Another thank you for the write up. I will probably grab this for my Nook to read through after I finish the other two books I am currently reading.

I went through 401 last year with my Windows 7 laptop and I dd not have any issues at all and worked through most of the labs. I did not get through all of them due to work load and all but as long as you read up on the tools and have a basic understanding of what they do you will be fine.

Just wanted to echo what some of the others have stated. To do a good job in security you really need to understand how operating systems and protocols work and work together.

Someone I met before took a cut in pay to work first level helpdesk and studied his butt off the entire time. That job taught him what troubles to expect and what he was learning (mainly Cisco classes) brought in the networking knowledge that he needed. After three years he was making double what he had before, had a couple of certs under his belt, and working on a couple of others.

And yes, learn some programming. I have not done much in... well, a long time and if I do not change that it will hold me back. Once you start getting a solid understanding of networking and the basics of security things will make more sense as you move deeper into the security realm.

While having a goal to work toward to is great, be sure to keep your mind open to what is going on around you. I originally wanted to do PenTesting and some of the really neat stuff that others talk about but I have ended up making the biggest impact on the administrative side. While not as "glamorous" it is necessary and gives security a very public face within an agency/business.

Another book to add to the list (IMHO):
Counter Hack Reloaded by Skoudis and Liston

Read it after going through the Security + material.

Good luck and let us know what ends up working for you.

<I know, I know... late to the party.>

Welcome and I really enjoyed the posts but I think if I told my boyfriend that he was going to be God... I would never get him off the pedestal.

mallaigh,

I did just that with a lot of persistence and a bit of luck (of the good variety) thrown into the mix. I was initially hired to do basic hardware upgrades and help out with some user and network support. I knew nothing about networks at the time but quickly learned the environment. Cleaning up after infections led me to looking into security and it grabbed my attention. Every evaluation I had after that I asked for security training and the possibility of a security position. I had strong arguments for both. It took a long time (years) but a restructure exposed me to upper management. I volunteered for projects and learned how to do some technical writing. A 40 page instruction manual wowed a number of VIPs.

In the year that I refer to as "The year of rotating supervisors" someone finally listened to me and I was given the chance to speak with someone in security. The phone conversation was less than a few minutes. I admitted my weaknesses up front and was hit with a single question: "Why security?" I told this person that I was going into the field and I could do it for them or for someone else but that was the path I had chosen because I wanted to do it. A gamble for sure and it came up aces for me.

Now my career is finally going where I wanted it for so long. I do not have certs (yet) or anything beyond a two year degree in business. However, I let people know where I wanted to go and that I was going to get there.

Take the opportunities as they come up and let your supervisor know that you want to move into a security related field.

Good luck.

Some really good information in here and I am glad I stumbled back into this forum today. Thanks everyone.

I am a bit late on this but thank you for the review. I am new in the world of information security and am trying to quickly play catch up. One of the two books I am currently working my way through happens to be Hacking for Dummies. I carry it around in my travels and it seems to raise a few eyebrows but then mentioning ethical hacking as a possible career choice tends to do that as well.

I do like that the book points you in a direction rather than going into infinite detail. Let's face it, with this type of publication one is not looking for the ultimate answers to everything but a way to start a process. The book has made me re-examine a few things and introduced me to other items I may not have thought about it (or have much experience with such as databases).

Thanks again for the review.