Where it Started

As of recently I have fallen more and more into the rabbit hole that is Cyber Security. This started back in 2018 when I was in a job that I was no longer fond of at all so I started looking around for other jobs that were in a completely different industry and skills I might need for types of jobs I wanted. This lead me to start learning the coding language, Python.

Like all my hobbies and interests, I dove head first into this and started to research different ways and places to learn. This can be my downfall sometimes where  I am spending more time on researching the different ways to learn instead of just doing the thing I am trying to learn. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and read some blogs before finally jumping into purchasing classes on Udemy and signing up for sites like SoloLearn, Codewars and Codecademy. I definitely learned a lot from all that but can whole heartedly say that I am still very much a beginner.

In 2019 I did find a job in a different industry, just not in tech. I obtained a job at a brewery that I really liked and that actually slowed down my learning a lot. Fast forward to 2021 and I am still at the same job and still enjoy it but becoming a father for the second time (yay!). Leading up to and while on paternity leave I starting looking into ways I could help support my family by making money on the side or getting a remote job to stay home with a baby or just a better paying job in general. This lead me to look back at Python and what kind of jobs I could actually get if I really kept learning it. Some of the jobs, like Data Scientist, would pay a lot and could probably be remote but it looked like it would take awhile to achieve the qualifications needed to get into that field. Looking back I'm sure I could be there by now if I was dedicated but at the time I was looking for something faster. In my research for what I could do with Python I found David Bombal's YouTube channel where he talks about using Python for network automation but also has other videos on topics like ethical hacking.

Where I'm At

Ethical hacking and cybersecurity were not completely new to me, being on the more tech side of YouTube, but for some reason this really grabbed me. Once again I went all in on researching everything about these topics.

I now have over 50 bookmarks of sites for classes, blogs, tools, and YouTube. I'm on TryHackMe, HackTheBox, PentesterLab, XSSRAT's Ethical Hacking Guide, Web Security Academy and Hacker101. I have two courses for getting the CompTIA Security+ certification and a whole Notion board for what to learn. I have Twitter and ten Discord channels just to follow Infosec and Cybersecurity industry people. I've watched 100's of YouTube videos on how to get into cybersecurity, what certifications to get, videos on those certifications, ethical hacking, bug bounties, pentesting, malware analysis, Linux and more. I've listened to every Darknet Diaries and follow 5 other cybersecurity podcasts.

I know most people that read this don't care that I got into all that but my point is that the overarching topic of Cybersecurity is vast and it has been hard for me to focus on just one thing and just really deep dive into that.  Now I have started this blog to try to do just that.

Where It's Going

My goal for this is to lock down what I actually want to do when I get into cybersecurity and my journey getting there. This blog is mostly for me to keep me on track, have somewhere for potential employers find out more about me and teach myself better by having to recap what I have learned. If I happen to also help other people find a way into cybersecurity that is also a plus! To start, on the next blog I'll be going over what route I'm looking at taking and how I have come to that conclusion.

Thank you for reading, cheers!