Hii,

I have done B.Tech (Computer Science)..presently i am working as a Technical support engineer(for XP and Vista) .I want to make my career in the field  of security but I am confused as how to start my career in security field as i dont have any experience in this field .Please guide me(from JOB perspective and considering present market scenario) How I can enter in Security field?

Thanks to all.

you have to start getting experience.

-whether that experience is in your lab

-reading security books and taking basic security courses that readily available

-volunteering various places to do security work for them

-finding a security mentor to help you out

-taking a pay cut and taking a junior position on  security team to learn

in my experience if someone is truly passionate about security they can get a junior position based on that (passion) and having the background knowledge (cant get around that) available in books and courses.  what most people dont have time for is to teach you all the basic crap you can learn on your own.  show up with the "book" knowledge ready to do the keyboard time and you should be able to grab a security position.

my 2nd question would be why you think you want to do security and your end goals?   you should be able to articulate that to any employer. 

There are much much "easier" jobs in IT and security involves a mindset and dedication that not everyone possesses.  Merely "wanting to learn hacking" is usually not enough.

hope that helps

   Thanks..  Ketchup  , ChrisG  and awesec

   I think you all are right ....I will definetly work passionately on your advice.

Hii ,

  Ya! I know i have to work very hard ...but can anybody just advice me regarding programming languages on which i have to emphasize more or languages which  are must to know ?
  Moreover, regarding certification...is it necessary to get CCNA certification before going for any Security Certification.(As most of my frnd told me that it is necessary to get networking certfication before going for Security Certification).
    If yes... then can you advice me if CCNA is good or i have to go for any other certfication?
  If no...then can you advice me ...as for which certfication  i should go....
   Actually ,  i think while going through various books and materials ...i also target any perticular Certification and just prepare accordingly...

 Ya.. i know u all may be thinking that I am going too fast ..but for me it is necessary..

  Frankly speaking...actually one thing I didn't told you is that I am on the verse of
loosing my job...most probably within this month...
 
  So, I just want to do something which will  provide me a job in the field of my interest .
 
   Ya .. I know it will take some time but i am ready to give my fullest for  my passion...

   Thanks to all ..
   

 Thanks awesec for your great advice....
 
  Actually i have  knowledge of Visual Studio.Net  and C but only basic level.So, I think it is better to go for  C, C++  and make them more strong.Moreover I think Python would be a better  scripting language  to learn . As per your advice  I think it is better to go for Security+ by CompTIA(or if additional then Network+  instead of CCNA as Network+ is vendor independent).

   Ya! now I think  i can sharply focus on them and prepare accordingly.
   
   
 
 

I wouldn't call an MCSE entry level and CCNA specialization level. 

Would Security+ be entry level also would you rate the other Ec-council certs as any good the ECSA or CHFI

In my opinion, certs don't mean much more than you can pass a test.   I would stick with the C++ materials you are reading.  Good programming understanding is very important to the information security field, in my opinion.

Security+ is somewhat of an entry-level cert, but I think it's a good one.  I think it would be a good start if you ever decided to go after the CISSP.   I can't comment on ECSA or CHFI since I don't have either of those.