{
    "title": "A beginner's guide to getting started in cybersecurity",
    "url": "https://expel.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-in-cybersecurity/",
    "date": "May 31, 2018",
    "contents": "Subscribe \u00d7 EXPEL BLOG A beginner\u2019s guide to getting started in cybersecurity Talent \u00b7 9 MIN READ \u00b7 YANEK KORFF, BEN BRIGIDA AND JON HENCINSKI \u00b7 MAY 31, 2018 \u00b7 TAGS: Career / Guide / How to / NIST It happens from time to time. Someone tweets something incendiary, it creates a hubbub and before long you\u2019ve got yourself a veritable online brouhaha. One topic that seems to have piqued everyone\u2019s interest lately is this question: is there such a thing as an entry-level security job? It\u2019s a good one. And there seem to be two schools of thought: Never start off in security. Start with IT infrastructure, helpdesk, or development. Don\u2019t waste time, dive into security and fill in the technical gaps as you go. Here at Expel, we agree with Dino\u2019s philosophy . First of all, start anywhere you damn well want to start. \u201cFocus on what you want to do , versus what you want to be . Then, focus on finding the best place to do that and stay there.\u201d We\u2019ve seen it first hand. We\u2019ve hired several analysts straight out of college, and they\u2019re doing excellent work (If you\u2019re an employer and not plugged into the community at the Rochester Institute of Technology , and specifically working with their Computer Security program, you\u2019re definitely missing out). So we know there are degree programs out there that will prepare you for security jobs right off the bat. Now that you know where we stand, we\u2019ve got some tips on how to break into security . But there are lots of different jobs with the title \u201csecurity\u201d in them (and lots of jobs involving security that don\u2019t have \u201csecurity\u201d in the title) so it\u2019ll be important to make sure we know which ones we\u2019re talking about. Which cybersecurity jobs are we talking about? Wouldn\u2019t you know it, not only does NIST have a pretty great cybersecurity framework to help you manage risk , they\u2019ve also got another nice framework that can help job seekers figure out what employers are looking for. A good first step towards finding the work you want to do is to identify the tasks that float your boat and map them to jobs that give you the opportunity to do just that. Worried you don\u2019t have the technical depth for some of these roles? Entirely possible! If you drill into the framework a bit you\u2019ll see some jobs (like Cyber Defense Analysis , which we call a \u201cSOC Analyst\u201d) have an enormously long list of knowledge areas you\u2019ll need to be proficient in. If that\u2019s the kind of job you want to do, it might make sense to start off with a less technically demanding role that has a lot of the same baseline prerequisites like an IT Program Auditor . You could use that as a stepping stone into other security roles as you develop a deeper understanding of the security space. And yes, you could certainly start with a role in Systems Administration or Network Operations to gain technical chops too. \u201cWait a sec,\u201d you might be thinking to yourself, \u201cisn\u2019t this just a cop out by defining non-security roles as security?\u201d Yes, it absolutely is. You got us. Frankly, as the NICE Framework makes clear, security is extraordinarily broad. While some argue it\u2019s \u201cniche,\u201d it\u2019s really a compendium of niche knowledge across several vastly different work areas. That means if your mind (or your heart) is set on security, you can enter any of these domains and work your way into security. Or \u2026 you can start in security-specific domains and work your way into more technical roles over time. Okay, so maybe you buy into the argument that the security domain is pretty diverse. Maybe you go one step farther and believe several of these roles include security responsibility even if they don\u2019t have \u201csecurity\u201d in their title. After all, we\u2019ve been saying that security needs to be built-in , not a bolt-on for years, right? Perhaps what\u2019s going on here is that the online brouhaha around \u201centry-level security jobs\u201d is really focused on the security jobs where technical depth is essential. Maybe the argument is it\u2019s these jobs that require starting out in technical non-security roles first. Let\u2019s poke at that a bit. But first, there are a few things that\u2019ll apply no matter what direction you\u2019re coming from. Let\u2019s try to agree on three things Anyone can cook Have you seen the movie Ratatouille ? No? Yeah, that seems to be the most common answer. Ok, let\u2019s summarize [SPOILER ALERT]. There\u2019s this Chef, Auguste Gusteau, who authors \u201c Anyone Can Cook .