Revered security professionals:
Hi, my name is Douglas Pichardo and I am 16 years old. I live in Virginia
Beach, Virginia (USA), and I am in the 10th grade. I have been a member of
this discussion list for several months, trying to learn all I can about the
world of security, which I have a strong interest in. This last summer, when
my interest popped up, I spent several hours almost every day reading
webpages about every security topic that I could read about and understand,
but at that time I was using Windows 98 and was unable to really get into and
play around with any of the information I learned, and decided to get an OS
that would allow me to - either Linux or Windows 2000, and Windows 2000 is
too expensive. For Christmas, I got SuSE Linux 7.3 Professional, <u>Hacking
Linux Exposed</u>, and <u>Linux System Administration</u>, as these all had
good reviews in various places and I did not like Mandrake 8.1 which I had
burned on CD and previously installed.
Well, to the point: I would like to try out security things like firewalls
and such and be exposed to the internet (I'm behind a Linksys Cable/DSL
router with NAT), but I don't feel anywhere near knowledgeable enough. What
I'm looking for is a internship of sorts, and I was wondering if either: (a)
by some chance some of you know companies in Virginia Beach, VA, that would
take me "under their wing", or (b) any of you know of any websites or
companies that might have information about local internship programs in the
security/administration field. I am looking for a learning opportunity - a
free one - where I could gain experience (the SANS and other conferences are
too much money and travel for me at age 16). I would greatly appreciate any
help that you would give me as an aspiring security professional. Thank you
in advance, and also thank you for reading all of this - I can get wordy :-) .
Sincerely,
Douglas Pichardo
P.S. I'm not some teenage wanna-be hacker; I truly only want to get into the
security field, not the "counter"-security field. And just in case the fact
that I'm writing this at 10:30 AM might contribute to the stereotype, I have
no school today; we have about 3 inches of snow and the whole area has shut
down as if it were 3 feet.
P.P.S. Are there any other books on Linux administration or local/network
security that you recommend?
