An old dog learning new tricks

So this year I will turn 50. Ugh. I can't believe I am old. But at the same time I can't believe I've had the experiences I've had over the course of my life. It's definitely been a roller coaster journey but the highs have definitely been worth the ride.

And I'm not done yet! Lately I've been trying to teach myself some programming skills. Python is one of the most useful languages in the field of cybersecurity. So I went through a beginner's book and "taught" myself the basics. It was a lot of fun! Now I am going through a beginner's book for C. The choice to learn C or C++ first was excruciating! I am very interested in malware and my research into the 2 languages showed that the majority of malware programs are written in C or C++. Most forums I read through had users recommend C first so I figured why not. It's still early in my training but I've figured out a few things already and made some practice programs actually run!

Part of my job is conducting phishing tests for my user community. I recently took a web design class to improve my HTML/CSS skills. I won't need to go as deep in my test emails as the class did but it is good to have the basic foundation of knowledge so that I can create more realistic looking emails using HTML code.

That's the biggest thing I tell people who ask me what I do when they learn I am in cybersecurity. The answer is simple - LEARN! Technology changes so fast and I have to be able to somewhat keep up with everything so I am aware of the threats that may face my users and networks. Plus I never turn down the chance to learn something new. Or old. I let my CEH certification expire so in July I am going to attend a week long bootcamp class for it. Thankfully I had a little bit of time left on my GI Bill benefits and was able to use that to pay for it. I only had to pay like $300 out of pocket but I am getting a $4000 training class for it (which comes with a test voucher AND test pass guarantee), a week of hotel costs and some food money. In the end once I get back all the reimbursements from the VA I will actually make about $300 on this class/trip! Not a bad deal!

When you aren't learning, READ! I receive about 2 dozen security newsletters each week/month to try and keep up with the changes and new threats being identified. I've learned some very interesting tidbits here and there about a new threat, piece of malware, threat group, etc.

In other news...

Summer is finally upon us. This means the students on campus are gone for a few months so the hallway outside my office is nice and quiet and campus assumes a "ghost town" feel to it until late August. AND our summer hours schedule kicks in and I get Fridays off until the week before Fall term classes start. I love this job!

Be safe out there! Both on and offline!

Until next time......Code Geek out!