester. Ive been learning about it for a while now and I really enjoy it but im not sure how to go about ending up with a job in the future.

[ancient prairie]

not an authoritative answer by any means and location plays a factor here, but first I'd ask - why not both? Second-best, I would just say to pursue certifications as in my experience they are usually more sought after for certain roles rather than a degree.

there's a million other factors to take into consideration here but always keep in mind that the right mindset, persistence, and technical ability are the bare minimum for most IT roles, don't get too hung up on what path to take when you can just make your own

[undone shore]

Certainly for Britain, a degree + OSCP/CRT is the way to go

There are exceptions to every rule though

[ancient prairie]

Yep, you Euros tend to value your degrees :p, I guess a big factor there is y'all don't have to take on the massive mountains of debt like over here

[undone shore]

Heh, free uni in Scotland, waaaaaaay 😁

[ancient prairie]

yeah in that case I would expect you to have a degree as an employer

[rain sigil]

Im in the us, Its a long story but I wouldn't be able to go to school for like 3 more years if I wanted to. So ive been looking into different certs

[undone shore]

Even for the English on about 10k a year, they don't need to pay it back for ages

[undone shore]

No reason at all why you can't do both then

Do some certs just now, then if you don't have a job in three years, go get a degree

[ancient prairie]

ugh, at least things are improving slightly and I can still hold out hope for student debt cancellation, but I don't really have much anyway

[ancient prairie]

2nd this, go for certs (maybe start with CompTIA Net+, Sec+) and start applying

[polar rock]

IMO it depends on what your end goal is

[light urchin]

Yeah, if college is not an immediate option, do what you can in the short term, and continue to reevaluate your options

[polar rock]

is your end goal to just be a red teamer or blue teamer your entire life?

is your goal managerial or lead? It all depends on what you want

[undone shore]

A degree will rarely ever be detrimental to you though

[polar rock]

It’s something I had to think about a lot

[undone shore]

Perish the thought you ever go into management Cry smh

[polar rock]

I just blow shit up

[undone shore]

My point, I think, is made

[light urchin]

Ya know, there are some management that could use some more of that, tbh

[undone shore]

What, there are people in management who need blown up?

[light urchin]

well, yes

[undone shore]

I mean, not wrong

[light urchin]

but I was speaking metaphorically

[modest cradle]

in the US there are military options that are free but you hand over a few years of freedom in exchange, there are plenty of places I hear hire with just certifications but some higher paying ones will ask for a degree out the gate

[undone shore]

Fml. I cannot believe we're at the stage of recommending military to avoid fees

[modest cradle]

i'm not recommending it

[undone shore]

Can we just, y'know, stop blowing things up?

Oh, I know, just a general observation

[modest cradle]

there are a LOT of IT jobs and they pay for schooling so its fairly common in the field

[rain sigil]

I mean I dont need to make alot of money, I just wanna make enough to live and do something I enjoy

[modest cradle]

If you get confident with your skills and get the certifications i'm sure you could get hired

[rain sigil]

Thanks for all your guys advice ^~^

[flat sedge]

It 100% depends on what your career goals are, and what kind of IT role you want. Networking and sysadmin have very different job requirements than development or QA. It's been my experience that a degree jumps up to a higher payscale faster, but also has a longer ramp up time while getting the degree. Degrees can also be a fast track to management.

[boreal zephyr]

Thank you! I was contacted by a recruiting agency, either from Dice or ClearanceJobs, I can't recall which. They did a preliminary interview with me, then presented my resume to the companies and set up the interviews. Very easy process.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @ancient prairie

[stoic cave]

Workplace memes

[light urchin]

that's too well designed. Half of the code running our planet is just copy/pasted from stackoverflow

[distant pier]

Al Gore Simulacra.

[rugged sable]

https://twitter.com/bee_sec_san/status/1410912663194984451 if anyone is UK based (or for US roles) let me know if you're interested 🙂

🐝 Bee 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@bee_sec_san)

Monzo is currently hiring! If you want to work with me (or at Monzo!) DM me, I can help answer any questions you have :) <3

https://t.co/6IAsr1GS9G

Twitter · Jul 2, 2021, 10:46 AM

[peak steeple]

@rugged sable Definitely interested. I will DM later today about this. Thanks

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @rugged sable

[north hill]

Hey guys, I am preparing this comparison table for different VDI security service providers like Citrix, VMware and such. Any suggestions on what benchmarks/points to keep in mind while doing so?

[languid hearth]

an important thing to remember about VDI is it's only as secure as you make the operating system

remember that normal principals should still apply to VDI infrastructure, like if your VDI instances are being used as workstations, ensure that your network ACLs and firewall rules apply to those instances as well

what I found is more people mess up the network security aspect and not so much one company being better than the other

[north hill]

Well the company which I work for will provide the Session management services while using some sort of a PaaS service and throw in some UEM/EMM/MDM for all the device management. What we are aiming as is to minimize the security risks down to 0days, in which case it's the PaaS service provider's responsibility.(Which in this case is Azure)

Idk if that makes sense

This gets you:
- Less Management Overhead
- Easy Access For Clients
- Easier onboarding and off
 boarding

(Also: Accountability!)

In the model I proposed, the Company/Customer perceives it as a simple SaaS service.

(Am sorry if that doesn't make sense)

The client also has lotta field employees and runs an On-premise AD. I was suggesting Syncing the on premise AD to an Azure cloud via Azure Connect and using Microsoft's PaaS services for provisioning the VDs while using Intune for device management

Does anything which I just said makes any sense because I have to pitch it today :)

[quaint flare]

if you don't mind, im curious what are your notable qualifications on your resume for that role? also congrats! 😃

like being hired on the spot is impressive haha

[boreal zephyr]

I specialize in RMF, secure systems design and controls implementation. RMF is an extremely sought after skillset, especially now that it is being widely adopted by both industry and gov.

