Coldblackice
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2010
- Messages
- 1,152
Any [H]'ers work professionally as some type of network security "hacker"?
I'm considering this as a potential career area, but wanting to get a gauge on a bit what 1.) the general experience is like, and 2.) average wages.
Is there much demand for these types? What's the day-to-day like? Is there a general consensus on whether it's a very financially viable career?
Subjective and varied, I know, so no worries if specifics can't be afforded. Even something along the lines of, "My buddy's in the industry as an X, makes about Y, and for the most part feels Z about the job/career", etc.
EDIT:
A bit of my background for reference:
I'm considering this as a potential career area, but wanting to get a gauge on a bit what 1.) the general experience is like, and 2.) average wages.
Is there much demand for these types? What's the day-to-day like? Is there a general consensus on whether it's a very financially viable career?
Subjective and varied, I know, so no worries if specifics can't be afforded. Even something along the lines of, "My buddy's in the industry as an X, makes about Y, and for the most part feels Z about the job/career", etc.
EDIT:
A bit of my background for reference:
Great point.
I consider myself a moderate programmer -- I've been hobby programmer for years, with the ability to read/write in many languages (C++/Java/PHP/etc, ability to pick up others quickly) and understand most programming concepts (but nothing advanced by any means).
I've done a bit of study over the years in computer security and exploits, like buffer overflows, XSS, SQL injection, etc. But I wouldn't be able to get hired anywhere with it.
I've also done a bit of learning/study in assembly, reverse-engineering, and rootkit/virus/malware analysis. Although I'm not employable in this, I quite enjoy the process of reverse-engineering (or attempts thereof) and the arenas of virus/malware/rootkits (analysis).
My problem has always been picking one area and honing in on it through specialization. It's so hard to (for the most part) pick "one", and more or less push the others aside, even though they're all interconnected in some form or way.
But I've always felt that, because I wasn't Mitnick-level by 9/13/16/18 years old, that I've missed the boat by far, and could never hope to catch up with any of the industry's experts in any of the individual arenas. I have this mindset that I'd always be far behind anyone/everyone else who was in before me.
Then there's also the hangup of not having an idea what the industries are like in terms of salaries and work. I'll occasionally come across an article or forum post talking about how in-demand assembly coders, reverse-engineers, network intrusion, etc are, and how much they're able to make, and how they only continue to become more and more in demand. But I never know if these things are true, or just one-off opinions in some part of a sector.
Last edited: