Drink Coffee, Then Post: Greetings!

My previous post is roughly an accurate representation of how I’d like to conduct this blog. I will keep posts mostly related to my current projects, and will more than likely be IT-focused.

For those who don’t know, I’m a network analyst from Midland MI. I am CCNA R&S certified, and am currently studying for certifications in the Information Security track. I’m an IT guy.

I have no plans to finish a Bachelor’s degree in Networking/InfoSec, as much as I’d love to. But that won’t stop me from learning and keeping relevant in the field. I enjoy working, but I enjoy progressing even more. Since security is my passion (I break into things, and I make things harder to break into), I’m going full-steam on two industry-recognized credentials that will be both challenging and rewarding.

OSCP & CCNA SEC #

First up is the OSCP from Offensive Security. This is, as the name goes, geared toward offensive security practices - penetration testing, as it’s called. You learn how to learn about a network, find its weak points, break in and access sensitive data (passwords, financial information). In the labs it’s all about learning how and why, so that in the real world, we can run these “pen-tests” on real companies, to better secure their networks. That’s what I’m into.

But of course I can’t just be into one thing - I have to be all over it! So, the second major challenge I face is the CCNA Security cert. This is what I think of as defensive security, to coincide with the OSCP. Where the former teaches how to break into things that have holes in them, the latter teaches how to patch the holes before someone else gets in. Granted, the CCNA Security is focused on the actual network devices as opposed to end user devices, so it’s not a one-to-one comparison. Regardless, both come into play when in a networking capacity - or so my experience has told me thus far.

I expect to sit for the OSCP test early in August, and the CCNA Sec later that same month. Let’s just say I have a lot of studying and practicing to do.

Reddit #

On top of certs, I spend inordinate amounts of time reading through posts on /r/networking and r/netsec to keep up with current events and interesting troubleshooting situations others experience. You may see me there or know me from there for the occasional comment or question.

That’s what I’ve got on my plate so far!

TL;DR: I’m an IT guy. This blog is to keep track of my projects, currently OSCP and CCNA Sec. Help.