[shadow bobcat]

Was there a definition change at some point I missed growing up. Where "entry level" is now requiring at least two years of college and 5 years of experience?

I'm not even talking about cyber security... but even just straight "entry level" IT jobs.

[distant pier]

Entry Level, Superman Edition.

[shadow bobcat]

Seriously. I've been looking at help desk, IT, and of course Cyber Security spots near me and nothing requires less than two years experience. That's coming from a major U.S. city.

[stoic cave]

I wouldn't let that prevent you from applying

[distant pier]

The cape is optional, but you sure have to be able to fly if you'd believe the requirements 😄

[stoic cave]

The job requirements are more wants than hard set requirements

[flat sedge]

That is depending on the role. Help desk or tier 1 support? That's a nice to have, not a must have. For direct product support? That's going to require actual expertise you can't get without a work history

[light urchin]

John Carmack: "Note that I wouldn't pass the listed "minimum requirements", so maybe don't take them as gospel."
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1409576956828405760

John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack)

It should be clear by now that Facebook is long-term serious about VR/AR. An opportunity to help guide the effort: https://t.co/aLpWf8Zb0D Note that I wouldn't pass the listed "minimum requirements", so maybe don't take them as gospel.

Retweets

135

Likes

1124

Twitter · Jun 28, 2021, 6:18 PM

[misty vigil]

Hi guys! I'm offered with SOC Engineer role. Apparently, there are technical and cyber security test, may I know what should I prepare?
• It's my first time to have this job offer

[languid hearth]

• Wireshark
• Splunk

those are a must know

[misty vigil]

Got it, thank you so much! 🙂

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @languid hearth

[north hill]

Hey @boreal zephyr I'm working in this field as well though I just started recently and am pretty much a noob. I did architecture design/some Risk Gap assessment for a firm recently and now designing some VDI solutions for another. Any pointers I can take?

[north hill]

Also, can you validate this solutions(or tell me if they make any sense?) Got a meeting in aprox 4~5 hours

[warm hinge]

How big is the difference between working for a cyber security type organization and any other organization?
I assume there would be more to learn working directly for a company that is about delivering cyber security services

I am looking for an internship btw

[pseudo creek]

not necessarily. I have never worked for a cyber security company myself but the company I work with does most of their own cyber security... so we have thousands of cyber security professionals in all different positions. You get to specialize and you can move throughout the org to different jobs. If you worked for a cyber security company, they may only have certain jobs and you might have to move companies to experience others

so we have red teamers, blue teamers, pentesters, SOC analysts, vulnerability analysts, GRC roles, security design, security implementers, network security engineers, application security engineers, cloud security engineers, security developers, security architects, etc, etc

also sometimes you learn more if you work for a small company as you do more. When I first joined my company, we weren't small but my area was decentralized. So I was primarily a network admin but I was also a unix admin and also did some programming/scripting. It was a lot of growth. I've known people who have left our company to go work for companies with less mature security programs just for the growth aspect.

[pseudo creek]

You should also consider difference in countries. In the US, RMF is growing but that may not be true for your country. I would look to see what compliance frameworks are prominent in your country.

[warm hinge]

I see, thanks for the info. I’ll try to broaden my search a bit more to see which companies are interesting to work at

[tawdry frost]

Good day everyone, question..

I currently work in a red team like position and wanted to start my masters degree (Bachelors in Psychology) in something more related to the field. I was thinking a masters in Cybersecurity was broad enough that I can use it to reinforce my current work/knowledge. Are there any other masters programs that might be beneficial to look into?

[pseudo creek]

I think I’d look and see what looks good. You might want to look at a MS in Comp Sci if you want something more technical. The MS in Cyber programs tend to be more managerial. Or just focus on certs

[peak steeple]

I have not seen any jobs in UK specifically requesting for a Masters. Have you considered or got a CISSP which could be a great addition. You could be creative do a MS in Pyschology and then tailor dissertion to human element of Red Teaming, Pyschology or Computer science.

[hot fog]

Exactly.

[hot fog]

Well, my advice to you would be to figure out what you'd like to do in the end then construct a path based upon that. Don't waste your time with certs you wouldn't need.

[tawdry frost]

I'm already focusing on obtaining certs and will continue getting a few across the next years (CISSP is the goal)

MS in Comp Sci is currently a no due to my Bachelors not meeting the pre requisites, it was something I considered but it would take me at least another year or two to cover all pre requisites for the masters

Going also on it being more managerial, would an MBA be more beneficial then?

[hot fog]

I believe it would be.

Since you're getting CISSP and more into the management side of things, a masters would be a great bonus to it. You can eventually be a CISO after years of experience in the field.

[tawdry frost]

MBA or masters in Cyber security?

[hot fog]

The latter

That's what I've heard at least

Just a disclaimer, I'm not saying this out of my own experience (I don't have any certs currently), this is just what I've heard from others and some research

[tawdry frost]

Yeah, most of my experience will be hands on red team related work, after a few years I'll be more managerial/supervisory role, which is why I was looking at that transition with my Masters, I'll have certs and experience by the time I get there

[hot fog]

By that time you'd definitely get there and realise what's more suitable.

I think you should focus on more blue team related work if you're getting into the whole managerial thing

[tawdry frost]

I wanted to start working on it by the start of next year

Due to my job I won't be touching blue team at all, maybe after several years

[hot fog]

Ah

I think you'd be doing blue most of the time in the future

Since it would require more defensive operations as a manager

Maybe dip your toes in both here and there

[peak steeple]

What about associate of ISC2 -CISSP? No experience needed.

