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On a related note, here's a quick guide to infosec in the defense industry: 1. Graduate from any school with a degree in CS/CE/Math/Physics. 2. Solve one crac

On a related note, here's a quick guide to infosec in the defense industry: 1. Graduate from any school with a degree in CS/CE/Math/Physics. 2. Solve one crackme in your free time. 3. Apply for all entry level jobs at GENERIC DEFENSE CONTRACTOR that involve keyword "ida pro." Prepare to move to a deserted town in Florida or the DC megalopolis. 4. Die on the inside when you spend years working on unbelievably complicated problems that do nothing else except get a government employee promoted. Have everyone else in the news/online tell you you're evil. 5. Spend several months working for a government employee that is amazing at what he or she does. (part of the 20% of employees doing 80% of the work) 6. Watch as that employee is immediately promoted and replaced by someone else who doesn't care. 7. Try to transition to non-defense and discover that for all the talk about "cyber!!!!" and infosec in the news, all anyone actually wants is an IT professional that took a one week course at Blackhat on exploitation/has meaningless certificates/knows how to buy and install Nessus products and Palo Alto products. That has to be 90% of the job postings out there. In all seriousness, if you do think you want to go down the government route, stick to a dedicated research institution or try to get a federal job. There are a very, very small few defense contractors that truly do good work, but they burn too bright and are eventually snuffed out by corporate greed or insane management.

linkregister 10y ago
Ha ha ha. That was right on the money. Though it seems a bit too pessimistic. And CCOEs mostly have really boring projects. Raytheon SI, Mantech, and Booz Allen Hamilton have some decent contracts; yes they are in Melbourne and Annapolis Junction (where else would they be in the U.S?). It's hard to get involved in the smaller firms, because DoD wants to keep the best employees from going to these contractors to do their current job for 2x the pay. I'm biased, but I think the better way is to start federal, get into a cool 3-year rotational program for poverty wages, and then go contractor once you've paid your dues for a couple of years. This is, of course, pretty damn niche for infosec. Most infosec folks I've met in the industry have no exposure to this.
- eieio123 10y ago
  I think that's decent advice. If I was young again, I'd just apply to one of the many security engineering internships out there and skip defense work. Those didn't exist when I was in undergrad. Federal jobs are pretty awesome everywhere except extraordinarily expensive cities. Unfortunately, a good percentage of them are based exactly there. :) (Also, a bit easier to admire the benefits and stability they offer when you're older. Early 20s me would laugh and then apply to whatever popular corporate grinder was hiring for prestige and 6000 hour weeks.) Grass is always greener.

linkregister 10y ago

Ha ha ha. That was right on the money. Though it seems a bit too pessimistic. And CCOEs mostly have really boring projects. Raytheon SI, Mantech, and Booz Allen Hamilton have some decent contracts; yes they are in Melbourne and Annapolis Junction (where else would they be in the U.S?). It's hard to get involved in the smaller firms, because DoD wants to keep the best employees from going to these contractors to do their current job for 2x the pay. I'm biased, but I think the better way is to start federal, get into a cool 3-year rotational program for poverty wages, and then go contractor once you've paid your dues for a couple of years. This is, of course, pretty damn niche for infosec. Most infosec folks I've met in the industry have no exposure to this.

eieio123 10y ago
I think that's decent advice. If I was young again, I'd just apply to one of the many security engineering internships out there and skip defense work. Those didn't exist when I was in undergrad. Federal jobs are pretty awesome everywhere except extraordinarily expensive cities. Unfortunately, a good percentage of them are based exactly there. :) (Also, a bit easier to admire the benefits and stability they offer when you're older. Early 20s me would laugh and then apply to whatever popular corporate grinder was hiring for prestige and 6000 hour weeks.) Grass is always greener.