How to Navigate a Career in Cybersecurity

Summary:

In this episode, Timothy De Block sits down with Ralph Collum, a cybersecurity educator with over a decade of experience in the field. They delve into Ralph's career journey, discussing his transition from a chemist to a cybersecurity professional and the various roles he's taken on, including server administration, auditing, and penetration testing. Ralph shares insights on the importance of soft skills, continuous learning, and the evolving landscape of cybersecurity.

Key Topics Discussed:

  • Ralph’s Career Journey

  • The Impact of the Pandemic on Cybersecurity Groups

  • Getting Into Cybersecurity

  • The Role of Soft Skills in Cybersecurity

  • The Impact of AI on Cybersecurity Careers

  • Resources and Recommendations

Resources Mentioned:

  • Books:

    • The Code to the Dead Cow Joseph Menn

    • Spam Nation by Brian Krebs

    • The Art of Invisibility by Kevin Mitnick

    • Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy

  • Websites:

    • Help Net Security

    • Bleeping Computer

    • Hacker News

    • Dark Reading

  • Tools:

    • Feedly for organizing cybersecurity news

    • TryHackMe and Hack The Box for practical labs

Connect with Ralph Collum:

Contact Information:

Leave a comment below or reach out via the contact form on the site, email timothy.deblock[@]exploresec[.]com, or reach out on LinkedIn.

Check out our services page and reach out if you see any services that fit your needs.

Social Media Links:

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Who is looking for more in infosec - Feb 27, 2017

In this job posting edition of the Exploring Information Security podcast, who is looking for more in infosec?

This is a bonus episode of the podcast. This is a solo podcast where I discuss open positions and people looking for opportunities. I plan to do these based on demand. If you would like to submit a position you are looking to fill or looking for an opportunity send me an email timothy.deblock[at]gmail[dot]com or hit me up on Twitter @TimothyDeBlock.

Employers looking to fill a role

Sr. Splunk Admin - Premise Health

  • Splunk experience a plus

  • SIEM experience and management is required

  • Must live in Nashville, TN, or be willing to relocate

Jr. Pen Tester - Premise Health

  • Testing experience a plus

  • Familiarity with testing tools

  • Must live in Nashville, TN, or be willing to relocate

Sr. Endpoint Security Consultant - Optiv

  • Focus on Carbon Black

  • Optiv's Architecture & Implementation Services

  • Location anywhere

  • 50% travel time

  • Fill out position or contact Brad Pace (brad.pace[at]gmail[dot]com)

Quicken Loans

Multiple positions open at Quicken Loans as we continue to mature our information security team. All positions would require relocation to the metro Detroit area, no remote opportunities unfortunately. Great team of people, great company culture and atmosphere. At the end of the day the positions are what you make them. - Robert Knapp @power_napz or robertknapp[at]quickenloans[dot]com

 

People looking for an opportunity

Joshua Ovalle - Resume

Type of work: Entry level

Interested Areas:
I have been interested in the idea of breaking down and building up security networks and things of that sort. I had always pictured hacking as something fun and challenging. Challenging things are what really get me involved more deeply in my work.

Experience:
Navy Aviation Electronics Technician. My experiences are with mostly physical maintenance (wire running, electronic testing, circuit card installation/testing and software instillation. I am also familiar with Microsoft computers and Apple products.

Community Contribution:
I have recently started dedicating time to a prison ministry at my church spending time with the children of men and women who are incarcerated by teaching and playing sports with them.

Education:
I graduated high school in 2009 and went to college for 2 semesters until I decided to join the military.

Willing to Relocate:
I am currently in San Diego, and with a new born i don't know if i could relocate any time soon.

Coding Experience:
I don't have any experience with coding, but I am willing to learn it.

How to contact:
email: jgovalle[at]gmail[dot]com

Again if you are looking to fill a role or looking for an opportunity email me timothy.deblock[at]gmail[dot]com

How to build a home lab

In this getting stared episode of the Exploring Information Security podcast, I discuss how to build a home lab with Chris Maddalena.

Chris (@cmaddalena) and I have submitted to a couple of calls for training at CircleCityCon and Converge and BSides Detroit this summer on the topic of building a home lab. I will also be speaking on this subject at ShowMeCon. Home labs are great for advancing a career or breaking into information security. The bar is really low on getting started with one. A gaming laptop with decent specifications works great. For those with a lack of hardware or funds there are plenty of online resources to take advantage of. 

In this episode we discuss:

  • What is a home lab?
  • Why would someone want to build a home lab?
  • What are the different kinds of home labs?
  • What are the requirements?
  • How to get started building a home lab

More resources:

How to deal with the "experience required" paradox

In this exciting edition of the Exploring Information Security (EIS) podcast, I talk with Jerry Bell about overcoming the "experience required" requirement on infosec job postings.

Jerry recently had a blog post on his site (malicious link) titled, "Dealing With The Experience Required Paradox For Those Entering Information Security." It is a wonderful article with actionable items on what people can do to overcome that stipulation on job postings. Jerry is also a co-host for the Defensive Security podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Activities that can be done to overcome "experience required"
  • Who is does this requirement apply
  • Our own personal experiences and suggestions for overcoming the paradox

How to get into information security

Originally posted June 25, 2014

I've been wanting to do a podcast, for a while now, on information security. I wasn't sure what I wanted the objective of the podcast to be. Most of the information security podcasts out there, or at least the ones I listen to, usually do a guest interview and cover some of the latest news and happenings within the information security. I didn't want to spin up, yet, another one of those.

Instead I've decided to spin up a podcast that explores the world of information security. One of the things I've been hearing the infosec community needs are people to teach security to those inside and outside the community. I am still very much in the early stages of my career as an information security professional and trying to learn as much as I can. I thought a podcast that allowed me to share what I've learned and explored would make for a great podcast. So here we are and my first podcast is about how to get into information security.

To explore that topic I decided to do an interview with VioPoint consultant and roundhouse master Jimmy Vo (@JimmyVo). We covered how he got into information security and also talked about some of things people on the outside looking in can do to get into information security.

Feedback is very much appreciated and wanted. Leave them in the comment section or contact me via email.