Posted in Uncategorized

Charting a Path (or Not…)

(Late because I took CYSA + Beta on Thursday 1/09) [Fingers-Crossed]

I think people direct people to “find what they love and do it…” They say that as if doing that is just the easiest thing, but sometimes it isn’t. For example the number of things I thought I really wanted to do and then finally realized I wasn’t suited for or I really wasn’t as interested in are too numerous to list here.
I will admit that it is important to find the things that you are most interested in because it makes you want to learn more about it. Although, there is often things that one has to learn in order to move forward or change careers or what have you, it’s also important to kind of focus in one the things that really interest you and learn about them.

Peerlyst

For me, Digital Forensics and Penetration Testing is one of the subsets of Cybersecurity that really interests me. I may have to learn to do SIEM investigations and log analysis for work, but learning these things isn’t a passion project for me, it’s a means to an ends. These things are still interesting , but when I learn them it’s not the same sense of pride or what have you as I feel when I uncover something or even when doing a CTF.

CompTIA

I 100% am not set on what exactly what I will be doing in 5 or 10 years. Because my path has diverged so often and in such varied ways I try not to make solid plans, but rather have an outline of things I would like to learn or do. Whether that would work for others isn’t for me to say. I just know that I tried to rigid planning thing and that didn’t work for me at all. The unplanned plan does work.

SANS

My best advice would be to learn, to be open to learning and always be researching shifts and changes and developments and then just to absorb the things that interest you the most and see where these things might take you.

One Great Site for seeing what careers might be available to research:
https://www.cyberseek.org/pathway.html

Posted in Uncategorized

2019 – A Quick Reflection

It is the end of 2019 and like most I want to take a moment to reflect on all the things that I actually have accomplished this year. Sometimes we can think too much about where we aren’t that we don’t focus on where we actually are and how far we have come. At the beginning of this year I had just changed careers and I was a little unsure of where or if I actually fit in. Now, I’m more self-assured and confident in my ability to learn and retain new things and the “rightness” of this course .

Accomplishments

  • Passed Network+
  • Passed Security+
  • Participated in First CTF (Individual and Group)
  • Started a Blog
  • Delved more into Cryptography
  • Cracked a Password
  • Finished my First Year in a Cybersecurity Position
  • Attended my first Cybersecurity Conference (Hacker Halted in Atlanta)
  • Finished Undergrad work (Only have my Capstone left)

But, it’s also good to look back at how we might have failed because epic-ly failing is how we level-up epic-ly.

Failures

  • My First CTF was a Bull in a China Shop Scenario
  • The Group work was worse; most of my group work across categories was kind of a bust (Pen-testing Methodology for a Class was the 1 exception)
  • Really buckling down and learning Linux…

 ”Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes.”

Lawrence Bossidy

Upcoming….

  • CYSA+ (Taking the Beta in a few days…[crossed fingers])
  • Linux+ (Voucher has already been purchased)
  • Finish Undergrad and move directly onto Graduate Coursework
  • Build out Security Lab
  • Put a Dent in My InfoSec Book Collection
  • Get Better at Networking…

“The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on. “

Barack Obama

Posted in Uncategorized

All Brute Force, No Finesse…

Thoughts on My First National Cyber League/Capture the Flag Experience.

I’m a finesse pitcher without the finesse.

David Cone

It’s a month removed from competing in Skyline’s National Cyber League Capture the Flag (CTF) This was my first time and really I did it kind of on a lark, like I was interested in doing CTFs, but I never had so I was also a bit intimidated. I got an email from school about competing on their team with the cost covered, all experience levels welcome and did it. |
The competition was intense, because I always want to do my best and really for the individual and team portions you only have a weekend to do each. The craziest part is the team portion fell on the same week as midterms so extra stressors. That was added on to the fact that only 2 of us out of the 4 person team actually did any work (isn’t that just typical of group work?).
All in all it was a great experience though because it kind of showed me my strengths and weaknesses and also because the competitive nature of the games spoke to my Aries nature. I always want to be my best, not necessarily THE best, but MY best.
I’m actually pretty excited to try my hand again in the Spring. Maybe then I’ll have a better accuracy score instead of butting my head against the problems until I solve them through sheer determination and force.

unsplash-logoCaspar Camille Rubin

Individual Game 2019
National Rank: 718/4,149
Score: 1, 205

Posted in Uncategorized, What I've Used

What I’ve Used 12/2019

CompTIA CSA+ Study Guide

By: Mike Chapple and David Seidl
Published by: Sybex, Inc.

The thing I like most about this particular guide is that it has Labs for each chapter, I think this is important as it gives the reader/learner a hands on approach to learning. This type of hands-on can possibly help them when taking the exam because CompTIA exams always have a few scenario questions.
The version of the book I used for studying was the pre-release before the name of the exam was changed to CYSA+, but that is because this newer test has fewer options for study materials than older exams such as Network+ and Security+.
I’m taking the beta test in the first week of January, so wish me luck. (3.6/4)

Posted in Uncategorized

Allow Me to Introduce Myself…

It’s been a little over a year since I took meaningful steps to change the trajectory of my life. That’s not entirely true…it’s been longer than that since first steps were taken, but it’s been a year in my current position. Sometimes, I think we can get to bogged down with big milestones that we forget the small ones.

I’ve always been the type to try to remember the small accomplishments because the big ones aren’t the ones the come around very often.

That’s what this blog is for. I want to look back on the days when I think I haven’t made enough progress and see just how far I have come, the things I’ve learned, and hopefully connect with readers that want to learn as well.

Who Am I?

  • Steph | Blue | Ink | …
  • Career-changer entering the second year in Cybersecurity
  • Current Information Technology/ Cybersecurity Student
  • Self-Learner

There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Post Schedule

  1. First Monday of the Month – Review
  2. Tues or Thurs – Regular Post
  3. Last Friday – #Flashback