thinking of going into security...........
but got no clue about wat the job is like
any one can help?
I said it's a crazy field, and I meant it.
The security field is huge. What do you want exactly?
There's IT Security, Computer Security, Network Security, Web
Applications security, etc...
And in between all these, you're expected to know disaster
recovery, backing up methods, etc.
Some may go into a different but related field - Forensics.
IT Security is very closely related to management stuffs. IT
policies and rules are derived based on the company's needs.
Setting up of permissions, management of the different computers,
backing up, restoration, etc all belong to this field.
Computer Security is quite like IT Security, but is quite
different in lots of ways as well... there's a lot of overlapping
between the both.
Network Security... as its name implies, will be mainly about
networks. Securing the wired network, wireless networks (if any)
are your main concerns. Of course, backing up is included, but is
related to networks too (in terms of network backups or SAN).
Software Security... depends on what you do. Some are doing web
apps, some are doing softwares for the different platforms.
Forensics is another field, but how you're going to link it to
security depends on what you do. Most people are working for the
government...
In forensics, you won't be surprised to see topics on encryption
as well...
All in all, you basically need to know about everything to be in
this field, thus it's crazy. Most are specialized in one area or
another, but are knowledgeable in the other fields as well, such as
networking and programming.
I don't know of anybody who steps into the security field
straight away because this field talks about experience mainly. A
CEH cert will get you nowhere. Neither will a CISSP. Companies want
proof of your expertise, more than just someone who knows
theories.
Go to some libraries, read up on the different computer topics.
There are way too many to talk about, and all of them will overlap
in a lot of areas, but are specialized as well.
A last note. If you're working in a small company, your job
scope is bao ga liao. If you program the software, you're
responsible for the software security. If you designed the
company's network, you're responsible for its security.
In a big company... it's different though... main focus is on
securing, but you will assist the developers to fix any issues
found... thus the need for one to know their stuffs very well
(networking, programming, web apps, database, etc).
It's certainly a crazy, fun and challenging field. 