What do you guys think about infosec

[gamepad]

Going back to college in fall of '08; still deciding what I want to be when I grow up. The idea of information security recently came across my mind.

Do you guys think this is a good field to enter? Is one required to have become a computer genius by age 12 to be successful in this area?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Goosemaster]

anything is possible.
information is now more valuable than the subsystems that it traverses, creating the market you wish to enter.
you will required to max out your brain if you want to get anywhere decent.

 

[gamepad]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
anything is possible.
information is now more valuable than the subsystems that it traverses, creating the market you wish to enter.
you will required to max out your brain if you want to get anywhere decent.

Is infosec is more challenging than other IT specialties such as DBA or software engineering?

 

[invidia]

I'm going to grad school for a MS in infosec. I'm not entirely sure if it's going to be useful in the future but the curriculum is so close to CS, I can go both ways.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
anything is possible.
information is now more valuable than the subsystems that it traverses, creating the market you wish to enter.
you will required to max out your brain if you want to get anywhere decent.

Is infosec is more challenging than other IT specialties such as DBA or software engineering?

It's very challenging. You have to grasp a lot of specialty concepts and have a very strong understanding of computing and communications to be even remotely decent at it.

Then again I run across people that are supposed to be "experts" and they are completely clueless and extremely well paid.

 

[Goosemaster]

also, stop calling it infosec

 

[gamepad]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

 

[gamepad]

Last bump.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

a cert. farm industry that can manage to squeeze out a few good ones here and there if they jack off the horse correctly.

point is, it involves outwitting other humans, and that involves intelligence and knowledge.
acronyms and jargon are easily spotted, and as with any IT job, you will hear the BS much louder than the truth underneath so I would do further research before we attempt to explicate your compatibility with an entire industry based on whether it is popular

as an information security professional, as far as I am concerned, you are supposed to be a jack of all trades and a pretty brilliant person to be effective....or at least have bright account managers with your suppliers

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

Just security, or information security.

If you want to go for it then do. But it requires multiple disciplines to be even near decent. Just don't be "that guy" that read a lot but has not practical application of knowledge. "most secure" isn't the best approach given all the other factors.

It's like information security auditors - they read a book and know a certain practice is bad. But they don't understand why. This is where I love to nail them to the wall.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

Just security, or information security.

If you want to go for it then do. But it requires multiple disciplines to be even near decent. Just don't be "that guy" that read a lot but has not practical application of knowledge. "most secure" isn't the best approach given all the other factors.

It's like information security auditors - they read a book and know a certain practice is bad. But they don't understand why. This is where I love to nail them to the wall.

:laugh:

I would some video of that

<---definitely got his ass handed to him a few times with the audit board when writing policy

"but...but...but...but...butbut...but"

:laugh:

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

Just security, or information security.

If you want to go for it then do. But it requires multiple disciplines to be even near decent. Just don't be "that guy" that read a lot but has not practical application of knowledge. "most secure" isn't the best approach given all the other factors.

It's like information security auditors - they read a book and know a certain practice is bad. But they don't understand why. This is where I love to nail them to the wall.

Information security is a very broad field. No one can really be expected to know everything. You generally need a solid knowledge of *nix and networking.

As far as the auditors go, it's not their job to know why, persay. They are evaluating you on set criteria, and their job is to tell you whether you pass or fail.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
also, stop calling it infosec

What should I call it?

Just security, or information security.

If you want to go for it then do. But it requires multiple disciplines to be even near decent. Just don't be "that guy" that read a lot but has not practical application of knowledge. "most secure" isn't the best approach given all the other factors.

It's like information security auditors - they read a book and know a certain practice is bad. But they don't understand why. This is where I love to nail them to the wall.

Information security is a very broad field. No one can really be expected to know everything. You generally need a solid knowledge of *nix and networking.

As far as the auditors go, it's not their job to know why, persay. They are evaluating you on set criteria, and their job is to tell you whether you pass or fail.

I don't listen to somebody's suggestions unless they can tell me why. Some of the things these yahoos parrot out is unbelievable. All because they read it in a book.