[tawdry frost]

I'll be involved in some Blue team stuff here and there, but most of my work if not all is red team, I will work with some blue team members

And I need a masters degree for progression in my career field

[hot fog]

Yep, that's a good too. You can get that first then after a few years of experience you can claim your CISSP

[tawdry frost]

If not I would just focus on certs

[hot fog]

Well if your work rn is focused on red stuff, then stick with that for now but think about defence here and there

then afterwards you'd probably make the transition

[peak steeple]

Exactly! Then once you get experience - you convert ot Full. I m looking at CCSP side.

[hot fog]

I think I'll have to focus more on blue certs

but i'd still want some red certs, however i wouldn't dive in too deep in that direction

as in, i probably won't go after the OSCP

[tawdry frost]

Blue is the way to go, I kinda just got offered to apply for a really cool red team gig and got accepted

[hot fog]

but i'd need something that's also good but not too advanced

[tawdry frost]

eJPT?

[peak steeple]

There's room for everybody and since everyone wamts to go Red - there is more and more demand for Blue Teamer skills.

[hot fog]

eCPPT sounds good

[peak steeple]

I thought eCPPT was more offensive than defensive??

[tawdry frost]

I did both blue and red recently, did pretty similar on both but wow, red is funner

[hot fog]

Yeah, it is. I'm just saying it would be good to have something offensive even if you're focusing on blue

just more experience in the end of the day

I need to get Network+ first LMAO

[peak steeple]

That makes sense! You gotta know what you are defending against 🙂

[hot fog]

Yep.

[tawdry frost]

The hacker methodology is something that's really important to have down as well whether red or blue

[pseudo creek]

I wouldn’t recommend an MBA to anyone in a tech focused career honestly

[tawdry frost]

What would you recommend that isn't as tech as Computer science?

[pseudo creek]

There is also systems engineering

But that may have pre-reqs you don’t have as well

If you are just going for a MS to say you have a MS, do Cyber

It’s well rounded but will probably have a lot of overlap with CISSP

[hot fog]

^

[peak steeple]

I saw an article that says in some countries CISSP equates to a Masters some time ago.

[pseudo creek]

That is the UK I think

[lofty ibex]

^ it is

[peak steeple]

Thanks! I hope it is for CCSP too. Got my eye on that later in the eye but gonna take some intense study.

[pseudo creek]

CCSP is a subset of CISSP though but it’s all about employer adoption

[peak steeple]

@pseudo creek Should I just aim for CISSP then? I wanted something Cloud focused that why CCSP caught my eye .

[pseudo creek]

Depends on your goals, CCSP is cloud focused and generic but still fairly new

[peak steeple]

I am looking to move more in Cloud sec side of Information security.

[pseudo creek]

Do you already have any security certs?

The vendor specific cloud certs will probably have more cred

[peak steeple]

Not yet! Working towards CREST certs in UK to cover the basics before adding Cloud to it.

[tawdry frost]

Got it, thanks I'll be looking more to the cyber sec one and how to start it 👍

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[peak steeple]

Synack Red Team Member https://boards.greenhouse.io/synacksrt/jobs/150860

They are recruiting

[boreal zephyr]

I'm happy to talk about my experiences and give advice, but that question is a little vague, and depending on what country your from, as Zojja pointed out, my insight might be of limited use. Are you asking about pointers in terms of career trajectory or?

[hardy tide]

i am looking for a remote opportunity in cyber security i am in college and has 18 months of work ex as well

[pseudo creek]

lots of internships are midway through already, also it helps if you indicate which country you are looking

[hardy tide]

Right now any country will do

[pseudo creek]

well thats not how remote work works... generally, you have to have the ability to work in the country and most jobs have specific country requirements for jobs even internships

so I can tell you about US internships if they were available but they have requirements that you be located in the US with the right to work in the US, that aint gonna help you if you don't meet that

[hardy tide]

ohh

i hope i find something

[pseudo creek]

...

[peak steeple]

Check Vodafone! I know last month I saw some internships. Even if late - you could alsways drop em an email.

[north hill]

Well I am new to Architecture Design. I'm working on a VDI solution for a big client and wad wondering is you could drop in some tips regarding such designs and all. I'm working under a CISSP and this domain is fun.

[hardy tide]

Actually the country right now i am in they are not allowing me to join full time ...as i am still in college

Work Exp does not count

if you still in college

[pseudo creek]

again, most legitimate jobs will have specific country requirements... if it doesn't have a specific country requirement, I'd be concerned

[peak steeple]

All countries have rules and legislation on minium working ages and if you re in one one countrry remoting into annother - again you NEED to meet the legal requiremnts of both.

[pseudo creek]

and also a company has to have the right to operate in your country

they generally have lawyers dedicated to ensuring they meet the legal working requirements for that country and have the proper policies to ensure they aren't breaking any laws

the way some companies go around that is buy employing a contracting company from various countries to hire people in a country... so the contracting company takes care of all the legal requirements, but again, you'd have to be hired in country by that contracting company

remote jobs exist, but they rarely exist outside of the specific country

[glossy jetty]

I've only seen one job that would've allowed me to work out of the country. Not cybersec related, but same logic applies. They're definitely not common.

And of course it did still require me to be able to work in the country the company operates from

[hardy tide]

i think it hard

to find remote jobs

actually i have been applying but no response

so i think legal might be the issue

[pseudo creek]

yes

[gusty trout]

Hello Everyone, Ill be having an interview in 2 days. Its a cyber security position incident responder. tips and advice will be appreciated. 🙏 hopefully someone can shed some light

[pseudo creek]

I would google interview questions for incident response

[quasi stream]

I imagine you'd be asked on a lot of scenarios -- I was. I.e. "a breach has happened, the attacker done x,y,z, what steps would you take to investigate/prevent this in the future?"

