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How would I get into the cybersecurity field?

I don't really know what I want to do and I think CyberSecurity seems cool.

it security cyber-security cybersecurity computer-security computer-networking
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Nick’s Answer

CyberSecurity IS very cool! It's a huge field and there is no one "right" way to learn about it or get involved. The most important thing is to find something about computers and technology that excites you and to learn more about it. A common thread through all of the security professionals I've worked with over the last 15 years has been a curiosity to understand how things work and a strange desire to take them apart then put them back together again. This can take many forms for you as an individual, it could mean learning to program and writing a phone app, it could mean following instructions online to install linux on an old computer, or participating in digital "capture the flag" games.

If you're looking to get a high level view of the world that's out there for cyber security, I would recommend starting with watching talks from Security Conferences, lots are available for free on Youtube! Sometimes these talks have written papers that go with them that you can find online as well.

You can also:
- Take free online courses to learn about computers, information technology, and if it interests you, programming
- If you have the chance to take just about any course at school about computers, take it!
- If reading is your thing, go to the library and look for books! Some good ones are:
-- Confident Cybersecurity by Dr. Jessica Barker
-- Microsoft has a free book called Windows Internals, that can be dry but has a lot of good information

Nick recommends the following next steps:

Watch Building Security People by Jessica Payne - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibc-ACdgxBY
Check out High School Capture The Flag: https://hsctf.com/
Lean more about Capture The Flag exercises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6lD4qYRWLY
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Kyle’s Answer

Hi Aidan,

Cybersecurity is a very exciting and rapidly growing industry! There are so many things you can do within cybersecurity. Is there anything that specifically interests you?

Here are a few possible career paths:
- Ethical Hacking: Identify and exploit weaknesses in a system and help a company build a more secure system.
- Incident Response: Respond to an ongoing security incident and work to quickly fix vulnerabilities and minimize data loss.
- Security Engineer: Use your security knowledge to think of potential threats to a system and build and implement defenses.

If you're interested in learning more about the field. Here are some great free courses.

Free Courses:
CodeAcademy Intro to Cybersecurity - https://www.codecademy.com/learn/introduction-to-cybersecurity
TryHackMe - https://tryhackme.com/
Coursera Into to Cybersecurity - https://www.coursera.org/specializations/intro-cyber-security#about
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Manuel’s Answer

Amazing field to work!
the most principal is to try to learn to program like python and challenge yourself.
In my vision, the 'security official ' is the persona who has the constant challenge because every day all different people want to break your systems so for that you need to be prepared with different knowledge such as AWS security, cisco, and other certifications for protecting your app or architecture.
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Atul’s Answer

In cybersecurity industry - most people have Software Development background.
Get a degree in Computer Science and then take some certifications to become a certified/ethical hacker.
There are many state universities offer major in the cybersecurity.
Try to avoid incurring student loan debt.
It can never be wiped out.
There are few cities/state where there is cybersecurity focused companies.
Boston, Denver, Boulder, California, Virginia and Washington state (Seattle).
Do not limit yourself to one geo location.
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Olga’s Answer

Start from learning Computer Science, writing code, then get into system administration, how programs work, how they interact with each other and computer resources. After that look into information theory field: how information, collected, stored, transmitted, safe and unsafe ways sharing information
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Wilson’s Answer

I love Cybersecurity once I figured out during college. I don't regret that decision.

How I got there is that I took 2 classes in Cybersecurity while I was doing Computer Information Systems and there were some career paths that were thrown, like Cloud Security Analyst, Penetration Testing, and Cybersecurity Analyst. I found it interesting that my professor sent me a link to a Capture-the-Flag competition near the beach side. I decided to go in and compete. Ended up learning some things that I didn't know you could do in a web application, plus a gift card that I spent on food for dinner.

Then, I participated in other organizations such as ISACA and ISSA to join in their meetings to understand what Cybersecurity professionals do on their positions and spoke to them after meeting was over.

Eventually, I became a Cybersecurity Consultant and that is what my career path is right now.
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Eddy’s Answer

Hi Aidan,

The first thing you can start doing is to follow some of the industry trends in cybersecurity. It is helpful to read some news articles or watch some related videos to keep yourself informed. You can also explore acquiring a degree in cybersecurity, CS, or any related field. It can help you learn the fundamentals.

You can also explore different hands-on experiences in cybersecurity through projects, certifications, etc. It helps you connect with other like-minded people and showcase your work. Additionally, if you are interested you can try for certification in a field like Security +. I'm sure it will help you gain more insight into the field.

Thank you
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Kyle’s Answer

Cyber security is a HUGE field, there is not exactly one way to go. You could focus on application security, network security, or even physical security! A great way to start is by learning a bit of programming skills. You don't necessarily need to have that to be in the field, but being able to use that skill will give you the ability to perform to your highest potential. Some niched topics you could dive into are network protocols such as TCP/IP & UDP traffic to network traffic analysis. The internet isn't going anywhere and we need to secure it! Lastly, staying in the know is always great. Do some reading about cyber attacks going on in the world today and find what interests you. Think about how the attackers were able to carry it out!
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