(His videos are often very lengthy and beating around the bush, so here is a short summary)
- Learn basics of IT, Hardware, Software, OS, Networking
Like CompTIA A+, Networking+, Security+ Certificates (they have educational material, no need to do the test)
- Learn how big security is, security domains
How they work together
- Try Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Focus on what you want to do and what you can
- Hobby vs. Career
Separate identities to prevent burnout. You shouldnt work your hobby all the time, I guess
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Work with tools to increase productivity (and use ads lol)
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Join the InfoSec community
Learn from another, projects, conferences
- Take one step at a time
I don’t know about the others, but when I got A+ certified years ago, it was pretty worthless. I did it in high school, got pretty much a perfect score, and learned practically nothing. May be worth doing if you don’t have access to a personal computer, but you’d learn way more installing Linux or BSD on a couple of systems and doing some self-hosting.
Unless you really enjoy it.
I self host all kinds of stuff with moderately complex configuration, and I find it relaxing after a day of writing code (I’m a software engineer by day). Cybersecurity is just learning to follow best practices and trying to break your own stuff.
Once you feel comfortable admin-ing something relatively complex (say, something w/ TLS, reverse proxies, and a VPN) and you have a day-job somewhat related to Cybersecurity, then you should look into the InfoSec community and read along with how exploits and whatnot work, and harden your systems against the various types of threats.
But honestly, there’s really no substitute for formal education. If you like this stuff as a kid, consider getting a 4-year degree in IT. If you like this stuff as an adult, maybe do a master’s program and try to land a relevant job.
I can imagine that, never did any of those certificates.
Selfhosting vs. writing code is different. But yes for sure if there is some kind of separation that may be fine.
For me personally, being on a computer after a workday on a computer can be nice, but can also be too much and cause stress over time, without me noticing it.
Absolutely. I’m a software dev by day, and a hobbyist admin by night. And cybersecurity involves a bit of both, but honestly, the coding is largely just scripting, which I totally think can be picked up on the side if you’re logically inclined.