[distant pier]

Check out the IR playbooks for various response scenarios:
https://www.incidentresponse.com/playbooks/

[quasi stream]

Good luck with the interview

Go and enjoy labour day @distant pier 😄

Yess labour and not labor

[distant pier]

😄 Independence Day 😄

[quasi stream]

Oh is that what it is? Google calendar lied to me haha!

[distant pier]

Aka fight the aliens with Will Smith.

[gusty trout]

Thanks, started doing that before going to discord 🙂

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[gusty trout]

this makes sense, im actually creating a some kind of mindmap. but if you have one that can share that would be great

[gusty trout]

now this something I had to look into thanks for this resource 🙏

[slow ledge]

Does it make sense to shoot for LPI 010-160 to better my Linux skills? If so, what is some good training material out there for it?

I am finding my Linux skills to be quite lacking as I spend more time in the rooms

[distant pier]

Also check out the Incident Response and Forensics module on TryHackMe
https://tryhackme.com/module/incident-response-and-forensics

[gusty trout]

sure, I believe Ive done that but its a good place to brush up

[toxic haven]

Anyone have experience with the cal tech cyber program?

[pseudo creek]

looks like it is related to this (but cheaper) https://www.fullstackacademy.com/cybersecurity-analytics-bootcamp#get-prepared

Could you do this on your own? Sure, would it be worth it to spend $13k to do it? Only if you really lack discipline. I was able to download an expanded syllabus from Fullstack, it is something someone could follow if they wanted. Also one thing I'd ask is if they work with you to find job placement

looks like Fullstack also has some sample courses to try

here is 1 such sample course https://www.fullstackacademy.com/prep-courses/hacking-101

[tribal goblet]

I wish to get into vulnerability research and exploit development. I'm unsure about the skills I need to learn. I've been hacking for a couple of months and done many CTFs, but I was wondering what I need to do to take the next step. Could somebody give me some advice?

[peak steeple]

@tribal goblet Do you mean this:https://github.com/securitychampions/Awesome-Vulnerability-Research

[tribal goblet]

Yes, I wanna do something along these lines

I have some questions.@peak steeple can I DM?

[peak steeple]

I'm not in this field so wont be the best person to ask but post here and others will reply to you 🙂

[tribal goblet]

👍

Thanks mate

[gusty trout]

Hello guys I just received the official interview invite and the position was "Junior Offensive Security Auditor" any Idea what should I be prepared for? Generally I am preparing but as we know cyber space is very broad, I initially inquire for the "Incident Responder" because it was initially described to be by the hiring agent.

[misty vigil]

Hello there! Could you tell me what you would choose if you were to receive these job offers?

1. System Engineer / Service Desk Analyst (Similar to SOC) | 2 Years Contract
2. SOC Analyst - In a mid-enterprise size of a company
3. Government Agency - SOC Engineer
4. IT (Focus in SOC) in an MNC Company

[gusty trout]

Hey man, Im not an experienced guy, but working in a government agency looks like a good idea for me.

[queen cargo]

I guess in general private sector pays better but a gov job might be more stable

[fringe lava]

can i get a job at 15?what can i work as(idm even if its not paying much,i just wana learn smth new)

[static tide]

depends on your location but likely not

[cursive shale]

Depends on your country I guess

Think you can work in india though because google says you need to min 14 to work there.
Not likely anyone will hire you though.

[peak steeple]

Like Ma1ware says depends where you are and your age limits your options. If you are not limiting yourself to cyber sec jobs - then I recommend learn a skill by trying to find apprenticeships or internships.

[pseudo creek]

Personally, I'd go for #2 unless job #4 pays more or if #3 pays more, then go there. Personally, I wouldn't work for the Gov but benefits may be better (if you are in the US)

[hot fog]

If im not planning on being a pentester, does the OSCP cert even matter?

[static tide]

what do you plan on being?

[hot fog]

Well, that's kind of difficult to explain since I've got this whole thing planned out for it. Closest thing I can say that resembles it would be a CISO.

[static tide]

are you in security yet?

[hot fog]

Nope, I'm in uni rn. And yes, I know, long road ahead of me lol.

[static tide]

yeah aha

[hot fog]

Around here you don't rlly get employed for proper jobs unless you've at least got a bachelors, or have years in experience.

[static tide]

what do you want to do after uni?

[hot fog]

Probably go after my Masters

Or maybe get some experience in between those events

[flat sedge]

get experience before you get your masters, if you are intending to work in the security space. If you are working as a security analyst or compliance officer, or security engineer, the masters should be the lowest priority until your career path requires it to advance

[exotic sentinel]

How much programming knowledge do I need? And what programming languages (including web languages) should I familiarise myself with?

[flat sedge]

In general, IT is moving in the direction that the better you are at automating your tasks the more successful you will be.

[north hill]

Hey everyone, I just made my first Architecture Diagram and I'm pretty new to it. So does this one make sense(the company doesn't have much of a Web interface other than a single customer website and mostly needs VDI solutions. Also, I pulled this layout from Draw.io)

Any reviews/suggestions?

[hot fog]

Thank you :)

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @manic flower

[hot fog]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's why throughout my uni years I'd like to get certs. Just not sure if I should do OSCP later on since I'm pretty sure I would be focused more towards blue team. Maybe a lower offensive cert should do the trick? After all, knowing how the offensive part plays is important if you want to have good defence.

[pseudo creek]

So honestly, I have no clue what you are trying to represent here. What is the overall goal of what you are trying to represent?

