Am I too old for a career change into security?

[mrvore]

I am 42 and just start my career in info sec and I love it.  The only advice I can tell you is that do what you love to do. If you love networking then do that or if you love starring at lines of code then do that.  But I love security, not sure why but I seem to have a passion for it.  When I started I just cuoldn't stop.

[imij0607]

wow - too old??
dood...

i fell of my ladder when i was 33?? lol...anyways at the time i had no college whatsoever and relied on bull work to pay my bills.  by the way - single dad with full custody and no child support...try that on for size.  well i decided just to do it...just go back to school looking forward and never looking back.  best choice i've made in a long long time.  i now speak at conferences, i'm an active member in the community (when i can get out), and working in security...

i agree with the above post - do what you love, and you can never go wrong...

[don]

OK... I'll chime in. Since I was in grade school, I was playing with computers. Anyone remember 808x processors, the Osborne "portable" computer or The Source? At 30 I was a partner in a software company, but I didn't get my first certification until after that when the tech and telecom bubbles burst. Since then I earned MCSE, Security+, CISSP et al. It wasn't until I was 34 that I started EH-Net. On a personal note, I started martial arts at 40, I'm now 42 and a brown belt. If I keep going (and I plan to), I could earn black before the end of the year... that would make me 43. I didn't get married until 32 which makes my 10th anniv this year. BTW - I'm a stay-at-home Dad.

You are the decisions you make, and you can be whatever you set as your goals regardless of age. I have more goals than I can ever accomplish in a lifetime, but that will never paralyze me into achieving none of them.

Take this as you will, and I hope for the best possible future for you and all EH-Netters.

Don

[bahr]

Wow, I didn't expect so many answers, thank you all a lot. All those replies have really motivated me! I don't know why, I just felt like I was to late somehow doing all this, and really didn't know where to look and how to get started.  I'm also amazed by the amount of useful info to be found in these forums!

[chrisj]

I have found that those of us with the best security understandings are those of us that started in something other than security and moved in to it later.

With all the universities, colleges, and community colleges training people in IA / computer security one can tell the ones that did more than security classes. (Or maybe I'm just biased because I run a IA Club at a local Uni, and seeing the kids in the program, acting like kids, while the older students get it more).