Entering the World of Cyber Security

I’ve always been an individual who’s been curious about learning everything the world has to offer. Since going to school I’ve dived into subjects such as Math, Science, History, and English that I enjoyed learning so much about. Once enrolled in college I had more freedom in deciding what I wanted to learn and what classes to take. The major I chose was Criminology which fascinated me through its sociological and psychological theories/concepts that pertained to people’s behavior in committing criminal activities. I developed an interest in Computer Science during the end of my college year since it seemed very interesting to learn about computers.

Moving forward a few years, I had a talk with an old colleague about my interest in computer science. He suggested I check out Flatiron School and their various programs that pertained to what I wanted to pursue. I took some time to review their website and was drawn to the cyber security analytics section. This definitely caught my attention since it related to hackers and defenders which to my mind seemed awesome. I knew it wasn’t going to be how its seen in TV/movies so I kept an open mind in how one gets into this type of career/field. I joined their online part time program and began my journey during August of last year.

Throughout the program I was learning so many new things about systems and computers that I never took into consideration such as the OSI model, how networks communicate with each other, protocols and what ports they operate in, etc. The GRC (Governance, Risk, & Compliance) portion was intense but I understood the importance it had to cyber security professionals. There are certain laws/rules that companies need to be in compliance when it comes to securing people’s data, the risk a company can run into, and making sure certain regulations are in place to avoid exploitation/risk. One of the fun experiences was learning to operate the command line terminal since I’ve never had the reason to use it. There are so many commands that one needs to know so they can easily navigate around the terminal. The SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) course was intriguing since this was the first time I was introduced to a security management system that monitors a computer/system/network for suspicious activity and it also helps organize data that is collected.

Overall the experience was fun but challenging. Now I want to use the experience I learned to enter this new field to eventually climb the ranks to a cyber security professional. It’s been a long road since I’ve first started but I am looking forward in learning more about this field and meeting new faces.