Need Help from the experts

[thegreendude]

I have a bachelor of science in mathematics, and i have burned myself out teaching.  I would like to come over the computer security world, really interested in CEH, but i have no idea about my next step.  I've looked into Master's Degrees, certifications, and I have no idea what route to take.  I would say I'm fairly knowledgeable in the fields of HTML5, Javascript, Python, and beginning knowledge in MySQL and C++.   Have used backtracker, and built my own web pages.   So what is my next step..........................  Thank you for your time

[cd1zz]

It's a pretty big field, what are you interested in? Just to name a few options....

Pentesting, forensics, incident response/handling, security operations, security audit, research.......

[ajohnson]

I think this is the first time I've heard of someone trying to get into InfoSec to avoid burnout

It seems like your current knowledge/skills would work well for some type of web application position, but you will need to get familiar with server side languages as well (PHP, ASP.NET, Java, etc.).

It's difficult to go right into a security role with no prior IT and/or development experience, so you would probably be better off trying to land a more general position and then work your way into security over time.

[Grendel]

With a math background, have you thought of getting into the data encryption arena? There are need for skilled programmers that need properly integrated / written encryption.

[thegreendude]

With a math background, have you thought of getting into the data encryption arena? There are need for skilled programmers that need properly integrated / written encryption.

What would I have to do for that field?

[thegreendude]

With a math background, have you thought of getting into the data encryption arena? There are need for skilled programmers that need properly integrated / written encryption.

What about a Master's in Cybersecurity?

[MH@773r]

I feel your pain. Not a mathematics expert, I've been creating web-based training for a large global PC hardware company for 13 years, and recently went into training SaaS applications for a different company. But in the background I've developed an insane curiosity for security. Not sure if I can start a different career at this age (turning 50 this year) but I'm going to do it anyway. Goal is to attain the CEH cert to start at base level as a pen tester, and have only self-paced video training programs from Career Academy and CBT Nuggets, and still a complete sub-noob at the moment but learning as quickly as I can.
I don't want to do it to make a ton of money, I want the challenge. Anyone start this as late as I am? I feel like almost everyone I talk to has been doing it since they were kids. Big late start, still gonna do it though.  Has anyone here taken the Hacker dojo material, and if so what did you think of it? Considering purchasing for access to the test lab. Also, if anyone knows of a good tutorial on setting up a test lab using VMware Workstation I'd greatly appreciate a link. Thanks! And good luck greendude.

[3xban]

With a math background, have you thought of getting into the data encryption arena? There are need for skilled programmers that need properly integrated / written encryption.

What would I have to do for that field?

Crunch many numbers and work algorithms   create ciphers and all sorts of mathlete stuff I'd imagine.  There is a free Stanford course available online, starts up this week if you want to sign up:

https://www.coursera.org/course/crypto

It is an intro course and 6 weeks long, not much pre-reqs for it.  If you have some programming experience as well as knowledge of discrete probability theory, it would help, but not required.  But hey it's free, so why not give it a go.

With a math background, have you thought of getting into the data encryption arena? There are need for skilled programmers that need properly integrated / written encryption.

What about a Master's in Cybersecurity?

As for that, well it is going to cover a number of topics.  From UMUC's catalog, it looks like a 36 credit program.  That means you will learn a little about a lot.  It may give you a base to jump from but may not give you specific skills to go further.  And unless someone else is paying for it (current employer maybe), then there are much more inexpensive ways to gain some of this general knowledge.