Thanks for the post Don!  Great information.  I hope everybody starts requiring this.  MONEY!!!!!   

Hmmmm... seems cool but I am not sure I want all my activity logged by Microsoft.  Although it does give me an idea about maybe setting up my own web server for the same purpose.

Command line unless I don't have a choice.  I hate GUI's that make me search to find all the options that I want.  Give me a man command with all my options laid out before me any day.

I really feel for you.  That is some boring work but somebody has to do it.   

I don't have any samples of these two types of malware but the Offensive Computing Website is a good place to find or request examples.  You may already know of this site but if not hopefully it will help you with your research.

http://www.offensivecomputing.net/

Good Luck!

Thanks for the information Don!  I was just asking a friend of mine about this and he wasn't sure if .NET would work in Linux.  Now we both know.

Very true!  I forgot they do golf.  LOL!

That does seem strange that the AF would only be recruiting people with a degree for the new Cyber Command.  If they are only accepting college graduates then how do they get any enlisted people in the command?  (For those that don't know you have to have at least a bachelors degree to be an officer in the AF.)  And let me tell you now that if you already have your bachelors degree and you go into the AF make dang sure you become an officer because that is the cushy life.  How do they get any work done if they don't have any enlisted people?  All officers know how to do is sit around and look pretty.    

On the serious side though if you are really interested in getting into the Cyber command I wouldn't let that one recruiter dis way you.  The AF consists of probably 90% enlisted of which most don't start with degrees.

A good alternative to full time military duty if you can't or don't want to sign up for that is the National Guard.  I was in the AF National Guard for 6 years and it is a great way to get experience with IT or anything for that matter.  Not to mention the college benefits are nearly as good as full time active duty military.  Well that is my recruitment speech for the day.   

This is also an excellent book on Ethical Hacking.

"Counter Hack Reloaded"
http://www.amazon.com/Counter-Hack-Reloaded-Step-Step/dp/0131481045/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212445175&sr=8-1

Maybe replace "Ethical Hacking" board with "Penetration Testing" and put "Network Hacking", "Social Engineering" and "Web App / Database Hacking" underneath that?

I am reading the Camel book right now and so far I would highly recommend it.

Also a quick question regarding the "Learn 'em all" strategy I was wondering if it is really necessary to learn both Python and Perl?  Or do you think it is good enough to just pick one and go with it?  I do see a benefit in learning both C and C++ but Python and Perl seem so similar that I am finding it hard to justify in my mind learning both.  Although this is from a newbie perspective of Perl and Python programming so maybe I am missing something.

Welcome to EH Net!    

Looks like you have a good certification track planned out.  It actually looks just like mine, LOL!  So far it seems to be working for me, hopefully it will work well for you also.  Good luck on your CISSP!

I think a programming forum here on EH net would be a great idea.  While I am not a programmer myself, I see myself getting drawn to that area if I want to succeed at being an expert in the IT Security field.  So I would love to have an area on this forum to discuss my short comings with people already knowledgeable  in security programming.

I really like that question Chris!  You can tell how much they know simply by how deeply they could explain that simple command.  I am going to have to remember that one.