Welcome to the forums!

That's a decent book to start with. Be sure to review other posts in the greetings forum, especially this one.

There are a lot of other, "How/Where do I get started?" posts, so search around a bit. Let us know if you have any specific questions after that.

Linux is definitely important.

Gentoo has a pretty steep learning curve. It's a good experience to go through setting up a system, but it can be difficult to maintain if you're not really into tweaking every minor setting. I personally don't have the time for it. Try installing KDE or Gnome on the server version of Ubuntu if you like the distro sans end-user clutter. There are similar Debian-based distros, such as Mint, as well.

Grab VMware Player or VirtualBox and load up a Linux distro. Try and stay in full-screen mode as long as you can and get acclimated to the environment. It's any easy and unobtrusive way to really dive into it.


That's kind of an odd article. I didn't think there was that much controversy over the various learning styles. These are the statistics I've typically gone by (the percentages obviously aren't perfect, but that order is roughly what I've observed in myself and others):


http://www.psychotactics.com/blog/art-retain-learning/

The CCNA certainly provides a good foundation for any security role. It's also great for helping you land a full-time IT position, which seems to be a current goal of yours.

Have you looked at TrainSignal or CBT Nuggets CBT-based training? That might be a cheaper alternative to classroom training while still providing the same style of training. The only downside is you can't directly ask questions, but you can always ask here or at one of the many other IT forums. You'll miss out on hands-on exercises as well, but you can build your own CCNA lab for a fraction of the price of a course (~$300-500).

I think a class is overkill for this cert. There's a lot to it, but it's really not that bad. The breadth can be a bit overwhelming for someone seriously diving into networking for the first time. You should be fine with CBT > Written Resource > Lab Activities > Practice Exam.

I recommend grabbing this as a supplementary resource as well: http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Portable-Command-Guide-Edition/dp/1587201933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346982662&sr=8-1


Pay for the exam and set a date at the onset. Create an actual deadline to target if you find yourself having difficulty staying motivated.


I don't know of anything free that's on-par with SANS, but there are plenty of free resources to keep you busy for the foreseeable future. Here's a few to get started with:

http://www.securitytube.net/ (especially the MegaPrimers)
http://www.irongeek.com/
http://g0tmi1k.blogspot.com/


Are you fluent in Russian and/or Chinese?

hello and welcome to this great forum
As i mentioned over and over i think its not a good idea to start learning hack directly, its better to provide some background first to have better idea about future lessons

networking background
i think its the first requirement which you need to learn because without having a good knowledge about networking you'll never understand what is server, how its work and so on so please be experienced in this field. here is a good book which make you learn networking very fast:

Sybex network plus fast pass

Virtualization basics
Virtualization gives you the ability to run multiple operating systems in same time and you'll need it for exercises and during real pentest. but Virtualization has some techniques and its necessary to learn. Here i provided some links for that:

http://www.amazon.com/Virtualization-Beginners-Guide-Nelson-Ruest/dp/007161401X

https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/

linux basic
i think a hacker without knowing Linux is nothing!! because Linux has great features which is necessary for hack. So you must learn one of Linux  pen test distro such as backtrack, back box and so on. but if your newbie i suggest you to learn ubuntu linux:

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Book-Benjamin-Mako/dp/0132435942

Create your own hacking lab
To do your exercises you cant attack to the real internet server because its not ethical. So here virtualization can help you . you can easily create some virtual computer with different O.S. i suggest you to install these operating systems:

Backtrack Linux
metasploitable
damn vulnerable linux
windows xp sp1
De-ice.net

that book which you bought is great but i also recommend this book too:
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Penetration-Testing-Creating-Learning/dp/1597494259

Man as you see the route is soo long so be patient and again practice is the key of everything

Goodluck

Cyber.spirit


     

Cyber.spirit and chrisj thanks for the advice! I'll look into many of these things soon!

And I bought the basics of pentesting book because I don't know how to do it, hence, I need the basics. I understand basic security concepts and abstracts, but have had little "in-the-field" experience with them.

But PenTesting sounds like something I might be able to do as a job, maybe even a career of sorts. Not sure what I want to do as a career right now, but I do want it to be in the vast IT industry

That is a good little book to start with and depending on what area you interested in there are loads of other great reading resources to purchase.

I would say read books and try do some course if you can afford them they help you learn quicker and also give you something to put on your CV.

good luck

No offense, but am older than high school age (nearly 26), so I don't believe the HHS will work out for me, plus, there is almost no information on how/when/where theses ISECOM 'events' take place, their price, etc.

It seemed interesting until I tried to find out if it was an online thing, or you had to go to an on-site training, or if it was offered specifically to high school teachers/students....

EDIT: Okay, it's geared specifically at students still in public school....nevermind. Thanks anyway!

I'm 40 and I could learn a lot there, I think.