Study and Learn

The thing about Cyber Security, is that there is a ton to learn. But that comes as you progress through your career. You do not need to know everything in the beginning. Here are some starting points

• Start off by learning general knowledge about IT. For example:

  • Subnetting and IP addresses

  • TCP/IP Model

  • Types of Attacks (phishing, social engineering, ransomware, botnet, and many more)

  • What types of devices, appliances, communication happens in a typical network:

    • What is an email relay, or web proxy, or firewall versus an IPS, VLAN

    • What are virtual environments and cloud based solutions (AWS, Azure, etc)

    • Protocols and ports

    • Logging solutions

    • What is a SOC (Security Operations Center)

    • What is data protection

    • What types of storage solutions do environments use

    • What are some regulations and compliance requirements (HIPAA, PHI, ISO controls)

  • Coding / Scripting

    • Great starting point:

      • Python, Powershell, JavaScript

    • Other useful coding and scripting options:

      • Bash, Go (Golang), Ruby, Rust, PHP

• A good tip is to look up Security Vendors

  • Look at what Security Vendors are selling, or building, or doing.

  • This will help you get more ideas about what to learn. You can even learn about specific tools or solutions they have.

  • It also helps give you insight into current trends, which may help you narrow your focus.