Greetings

I'm currently at my last year in high school (I think, translated to the American school system), and I'm planning to study something called Science in Information Security at Gjøvik here in Norway when I’m finished. This degree supposedly has to do with computers and information security, and I in theory this should suit me fine.  I don’t think there are any equivalents to this degree in Norway, but theres probably one somewhere else in the world. The school in Gjøvik claims to be famed for their work in information security and has supposedly been doing great things with biometrics and the like, and I’ve heard people say it’s a great school even slightly renowned.

Anyway, I chose this degree because it seemed to me to be pretty much a Computer Science degree, but more related to security and to be something that would lead me to a career in information security, and I also thought it would be a better than a degree in Computer Science and Computer Engineering for starting working with information security. But I could of course be wrong, so that’s why I’m asking here. 

Would studying something like Science in Information Security be a good way to start a career in information security or are there other degrees that are actually more preferred? I’m planning on taking the degree because I’m interested in computers and security, and I also actually know a guy who works with information security and he have told me a lot about infosec and it seems interesting. But how does information security differ from things like Computer Science? What Computer Science skills are applied in information security and which are not? And how is information security and math? I’m sorry if all this seems a bit incoherent, but I’m a bit confused with all the choices and the subjects and field overlapping each other. So I would be very happy if people could tell me if my plan above is a good one for starting working with information security? I should maybe be a bit more precise about what exactly I want to work with in infosec and I think penetration testing and system administrator things related to security seem like the most interesting. And last, is the pay any good compared to for example a programming job? 

Many thanks in advance
- Green

Martin Mckeay interviewed Mike Murray and Lee Kushner over on the Network Security Podcast regarding their DefCon talk about this exact topic.

Highly recommended for anyone just getting started.

Happy listening