CS, IT, or Cyber Security can I test out or go to school for?

[Kaz]

I have CompTIA's A+ and Network+ certs (although I got them a number of years ago). My two cents is that you can self-study for them. I went to one of those 6 month diploma trade school places years ago and, while I did learn a decent amount, I did not get enough out of the thousands of dollars I spent on it to justify recommending it. Unless they have changed drastically since I took them there is a lot of book memorization for every CompTIA test. Classrooms and teachers don't matter much when it comes to you rote memorizing OSI layers or what-not.

For practicing the actual hands-on skills it depends on your physical and financial situation. If you are paying for this out-of-pocket and have some space at your disposal you can actually just buy some older refurbished equipment for less money than taking the classes. That might sound crazy, and you could never fully duplicate everything in a good lab, but in my opinion you don't need to. If I personally had it to do over again I would gotten a few different types of old used machines and just practiced stripping them down and putting them back together, software included, rather than borrow thousands of dollars to go to my school's labs and do exactly that. Again just my two cents, good luck either way!

[Outis]

I self-studied for the Security+ exam for a few months and passed it. Kaz is correct that you do need to memorize a lot. However, if you have experience with this subject, it is not really memorization but experience. For example, if I am asked what port FTP or SSH or whatever uses by default, I may need to have that memorized, but if I am around this type of technology on a regular basis, it is second nature. Spending money on a course for A+, Network+, or Security+ is most likely a waste.

[stretcharmy]

Good points. If you get a cybersecurity degree, then you're kind of pigeonholed. Whereas if you get something broader and it turns out you don't like cybersecurity, then you can move into another CS/IT field. Cybersecurity programs kind of remind me of homeland security programs in being trendy, except that homeland security programs have even less substance.

But, the WGU program is in IT with an emphasis on security. They also have emphases in software development and networking.

I would say that it is trendy at this time because of all the hacking that is going on. That said, it's a path that is going to expand in the near future until machine learning gets WAY better than it is now. Most companies, sans banks and the govm'nt, have been avoiding security for decades because they didn't see the return on investment. Whoops, home depot, target, tj maxx etc. Most of IT is getting easier now, with tech like cloud computing, and it takes less people to preform work and these jobs are shrinking. Look back 15 years and every company had a network admin. Now HR can add users to the cloud email system,salesforce, and dropbox account. Security is a safe bet for the next decade I would say, as the space grows. Of course, any real progress on quantum computing and it's all out the window.

[bluebooger]

speaking of Cyber Security and hacking ...

there was a thread not too long ago from Torah College and new testing / credit options
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...tions.html

It sounded interesting so I went to their site and created an account so I could look around and get some more info.
Looks interesting. Looks good. I may consider a couple of the psychology exams.

Time goes by ...

Then last week I receive an email from them about a temporary service interruption while their website gets a software upgrade.

And guess what was in the email they sent me

Login Username: --------
Password: --------
Account Code: --------

all in PLAIN CLEAR text ! ! !

this was not the email verifying my account creation (and even if it was it would still be inexcusable)
but this was simply an email telling me about website downtime

You NEVER send that information in an email.

And this also shows they store that information in a database somewhere, which is another huge no no.

Let's say I used the same password for my email account that I used for my torah account (which I didn't, cause I'm not an idiot).
But if I did then anyone who hacks into the Torah database would have access to my email also.

Or at least they could snoop around the Torah database, combine any personal info they find with my email and password and start trying to hack my accounts on other sites.

Anybody with any cyber sense at all knows you do NOT store passwords in plain text.
You do NOT send password in email.

Torah should not know what my password is and should have no way of figuring it out.

rant over ...

[mednat]

speaking of Cyber Security and hacking ...

there was a thread not too long ago from Torah College and new testing / credit options
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...tions.html

It sounded interesting so I went to their site and created an account so I could look around and get some more info.
Looks interesting. Looks good. I may consider a couple of the psychology exams.

Time goes by ...

Then last week I receive an email from them about a temporary service interruption while their website gets a software upgrade.

And guess what was in the email they sent me

Login Username: --------
Password: --------
Account Code: --------

all in PLAIN CLEAR text ! ! !

this was not the email verifying my account creation (and even if it was it would still be inexcusable)
but this was simply an email telling me about website downtime

You NEVER send that information in an email.

And this also shows they store that information in a database somewhere, which is another huge no no.

