EH-Net

Hello all I am very new to EH-NET and to the forums. I am doing alot of research now as the big corporate machine has decided to outsource the work I used to do overseas due to cheaper costs. I have been for the last 9 years working in a technical support role for ITV or interactive TV, supporting digital cable environments in the US and abroad. The environment I have been working is has been a Unix based environment supporting Linux and Solaris systems. I have a sound background in networking and operating systems working issues involving remote connectivity and operating system maintence. My goal now for a while has been to transition into IT Security.

My concerns right now seem to be where to start and how to take advantage of the experience and knowledge I currently have and use it to benefit IT Security. Prior to working in ITV I did NT support and managed numerous Compaq and IBM servers from a hardware and software perspective for a major Insurance company. I have been reading steadily the recommendations of many other forum entries regarding training and certs. Right now I posess and have had for years an A+ certification as well as certification as and MCSE in Windows NT4. I have been trying to certify in LPI during the wee hours in between support calls. I have been interested in GEAC certs but cost and time have prohibited me. I have seen and have been reading about http://www.elearnsecurity.com as well as the Live hacking site. I have materials to study for CEH but where to start to create the greatest opportunity to enter the IT Security field.

There seems to be alot of knowledgeable folks and I am looking for first some guidance on how to make use of my real world experiences in corporate environments and possibly some recommendation on which certs right now would allow me to migrate into an IT Security role.

Thanks to all in advance

Welcome to the forums!

That amount of *nix experience seems impressive. Have you considered the RHCE? That might be more up your alley than the LPIC certs, and it's probably the most prestigious certification in the *nix world.

Windows NT4 is dead and gone (at least as far as resumes go -- I still see those from time to time in production, but even the MCSE is starting to look dated -- it might be time to go after an MCITP).

Do you mean GIAC, and not GEAC? Google queries return a bunch of miscellaneous results for GEAC, but I'm not really familiar with them. Are you referring to the SANS certs?

I think the CEH is a good place to start. Whether you obtain the actual certification is a matter of personal preference (IMHO), but you'll definitely need that level of knowledge (and well beyond) for any serious security-oriented career.

Definitely stay in touch. We're here to help, and we love seeing others progress in their knowledge/careers :D

Dynamik thanks for the input. Yes the "GEAC" would be the SANS certifications. RHCE is a good goal I will look at what that would cost in time and effort to obtain. I enjoy working in the *nix world and would like to stay in that field but understandinf Micorosoft technology is a definite plus. Whats the general opinion of the elearnsecurity training? Is it still too much in its infancy to see if it is a good choice? I appreciate the advise and thank you for replying.

There should soon be a review published about eLearnSecurity here at EH-Net.

That being mentioned, it'd be nice if that review were published prior to the discount expiring (April 30th).

Got the review yesterday. Going through editing process as quickly as possible. I'll try to have it live today or tomorrow. Fingers crossed.  ;)

Don

Cool, thanks, Don :)