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Agreed. I work in infosec as well, and I think the author of this article is confusing time spent vs. passion for something. Coming from software engineering,

Agreed. I work in infosec as well, and I think the author of this article is confusing time spent vs. passion for something. Coming from software engineering, security is no different than any other technical profession: if you don't love what you do, you probably won't be very motivated to learn, and thus you probably won't be very competent. You need to have the passion. This doesn't need to manifest itself in 80 hour work weeks. There's a whole contingent of "infosec ninjas" that think there is some type of bushidō bullshit going on, where if you aren't constantly training for your pentesting job like it's a martial art, you aren't capable of doing your job. In my experience, these people are often the most insufferable to work with and driven more by ego and power fantasy than the desire to tinker or craft. Security is part of my "lifestyle" just as coding is. I work on security-related stuff outside of work not out of obligation to practice infosec kata, but because I actually like it. Some weeks I don't do anything outside of work other than browse /r/netsec or HN; some weeks (like this one) I'm writing some tools for myself to make a code audit easier.

collyw 9y ago
It sounds a bit like developers who jump on every hyped up new technology without really having a reason.
Bartweiss 9y ago
The whole "80 hours a week" bit definitely seems to elide the difference between "working two full time jobs" and "being involved with the topic when you're off the clock". I think it's true that most passionate people will engage with their field more than 40 hours per week, simply because it's a passion. But hell - some weeks that could mean reading a good novel on the topic, with no direct value to your work. I keep up to date on a bunch of aspects of computing and mathematics because they interest me, but that feels completely different from working long hours and 'training' constantly. Turning "be interested in your work" into "put in 80 hours, train like you're in boot camp" seems like a silly way to act tough (and exclude people with families or hobbies from a field). Your point, actually caring about your field, seems much better.

collyw 9y ago

It sounds a bit like developers who jump on every hyped up new technology without really having a reason.

Bartweiss 9y ago

The whole "80 hours a week" bit definitely seems to elide the difference between "working two full time jobs" and "being involved with the topic when you're off the clock". I think it's true that most passionate people will engage with their field more than 40 hours per week, simply because it's a passion. But hell - some weeks that could mean reading a good novel on the topic, with no direct value to your work. I keep up to date on a bunch of aspects of computing and mathematics because they interest me, but that feels completely different from working long hours and 'training' constantly. Turning "be interested in your work" into "put in 80 hours, train like you're in boot camp" seems like a silly way to act tough (and exclude people with families or hobbies from a field). Your point, actually caring about your field, seems much better.