1. The white lettering is really hard to read. You should bold it, make it bigger.
2. What are the lock/key for every client device supposed to represent?
3. Is the VPN server an appliance or Azure VPN? Is the firewall a true firewall or Azure firewall? I'm guessing Azure firewall?
4. Why are the on premise networks behind the Azure load balancer? Are you trying to represent that the on premises networks also go through load balancer? If so, you'll need to move your load balancer to the right, closer to where it should be.
5. The key on the bottom is a bit confusing. Are you trying to say every system has each of those components? What is a VM feature in this context? Is the Server Directory supposed to be something like Active Directory or something else? Why is Data migration there? Is that to represent that you are migrating data from on premise databases to Azure? Why ia Azure storage there as well? Is that something the websites use with MySQL?
6. Is the internet supposed to be represented here somewhere? Or is this entire network accessed via the VPN?

[rugged sable]

I am givin a talk on Friday about being an infrastructure engineer,it’s not related to cyber Sec but are people here interested?

[peak steeple]

Hi Bee, where you giving it? I work in this field at a junior level so be nice.

[rugged sable]

I am also a junior haha. It’s some GitHub podcast I’lol post here when it’s on? I think it’s 5pm Friday

Technically I am not a junior but really I am

[peak steeple]

Definitely interested! I finish at 6ish soo will listen after work. Always looking for more suggestions about infrastructure. Thanks very much @rugged sable

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @rugged sable

[ancient prairie]

So we got an young intern at work recently who said they are into security stuff. Their role nor mine will almost never entail "real" infosec work but how would you help encourage that growth for them?

Sometimes we have downtime to do whatever so I told them about THM/CTFs and certs but not sure what else I could do to help them while I try to break into infosec myself.

[cosmic ingot]

Why don't you show them what you're doing infosec-wise? they could be interested

[ancient prairie]

true, i've been wrestling for certain security controls from our MSP for a while now so this could be a good excuse to push harder there

[north hill]

Thanks Zojja. Some of these are brand new pointers I hadn't considered. Will take them into account!

[boreal zephyr]

Couple of things:
A) You need clearly defined boundaries and connections. Anything that does not have connectivity should be outside the boundary. You can have multiple boundaries if needed, but they should be clearly drawn.
B) Label everything. You should have host names, IP addresses and OS versions at a minimum. Placeholder information is fine, but getting into the habit of labeling everything will save you headaches later
C) The long winding dashed line is confusing. I typically use a single labeled pipe to signify the connection, this helps to also make it easier to see what is connected inside a network boundary, and what is outside the boundary.
D) Pretty looks nice, but don't sacrifice readability to get there. Someone should be able to look at your topology and without any familiarity with your system be able to easily understand it.

Overall I think its a good first try. If I have some spare time later I can draw up one that looks kind of close to what I use on a daily basis

[north hill]

The Overall goal is to create an Architecture of a company to provide virtual workspaces to employees and allow acccess to certain Services provisioned by third party vendors along with room for guest users from time to time. The 3rd party services will be integrated in Azure itself I guess. Actually, I am extremely new to this. Just joined this company as an intern about a month ago and have been studying about Architecture Design/Gap Assessment/Risk Management and all that to get things going. I went through some examples on google and other places and tried to come up with my own architecture for the Client.

1- The white letterings were adjusted later on(also, I cropped out certain info)
2 - The Lock & Key is basically VPNs
3- Yes, it's all azure because the whole Enterprise runs Azure
4 - Well it's because not all Users may need a VDI or Access to a service. Thus to manage that traffic, I thought a load-balancer might be a good choice
5 - Well the keys represents the components of each system. I have never done this before and been looking through examples and this one was a common trait
6 -Yes, the system doesn't have much of a public facing interface and it's mostly about commissioning VDIs to employees

[north hill]

Thanks for the Feedback man. Actually, this is a cropped SS. Lemme try to get one in better quality

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @boreal zephyr

[north hill]

Here's a better view

[pseudo creek]

Re: lock&key - When you do something to indicate its part of the connection, it should be on the connection line. Your line ends at the other box which is what makes it confusing.

Re: everything is Azure - So the key for "A" shows a computer. Is that really a computer? or is that a VM within Azure?

Re: Azure load balancers are for specific services/functions. Throwing it in there doesn't make sense.

Re: the key on the bottom - I think you just need to understand better what components / proper nomenclature.

And one thing I didn't mention before but basically you have 1 arrow, for the VPN but then don't indicate what each of those have access to. Do the Guest devices have access to the entire environment? If not, its worth to call things out. Also don't be afraid of multiple lines / multiple diagrams to show access and the environment.

I will say its a start but does look like you yourself don't understand the environment and threw together a few pieces of various diagrams you saw. It's an evolving process. You have to be able to understand the use cases, the desired access and the various components to support the use cases.

And when you build architectures, there are different architecture types. I really like the data flow / architecture mix so mine generally includes ports. I don't always include system names / IP addresses unless its a specific type of architecture. Also in cloud environments, IP addressing is less important and DNS is more so.

[boreal zephyr]

My biggest issue with this drawing personally is that you have what appears to be several enclaves all on the same network segment but have boundaries outlined on them arbitrarily. Then at the bottom you have a legend that shows they are actually only three enclaves, yet in the drawing there are white boxes (to me, reads as a boundary) further separating them out. This either needs to be three completely separate drawings, or one drawing with larger boundary that shows their relationship better.

Anyways, sorry didn't mean to pile on. @pseudo creek pretty much nailed it here.

[pseudo creek]

haha yes... confused yet? 🙂

[north hill]

Thanks @pseudo creek . Then I'll be preparing multiple layouts for multiple scenarios. I was scared about this because boss told to keep this minimalistic. I haven't exactly got port/ip specifics. I'm really new and nervous at this but thanks for all this amazing feedback. Now I know what to do as well as what NOT to do

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[pseudo creek]

building architectures is just a matter of practice, practice, practice

[north hill]

Thanks to @boreal zephyr as well man. I'll really make a new layout altogether. Yesterday was the first time I opened Draw.io and it's just so very confusing to a newbie.

[pseudo creek]

also don't be afraid of multiple lines, generally my architectures have multiple lines showing connections

you look at AWS, Azure, they show simple, digestible architectures but they are usually showing 1 function

[north hill]

The thing is I mostly thought of Security as "Hack this, Hack that" or SOC operations when talking about Blue Teaming. This is like someone took me out of a tub and threw me into an Ocean

[pseudo creek]

honestly, its not easy

[north hill]

Btw, what software do you use for Architecture design? My boss suggested Visio, but I run Linux.

[north hill]

FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR from easy

[pseudo creek]

I use Visio just because thats what I'm used to

but Draw.io is great

[north hill]

I have been using Draw.io but it's a tad bit cumbersome

[pseudo creek]

Visio will make you hate life sometimes

[north hill]

https://tenor.com/view/skeletor-jokes-on-you-im-into-that-he-man-gif-19093194

Btw, just a quick question. Does it make sense to put the Load balancer before The Virtual Machines and the Web-based services?

[pseudo creek]

only if there is a need for load balancer and you know there will be one....

load balancers for websites are common but not always used, you'd need to understand the use case for a load balancer, what is the tolerance for downtime vs cost

load balancers for a VDI environment are an option if you want 1 DNS name to multiple systems

but there are other ways to achieve that as well

[boreal zephyr]

Ideally you would have an engineering team that would have this sort of thing described in a use case proposal as part of a larger architecture package, sometimes called a concept of operations. The drawing would be a formal, logical representation of the systen that your engineering team had already worked out at the conceptual level. Trying to draw a system out without any of this supporting material would be very difficult, as you wouldn't actually know what to put in it.

[misty vigil]

Thanks man, this is really helpful, after i read what you shared yesterday and I had a deep thought about it for really long

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[undone shore]

(Probably best not to assume everyone is a man 😛)

[rugged sable]

My personal pet hate is when everyone assumes all your problems are solved with a load balancer 😦

[autumn otter]

Just landed an IT internship with an NFL team, so great opportunity and they did say they would teach me some cybersec stuff, but how do I use an IT internship to get into a cybersec career?

[north hill]

Protecc the IT infrastructure

[north hill]

Thanks man. I actually asked my Boss to let me do the entire thing on my own just because I wanted to learn the entire thing from ground up. I'll be asking for the more comprehensive case proposal. So far we only had a questionnaire which we needed during the gap assessment but since it's a tad bit critical with all the different frameworks and all, it was usually handled by my boss.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @boreal zephyr

[pseudo creek]

So are you trying to document the existing infrastructure or determine the to-be infrastructure? If it’s the latter, that’s probably a mistake… if it’s the former, then someone should be able to guide you

[north hill]

They have an on-premise AD environment which they are migrating to cloud.

So it's a bit of both. They have a roadmap and my Boss is definitely going to review the docs before sending them

I just want to make sure the work is upto it.

[pseudo creek]

I’m just gonna say I think this is a recipe for failure as it seems you don’t understand the various components and don’t understand Azure or what a hybrid environment should look like. You could learn but it’s not a short term project, if you had 6 months maybe

[peak steeple]

Hope this isn't calling spamming I posted a link in Infosec General as SPACEX are recruting...

[north hill]

Any good resources for learning this thing? I have been reading CISSP books like 11th hour CISSP

[peak steeple]

Cyrary have some gpood CISSP courses

[pseudo creek]

Azure stuff is really good…az-104, az-303 and az-304 exams

CISSP may help for high level stuff but CCSP is more cloud focused

[north hill]

( Underpaid sophomore questions: Are they paid exams?)

[pseudo creek]

Yes

[north hill]

Ouch

[pseudo creek]

But if you studied the material for them, that could help, check out Microsoft learn

It’s free stuff

[north hill]

Thanks @pseudo creek . I am really into this Architecture design thing. It's actually fun do and the fact that an Enterprise will actually implement this is makes me excited and happy.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[north hill]

I'm treating you to pizza if I ever make it into infosec :p

[pseudo creek]

ha well good luck, I'll say architecture is generally considered an advanced role so don't feel too bad that its rough

[north hill]

Yeah sure. It's super difficult and that what makes it fun. Got two more years till I graduate. Gonna work hard till then!

Thanks for all the advice @pseudo creek and @boreal zephyr . These really keep me going.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @pseudo creek

[peak steeple]

Hiring for both experienced and entry-level IT Audit/GRC roles https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=556e4edd-eab9-47a4-8144-d308397f2b24&ccId=19000101_000001&type=MP&lang=en_US&selectedMenuKey=CareerCenter

[plain root]

Hi All

Is anyone did CISSP or any planning to do

[static tide]

@olive orbit

[rugged sable]

https://twitter.com/GitHubEducation/status/1413226136939765768

GitHub Education (@GitHubEducation)

Episode 7 of What in the tech do I do? 🔍👀 will be live this Friday on 9th July at 17:00 UTC+1!

Join @iiqrah_ @bee_sec_san and Tobias for some games, chitchat and a whole lot of fun! 🎉

Twitter · Jul 8, 2021, 7:59 PM

[distant pier]

If you ever do a defensive countermeasures podcast, I suggest to call it: Bees and Honeypots 😄

[north hill]

Tobias smh looks like Tom Holland playing Draco Malfoy

[rugged sable]

Hi live now https://twitter.com/bee_sec_san/status/1413527607220580357

🐝 Bee 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@bee_sec_san)

Come watch me live here :) https://t.co/qnhcHtgg38

Twitter · Jul 9, 2021, 3:56 PM

Learn about my job

[rugged sable]

hope you liked it!

