I am looking to get a job in the computer security field. Since my background is in computer programming, I thought I would go for a development job in this field. There seem to be some opportunities. However the open jobs seem to require background in some topics I am not familiar with. To me that just means I need to study up.One thing that the jobs like you to have is some certifications. In the past I have never been a big fan of certification. That is because a lot of times it just meant somebody without experience crammed to pass some certification test. However now that is probably exactly what I need. The certifications usually listed are CISSO and Security+. I think I have heard some colleagues say they had CISSO. But I don’t even know what Security+ is.
Some of the skills needed for development positions are generic. For example, a job may call for experience with Java, J2EE, Service Oriented Architectures, Networking, Linux and POSIX. These do not appear to be specific to the computer security industry. Unfortunately those are skills I do not have work experience with. That is ok. My plan is to bone up on my web development skills anyway. So I think I can take care of some of that knowledge.
Other skills required for development positions were very specific to the computer security industry. To tell the truth I have never used these technologies. They include Netscape Security Services, digital signatures, and symmetric/asymmetric cryptography. Well I have the web and Google at my disposal. It is time to bone up on these topics. I will share what I find.