Let's say I used the same password for my email account that I used for my torah account (which I didn't, cause I'm not an idiot).
But if I did then anyone who hacks into the Torah database would have access to my email also.

Or at least they could snoop around the Torah database, combine any personal info they find with my email and password and start trying to hack my accounts on other sites.

Anybody with any cyber sense at all knows you do NOT store passwords in plain text.
You do NOT send password in email.

Torah should not know what my password is and should have no way of figuring it out.

rant over ...

Alot of smaller shops struggle with these things. It's usually an after thought. Definitely a good case against the re-use of passwords. I'd be happy to help Torah in exchange for some free classes

[Andrew670]

Sanantone,

I apologize if my reply came back sounding a bit snippy. Your degree plans are part of the reason i've hung around here for so long. (Lurker for 3 years)

With that being said, Computer Science is programming/data analysis focused, while CyberSecurity is network security/intrusion detection focused. They both have their perks, but computer science is more useful. It's more useful because the foundations and programming you learn are the cornerstone for most IT related issues. I would disagree that it's like that these days. It may depend on the school however. As mentioned before, Cyber Security was given a bad reputation by fly by night schools that pushed a curriculum that wasn't even relevant to most students. Most high level IT jobs require Computer Science related degrees these days. Included are a few sources:

No. 2 Best Master's Degree For Jobs: Computer Science - In Photos: The Best And Worst Master's Degrees For Jobs - Forbes

Popular Jobs for Computer Science Majors - College Salary Report

[Andrew670]

UMUC is a partner college with Straighterline and they are regionally accredited. They accept most ACE credits as well (SOPHIA/ALEKS/CLEPS/DSST.) It's a good school for the most part; when i first transferred SL i had to do it the hard way (Send it to ACE, then to the University and wait for almost 2 months.) This is mainly due to the fact that this was in 2011 and SL wasn't quite as established. The curriculum is very Java Based, which seems to be the way ahead for most programmers anyways.

[sanantone]

I would say that it is trendy at this time because of all the hacking that is going on. That said, it's a path that is going to expand in the near future until machine learning gets WAY better than it is now. Most companies, sans banks and the govm'nt, have been avoiding security for decades because they didn't see the return on investment. Whoops, home depot, target, tj maxx etc. Most of IT is getting easier now, with tech like cloud computing, and it takes less people to preform work and these jobs are shrinking. Look back 15 years and every company had a network admin. Now HR can add users to the cloud email system,salesforce, and dropbox account. Security is a safe bet for the next decade I would say, as the space grows. Of course, any real progress on quantum computing and it's all out the window.

I don't think the security field is trendy; I think the degree programs are trendy. Maybe they will get better, but many of the masters programs I looked at a couple of years ago weren't very technical and had no prerequisites. When I look for security job openings, the preference is still for computer science degrees. I even see engineering listed as a preference or requirement a lot, but rarely see anyone ask for a degree in cyber security. It's like the criminal justice field. It is obviously not trendy and will be around forever, but it doesn't mean that you need a criminal justice degree. Most CJ jobs do not require a CJ degree. A lot of people who want to work in intelligence are starting to go for homeland security degrees, but federal intelligence jobs still have a strong preference for political science, international relations, and national security studies (not the same as homeland security).

[stretcharmy]

I don't think the security field is trendy; I think the degree programs are trendy. Maybe they will get better, but many of the masters programs I looked at a couple of years ago weren't very technical and had no prerequisites. When I look for security job openings, the preference is still for computer science degrees. I even see engineering listed as a preference or requirement a lot, but rarely see anyone ask for a degree in cyber security. It's like the criminal justice field. It is obviously not trendy and will be around forever, but it doesn't mean that you need a criminal justice degree. Most CJ jobs do not require a CJ degree. A lot of people who want to work in intelligence are starting to go for homeland security degrees, but federal intelligence jobs still have a strong preference for political science, international relations, and national security studies (not the same as homeland security).

it's totally trendy! I can't wait to hear the radio commercials for get ....security certification... and make 100K a year! Just like MCSE, and VMware, and Network+. The cycle never ends on trendy tech jobs. Now that people are paying attention because of all the recent breaches it's going to be the next best thing.

Over time I actually see IT security degrees expanding with minors. Like BS in IT security - Development Security or Database, or cloud or ... It's a really vast world and specialization will be key in the long run.