[willow gate]

it was fun 😄

[rugged sable]

lil vod! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1081507408

thanks for being in chat @willow gate !

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @willow gate

[peak steeple]

Netragard have a vacancy for a Penetration Tester https://www.netragard.com/job/penetration-testing-engineer/

[spark junco]

Hiring SOC Analysts! Benefits are pretty good and the work environment is great.

https://gogreencloud.isolvedhire.com/jobs/

[undone shore]

If you drop me an email to [e-mail] from a company email address, I'll give you the Recruiter role so you can put that in #jobs-board if you'd like? 🙂

Same to you @peak steeple

[spark junco]

Sure, will do! Thank you!

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @undone shore

[undone shore]

Np 😄
I should clarify -- a company email address for the company you're advertising for 😆

[spark junco]

Yeah, definitely lol

"I swear I own gmail"

[peak steeple]

Thank you very much. I will definitely.

[undone shore]

Heh, just checking 😂
Wouldn't be the first time someone tried that

[spark junco]

@undone shore Just sent that email over. Let me know if you need anything else!

[tropic girder]

Hi there !
Do you know any significant certification or training in IoT

[spark junco]

That's a good question. I can't think of any off the top of my head because IoT varies a lot from vendor to vendor and uses the same underlying technology (networking, etc). The closest I can think of is Cloud Computing from WGU.

[undone shore]

Got it through -- added the role 🙂

[spark junco]

Schweet, thank you!

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @undone shore

[peak steeple]

What should I do if I don't have a company email address to use as I normally apply for roles as with generic email and also does it matter than am in UK?

[undone shore]

What do you mean "general email"? 🙂

Location doesn't matter -- it's a multi-national community

[peak steeple]

With my gmail email address.

[languid hearth]

if you have $10 you can buy a domain with google domains and setup an email alias [e-mail] -> [e-mail]

[undone shore]

Ah, gotcha
Given the access it gives, we keep the recruiter role for when we can verify that someone is employed by the company they're recruiting for. A company email address is an easy way to prove that, but if you have any other ways, those would do fine 🙂

[peak steeple]

Thank you @undone shore As soon as my CV is updated I will semd it your way.

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @undone shore

[undone shore]

Uh, not quite proof of employment 😆

[peak steeple]

True! I willl incldue 1) My work email address and name of contact details to verify my employment status if that helps.

[ancient prairie]

I also this e-mail forwarder as a catch-all so whenever I need to add an e-mail somewhere I can just put <NewService>@mydomain.com - fun trick for retail stores too when they ask for an e-mail ill just tell em to put their first name + company [e-mail]

https://forwardemail.net/en

[light urchin]

I do something similar. Always gets me weird responses. But helps me track who is selling/leaking my data

[north hill]

Quick question: Are all THM internships for EU people?

[quasi stream]

The internships are UK only (:

[north hill]

https://tenor.com/view/embarrassed-sad-cry-smile-im-fine-gif-14251203

[misty vigil]

Hi! May I know how would you prepare for SOC Engineer interview?

[thick linden]

^this, also would be helpful for someone like me who would be interviewing in a year for entry-level jobs

[pseudo creek]

honestly, google for SOC engineer / analyst interview questions

[warm hinge]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NqAs5dJmlM
I find this video helpful in general. It covers why the following are important:

• Industry exposure, knowing what is in the news and happening around the world
• Mindset, what is your mindset with problems that have difficult trade-offs to them
• Communication & practice questions, have room to show interviewees who you are as a person
• Low hanging fruit

@misty vigil @thick linden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFOw_m5zNCs
This is called tips for software engineering interviews but it applies to any other interview

• Recruiter experience is not (always) indicative of the working experience
• The recruiter is on your side
  (skip)- Preparation advice for Big Tech interviews
• Mindset before, during and after the interview
• Be fully present
• Interviews are a two-way street
• The interview experience can represent what a tough day at work is like
• It's not time wasted: it's experience gained

[hallow flame]

Hey all! 😄
I want to get into cybsec and then pen testing down the line, but I'm being pressured by my work coach to get a job elsewhere in tech first for the time being until I've taught myself enough to get the role I want.
Which jobs/roles would you say are good to choose that will benefit me in some way towards becoming a pen tester?

I was thinking going towards a programming role might be beneficial, but just curious what some of you think about this

[warm hinge]

I would think a job in networking would be highly beneficial

[hallow flame]

Such as a Network Engineer or a Network Administrator role?

[warm hinge]

Yeah!

[hallow flame]

I'll note those down, thanks 🙂

They want me to get a kickstart job, which is essentially a 6 month work placement to get experience, but the options for them aren't the best imo

Over the last 5 months there's only been one actual cyber security red team role come up, but then it was taken down after I was offered it lol

[boreal zephyr]

You shouldn't allow anyone to pressure you into a role that you don't want. I'm not sure what a "job coach" is, but if you want a cyber job you should spend your time and energy persuing that, and not some other job that may or may not help you break into the industry. Get an entry level cert like Sec+ or whatever is in demand in your area and an OS cert. From there, if you can talk the talk in an interview you shouldn't have too hard a time getting an entry-level SOC position. Move toward your goals, not away from them; the way you describe it sounds like your "job coach" has motivations that may be counter to your best interests.

