do you have to know programming to get into information security?

[Remeran12]

Title says it all. I was doing some research and it looks like a lot of information sec jobs require knowledge of programming languages is this the norm?

 

[carnageX]

It's a good idea to have at least somewhat of an understanding. If you don't understand how security risks are made, it's more difficult (IMO) to defend against them.

Networking would also be important.

 

[Remeran12]

It's a good idea to have at least somewhat of an understanding. If you don't understand how security risks are made, it's more difficult (IMO) to defend against them.

Networking would also be important.

Ah, I see. I know networking and have a CCNA and I'm studying now for my CCNA Security. I was going to look into getting my CISSP after that, But am now considering taking 6 months to read some python books and learn the language.

what do you think?

 

[Lexluethar]

Programming specifically no - but you need to understand code to be good in IT security. Reason being aside from physical security most of the IT threats come from malware, virus's, trojans, ect. To have a firm grasp of what a specific set of codes / scripts does you need to understand the construct of programming in general. Do you need to be a C++, java or visual basic guru - no.

 

[Remeran12]

Programming specifically no - but you need to understand code to be good in IT security. Reason being aside from physical security most of the IT threats come from malware, virus's, trojans, ect. To have a firm grasp of what a specific set of codes / scripts does you need to understand the construct of programming in general. Do you need to be a C++, java or visual basic guru - no.

thanks for the reply! that's good to hear. I'll just read a python book and some scripting stuff just to get background. But I'm glad I do t have to get too into it.

 

[Lexluethar]

Also to get into security unless it's a NOC or some other type of Security Engineer you aren't going to see a ton of responsibility bestowed upon you until you have some experience. During that time you'll learn what to look for, what to stay up on and how to expand your skillsets.

I'm not a security engineer, but from what i've seen out of ours a lot of it is staying on top of current threats and ensuring your company is in the best position to not be infected, and if infected mitigate the threat. The hardest piece of security that in my opinion is educating your consumer base.

 

[Remeran12]

Also to get into security unless it's a NOC or some other type of Security Engineer you aren't going to see a ton of responsibility bestowed upon you until you have some experience. During that time you'll learn what to look for, what to stay up on and how to expand your skillsets.

I'm not a security engineer, but from what i've seen out of ours a lot of it is staying on top of current threats and ensuring your company is in the best position to not be infected, and if infected mitigate the threat. The hardest piece of security that in my opinion is educating your consumer base.

Interesting. So what kind of job is entry level security, and what does it entail? I remember asking in a post some months ago. But I don't remember getting deep into what exactly happens day to day in a security job.

 

[Lexluethar]

Well starting off a company unless extremely small generally won't hire someone for a security specific position with no experience. Generally speaking, security positions entry level will be a NOC or something similar. A lot of people i talk to that hold security jobs did not start off in security, they were a network engineer or system administrator and slowly moved into security.

So your first IT job probably won't necessarily be security related, but you will gain valuable experience that will net you a security job in the future.

 

[Remeran12]

Well starting off a company unless extremely small generally won't hire someone for a security specific position with no experience. Generally speaking, security positions entry level will be a NOC or something similar. A lot of people i talk to that hold security jobs did not start off in security, they were a network engineer or system administrator and slowly moved into security.

So your first IT job probably won't necessarily be security related, but you will gain valuable experience that will net you a security job in the future.

That's what thought. I currently hold a position as an IT technician and have held it for about a year and a half. I was also an IT intern for 6 months and before that I was a web room aid in college for 6 months. Would that be considered as experience when applying for a sec position? I'm really thinking about moving on from my current job to something closer to security.

 

[Lexluethar]

Really depends on the company and position.