you guys are lucky to have all these web resources available. us older guys had to brute force our way thru a lot of stuff. as for interning, most companies will assume you want a paycheck and in this economy.....and if they are sending you sarcastic emails, just blow it off. you probably wouldn't want to work there anyway. but by sending those intern requests (politely worded and offering to work for free), you never know what you will come up with (I've got some stories...and potential future job leads!).
like he said, get your hands on as many tutorials as you can. download and read, nobody is going to hire you as an infosec person right now but that doesn't mean you can't get prepared for it. even if you don't understand it now, you will at least have heard the terms and can start putting 2 and 2 together. that's how I learned Linux while working 60+ hours/wk in a Windows world. definitely pick up the programming skills. I finally came to the realization a few years ago that I would suck as a programmer, so I gave up trying to learn it. I like to do too many different things in the computer world and that is why Infosec/consulting suits me well because things are always different and changing. however, I still need to get much better at scripting so I can automate a lot of my own work. that being said, remember I work 60+ hrs/week....and I'm married....wait until you get to this point. in other words, pick it up now, while you can. >-----Original Message----- >From: Marc towers [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >Sent: Friday, January 01, 1999 3:09 AM >To: Douglas Pichardo; [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: Please help a young aspiring security professional > > >Hello Douglas, >I started off looking for security jobs at the age of 17 (20 now) and >started out doing the same things, reading hundreds of >documents from web >sites and playing with linux & freebsd. I am still without a >security job >but started buying old computers and other hardware to start a >testlab for >trying different network configurations. You havn't said if you have >started programming..... this is a must if going into the security >field...I started with Python (www.python.org) and am just now >getting used >to C++... they are loads of tutorials on the net to help you >get started. >You could start looking into qualifications like the MCSE, GIAC or CCNA >which will give you an edge when it comes to a job. > Hopefully you will have a better chance being in the USA as >its still not >quite caught on enough in the uk... but even after my 80th >negative email >from companies (some rather sarcastic replies) i will still remain >persistant in looking. > >Good luck and keep learning > >Regards, > >Marc Towers > >