[snow kraken]

Theres a point in Network Engineering where you start learning too much network stuff that doesn't do much to help you learn ethical hacking or whatever your end goal is

I'm currently a Network security engineer

When you are in a networking role, your company will expect you to progress in networking

[hallow flame]

Since I don't have a job at the moment and am on Universal Credit I have to go to see some "work coach" that is meant to help me find the job I want to get into and provide advice, but I've been on it 5 months and I figure they are about to hit a kpi point so they said to start going for any tech job before they try pressure me into retail or something crappy.
I don't want to go somewhere else, I have my goals set on pen testing. Getting the certs at the moment though are difficult because of the cost.

[peak steeple]

This is SOLID advise you don't know how easy it is to get stuck in what was menat to a temp role. Life is short persue your dream goal. It it better to reach for the moon and fall short than to just lift up your head is what my pop always said to me 😉

[hallow flame]

The kickstart things are only 6 months long and there to get you experience, rather than a perm role that you will get stuck in

[snow kraken]

A lot of people start on helpdesk in IT, if thats all you can manage to find its not a bad thing. If you can land a NOC/SOC role thats even better

[hallow flame]

And I can keep learning cybsec stuff on the side while at the roles, because they are only 25 hours/week

So ideally after 6 months I should have a lot more knowledge under my belt to get a junior role

[hallow flame]

What do NOC and SOC stand for?

[snow kraken]

Network/security operations center

SOC is more endpoint oriented

network is all network gear for the most part, depends on the company of course

[boreal zephyr]

Just be careful, its a slippery slope. If you need to find work soon to satisfy some requirement thats one thing, but if its your job mentor trying to save their own butt then I would tell them to kick rocks until I found what I wanted.

Best of luck to you friend

[hallow flame]

Ahh okay, thanks 🙂

[serene umbra]

Gave +1 Rep to @snow kraken

[peak steeple]

Yes, I have friends who have done that. As long as you remeber your end goal and keep your cyber skills sharp and get some juior certs like Sec + or eJPT.

[hallow flame]

That is essentially the case, but they have the bargaining chips because if they feel like im not trying hard enough to find a job they can be like "wellll, we aren't gonna pay you". So turning around and telling them to kick the rocks may not be the best of ideas

[hallow flame]

Thank you 🙂

[hallow flame]

Which junior cert is best in the UK?

[peak steeple]

Good and your the role

[peak steeple]

UK is a tricky beast as they are streaming things. CompTIA Security+ or Pentest+ are good. eJPT is not yet as recognised but is gaining interest but not sd much as CompTIA.

[boreal zephyr]

Seconded. I'm in the US, but I always reccommend CompTIA, specifically Sec+ when asked. Their entry level certs are comprehensive and always in demand while being relatively inexpensive at ~300USD

[glossy jetty]

eJPT is in theory easier than Sec+, right?

[peak steeple]

No, eJPT I believe has a hands-on exam

[hallow flame]

Ahh right, thanks 🙂 I've seen some that are like 1000 iirc, so being around 300 is a bit better lol

[glossy jetty]

Ah, right. So it's just a matter of what people think of it in the UK that makes it less relevant than Sec+

[peak steeple]

Everyone says tells the eJPT exam is quite realistic but CompTIA is more recognised. There's another CompTIA Cysec or something also hands-on I hear but very new.

[hallow flame]

Someone suggested to me that I should try find a company to work for that would be willing to pay for me to do my certs and stuff

[peak steeple]

Thats my dream too 🙂 I msure it happens. They definitely paid for my friend to go from CCNA to CCNP.

[boreal zephyr]

They aren't really comparable. eJPT tests your ability to pentest, which is important if that is your goal. Sec+ by comparison is more holistic. Sec+ covers several cyber domains and covers a wider variety of topics including networking and best practices

[peak steeple]

What about Pentest+ vs eJPT more similar?

[boreal zephyr]

They are far more comparable, yes. The best way to describe it is Sec+ tests your foundational knowledge, whereas Pentest+ and eJPT test your ability to redteam specifically

[boreal zephyr]

If you can find a position like that, throw yourself at it. A company that invests in its employees is one you want to stick with.

[hallow flame]

So surely it would be better for me to go for eJPT rather than the sec+ since I want to go into pen testing?

[hallow flame]

I suppose the hard part is finding one that wants to do it!

[peak steeple]

Please NO! Get both will serve well.

[boreal zephyr]

With no prior experience? No. Get that Sec+.

[peak steeple]

Sec+ gives a Full birds eyeview of Security and Pentest+ when you specialise.

[boreal zephyr]

^ exactly this

[hallow flame]

Ah alright, gotcha 😄

So many certs

[snow kraken]

You never stop learning in this field

[boreal zephyr]

Get used to it friend, your gunna be learning and testing the rest of your career in this field.

[hallow flame]

oh yeah ik, I think that's the fun part

[snow kraken]

sec+,net+ will get you a job faster than getting into pentesting

pentesting is not easy to get into as a junior

[peak steeple]

True! And once you get your fooot in the door with Sec+ - you are set. It's the getting the foot in that the challenge.

I need to take Cloud+ at some point too.

[hallow flame]

Tbf I was almost offered a junior pen testing role at a big company back at around March, that I previously had work experience at, they said I did really well but need a bit more evidence to show I've done my own testing

What's Cloud+? Like cloud servers?

Heccing Google Drive

[peak steeple]

Yes, it covers the Cloud side of things.

[hallow flame]

Right

[peak steeple]

https://www.comptia.org/certifications/cloud

[hallow flame]

What certs have you got already?

[peak steeple]

MCSA (retired) and Security + (retired) and rest is expereince in IT and studying for Azure Security cert smf some UK Pen certs but they a deep learnin curve hence why am on THM 🙂

[hallow flame]

What do you mean retired?