How Your Organization Can Get Started with Information Security

Information Security it is one of the most in demand skill sets in all the technology industry.

• By Anthony Coggine
• Jul 06, 2018

Infosec, or information security, is the study of IT systems for the purposes of developing, or bolstering, antimalware strategies and software. Now this may not seem exciting, but in fact, it is one of the most in demand skill sets in all the technology industry.

This is because it correlates to the issue of cybersecurity which, if you have reading anything at all recently, is the source of most tech anxiety and has been since certain attacks on major corporations leaked the information of over 300 million people.

Growth in security breaches

The breaches of Equifax, Sony and Target will not be forgotten anytime soon due to the severity of the damage and the lack of response. We wonder, in exacerbated tones, why these companies do not do more to protect our data when we entrust them with our most sensitive data to support them. The answer is, pointedly, not an issue of will but an issue of can’t.

Now there were many things that each of those affected companies could have done to mitigate damage and tell their customers, but, the fact remains that we are still floating in uncharted waters when it comes to the internet. It is, for better or worse, the wild west and we must do everything we can to protect what is rightfully ours and what is granted by those we trust.

There is only really one thing that can be done to establish a safe environment for our digital lives and that is that we must learn to protect our data ourselves. Aside from personal protection, the Infosec industry is growing at an alarming rate and, if one were so inclined, could make it a lucrative career if it was found to be of greater import than anticipated. In this article, we are going to explain how to get started in Infosec for personal use or for the development of a career.

Start at home

Though you may not consider it, the best practice you can get is at home working on strengthening your local networks and machines. Start off simple, configure your router to only be searchable by registered devices and turn off broadcast mode so no one else can see your network through a simple SSID scan.

After this you may want to configure a custom antimalware service like Malwarebytes to make yourself familiar with the different terminology and strategies employed by professional software. Learn everything you can about UDP and TCP/IP so that referenced network identifiers make sense and so that you can properly identify packet transfer origination and destination.

Implement stronger passwords

Of course, we cannot forget to include the almighty password. Passwords are the most incredible things if used correctly. Obviously, you should have a strong, unique password that is over 8 symbols long and that consists of alphanumeric variables.

Then, it is recommended, that you encrypt your file system with numerous strong passwords, each one referring to a separate part of your file network. Be careful that you are not automatically uploading files or data to online gathering sites as they are not particularly well defended against the volume of attacks they receive each day.

The number of attempts, by the way, is increasing at an astronomical rate due to the increased availability of internet connected devices so be aware and fix your at home security now.

You may begin your adventure down the road of information security and decide that this may be a great way to make a living which is not wrong and is a great career choice moving forward into the future. To that end, there are things you can do to begin your journey to becoming a cyber security leader.

First, after having mastered your at home network security, you may want try working for a local or small business. It may not seem like a challenge, but in truth, small businesses are the most likely to be harboring viruses that could swipe customer data or eliminate root systems. This would make you a part of a Blue Team, or internal team, a Blockchain-based tech team but you could also pursue a life of pen testing.

Pen testing and beyond

Now pen testing, or penetration testing, is the process of trying to break into a known network using whatever tools at your disposal to make any problem areas with the internal team rise to the surface.

It’s an incredibly useful tool and the best way to test for vulnerabilities in your known networks. Truly, whichever way you go, you can’t go wrong with information security as it barrels its way through the industry trying to bring order to the most chaotic tech we have.