I am currently unemployed (been looking for almost a year with no luck) instead of doing nothing I thought I might learn something new. I work on some coding projects for fun in the meantime because I love doing it. I went to school for computer engineering but I’ve always been interested in cybersecurity/infoSec I think its a good skill to have. I’ve been looking at courses that give you certification but I have no money (see unemployment). I’ve been mostly self taught anyways so I was wondering if you guys have come across any good books on the subject. A book you used as part of a university course you took or a book that helped you. I also feel like those courses with certificates barely teach you anything (especially the free ones). They feel like a bunch of checklists. I want to learn so I feel like a good book will help.

I have a part time job right now so I’m thinking I learn by myself then get enough money to get “officially certified” and move into cybersecurity cause software engineering only isn’t doing me any good in this economy.

  • pishadoot@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    I disagree with you about the degree, actually. A degree in compsci is a baseline in the tech industry, like certs. Not really on the security side, more on development. It depends on what they want to do and where they’re willing to move to, luck, etc for them to be successful. Overall bachelor’s degrees have gotten less valuable in general and compsci is not what it used to be, but it’s still a good foundation. Pair it with some CompTIA or CCNA certs and they’re off to the races if they want to be versatile, or they can go deeper into some code/architecture based stuff if they want to stay in development.

    The domain of AI isn’t cybersecurity, it’s data collection and data analysis. AI in its current form is laid on the foundation of massive quantities of data. Collecting, sorting, and cataloguing all of that in useful/indexable ways is the cornerstone of machine learning (AI).

    It’s hard to say where AI is going to take us in the next 10 years, but if your kids stay AI literate they should be pretty good. I hate Google but they have some of the best AI training on the market right now, so as much as I hate to recommend them as a source I have to be pragmatic and mention it if you’re going to recommend something to your kids for their success.

    I don’t really agree with your assessment of where AI currently is at. It sounds like you’re probably underestimating the current capabilities. The problem right now is we don’t know how to control it, not that it’s not capable enough. On top of that the pace of acceleration is insane so even if you’re on the mark and I’m not, the field will have shifted so far in 2-3 years that your position will no longer be correct and mine will be then. But, I do agree that cybersecurity isn’t really “the next domain” of AI, even if it’s integral to it like it is with all computer stuff.

    I don’t think they’d go wrong getting into security, it’s not going anywhere any time soon. If anything it’s going to continually grow with technical advancements and expansion of application.