\u201d Throughout the movie, you\u2019re made to believe that the message of the book (and the movie) is that literally anyone can become a great chef. Even the protagonist, a rat, can do it because you can learn how to do it from a book. Yet, by the end of the movie, you realize the point is substantially more profound and realistic. Actually, no. Not everyone who picks up the book can become a great chef. But, in fact, a great chef could potentially come from anywhere. There are so many paths to \u201csuccess.\u201d There are exceptions to every rule. Anyone can cyber. \u201cNever\u201d is rarely the right word A few years ago one of us was walking up Main Street, USA at the Magic Kingdom. It was 8:30am and he refused to buy his younger daughter funnel cake first (oh, the humanity!) \u201cYou never buy me anything!\u201d she exclaimed. He stopped. He looked around. He kept walking. The notion that you should avoid absolutes isn\u2019t new. And in the tech space, it\u2019s particularly important. A great engineer and former colleague once said: \u201cWhen the customer says it never happens, we need to build support for it to happen 5-10% of the time.\u201d So we\u2019re going to be cautious about these words when we\u2019re talking about career paths too. Broad-scale discouragement is a Bad Thing\u2122 When you engage in an argument or even a mild discussion, there\u2019s a decent chance your conversation partner is already coming to the table with an opinion. If it\u2019s a strongly-held opinion, your counter-argument may actually galvanize their original belief . In that case, your discouragement is going to fall on deaf ears \u2026 so why bother? In other cases, people may have a more flexible mindset. Think about a scout versus a soldier mindset. To a soldier, everything is black and white. Good and evil. Kill or be killed. Compare that to a scout, who\u2019s in information gathering mode all the time. Drawing conclusions are some general\u2019s job. Discouragement, in this case, could actually be effective! So good job, you\u2019ve managed to discourage a portion of the population who could actually have been amazing contributors in the field. What harm is there on succeeding or failing on one\u2019s own merit? Why encourage people to punt on first? Five habits that are helpful for (entry-level) security jobs If you don\u2019t agree with the three items above, well \u2026 it might be a good idea to stop reading now because we\u2019re about to do some hardcore encouragement , and that might make you grumpy. After all, the next great information security practitioner could be reading this blog right now. Also, we promised in the title to explain how to get into cybersecurity. So here are a few practical next steps. There are all sorts of resources out there that\u2019ll help you on the path towards becoming a super-nerdy cyber superhero. Here\u2019s our list of five things you can do to take the first steps to an entry-level technical cybersecurity career. 1. Survey the field Follow influential cybersecurity evangelists on Twitter. The most successful ones probably aren\u2019t calling themselves cybersecurity evangelists. They\u2019re just constantly dropping knowledge bombs, tips and tricks that can help your career. Here\u2019s a short list to get you going: @bammv , @cyb3rops , @InfoSecSherpa , @InfoSystir , @JohnLaTwC , @armitagehacker , @danielhbohannon , @_devonkerr_ , @enigma0x3 , @gentilkiwi , @hacks4pancakes , @hasherezade , @indi303 , @jackcr , @jenrweedon , @jepayneMSFT , @jessysaurusrex , @k8em0 , @lnxdork , @mattifestation , @mubix , @pwnallthethings , @pyrrhl , @RobertMLee , @ryankaz42 , @_sn0ww , @sroberts , @spacerog , @subtee , @taosecurity 2. Combine reading and practice This may shock you, but there\u2019s this security company called Expel that has a bunch of great content (full disclosure: we\u2019re biased). Self-serving comments aside, there are several companies that produce high-value security content on a pretty regular basis. High on our list are CrowdStrike , Endgame , FireEye , Kaspersky , Palo Alto\u2019s Unit 42 , and TrendLabs . As you read, try to figure out how you\u2019d go about detecting the activity they describe. Then, how would you investigate it ? Are you looking to grow your technical foundation for something like an analyst role? The breadth of what you need to know can be daunting. Perhaps the most foundational knowledge to pick up is around the TCP/IP protocol suite . Be prepared to answer the \u201c what happens when \u201d question confidently. For learning about endpoint forensics, you probably can\u2019t get a better foundation than Incident Response and Computer Forensics 3rd Edition . The chapter on Windows forensics is gold. Dive into Powershell , associated attack frameworks , and learn how to increase visibility into PowerShell activity with logging. Pair this knowledge with some of the best free training out there at Cobalt Strike. Watch the (most excellent) videos and apply the concepts you\u2019ve learned as part of Cobalt Strike\u2019s 21-day trial. Not enough time? Consider making the investment. The Blue Team Field Manual and Red Team Field Manual round out our recommendations on this front. In parallel, set up a lab with Windows 7 (or later) workstations joined to a domain. Compromise the workstation using some of the easier techniques, then explore post exploitation activity. Your goal is to get a feel for both the attack and defense sides of the aisle here. On the network side, consider The Practice of Network Security Monitoring , Practical Packet Analysis , and Applied Network Security Monitoring . When it comes time to take some of this book learning and make it real, resources like the malware traffic analysis blog and browsing PacketTotal where you can get a sense for what\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d versus what\u2019s not. Your goal here should be to understand sources of data (network evidence) that can be used to detect and explain the activity. To refine your investigative processes on the network, consider Security Onion . Set up some network sensors, monitor traffic and create some Snort/Suricata signatures to alert on offending traffic. Your goal is to establish a basic investigative process and like on the endpoint side, understand both the attack and defense sides of the equation. 3. Seek deep learning, not just reading Have you ever taken a class and then months later tried to use the knowledge you allegedly learned only to discover you\u2019ve forgotten all the important stuff? Yeah, if you disconnect learning from using the knowledge, you\u2019re going to be in a hard spot. This might be one of the biggest challenges in diving into a more technical security role up front. To help offset this, in addition to combining reading with practice, consider the Feynman technique . Never heard of it? Well, it\u2019s easy to skim over bits and pieces you don\u2019t understand \u2026 but if you can distill it down into simple language such that others could understand it, then you\u2019ll have understood it better in the process. Nothing helps you learn quite like teaching. 4. Develop a malicious mindset Years ago, a security practitioner was explaining how you can become a better defender by thinking like an adversary. The story came with some awkward (and humorous) interchanges. He walked into a hotel room with his family while on vacation, saw the unsecured dispenser installed into the shower wall and said out loud, \u201cWow, it would be so easy to replace the shampoo with Nair!\u201d His family was horrified. To be clear: we\u2019re not advocating that you replace shampoo with Nair, or similarly nefarious anti-hair products. And the concept of thinking like an attacker is not new. Eight years ago when Lance Cottrell was asked what makes a good cybersecurity professional, he said they put \u201cthemselves in the shoes of the attacker and look at the network as the enemy would look at the network and then think about how to protect it.\u201d The best way to do that these days is by wrapping your head around the MITRE ATT&CK framework . It\u2019s quickly becoming the go-to model for wrapping some structure around developing an investigative process and understanding where (and how) you can apply detection and investigation. You might want to familiarize yourself with it prior to doing extensive reading and then come back to it from time to time as needed. 5. Be dauntless Don\u2019t let your lack of knowledge stop you . There are organizations out there willing to invest in people with the right traits and a desire to learn. Apply for the job , even if you don\u2019t think you\u2019re qualified. Maybe you get a no. So what? Try again at a different company. Or try again at that same company later. Reading will only get you so far \u2026 applying your knowledge will get you to the next level. And guess what, remember that Feynman technique? Yeah, teaching that knowledge you\u2019ve acquired to others will get you one level farther. Good luck, happy hunting! Finally \u2026 to those who say \u201can IT background and deep technical skills will help you get a job in security,\u201d we say: \u201cWe agree!\u201d And \u2026 To those you say \u201csecurity roles can be broad and you can use them to develop technical expertise over time,\u201d we say: \u201cWe also agree!\u201d What we don\u2019t believe in is telling people we don\u2019t know that they can\u2019t do something without understanding their unique situation. There may be paths that are generally easier, or generally harder. But assuming you can\u2019t do something is headwind you don\u2019t need. Hopefully you\u2019ve found some guidance here that gives you the push you need to consider an entry-level (or later) security job and you\u2019ll apply. To that end, we say \u2026 best of luck!"
}