BSides Austin 2018

Information security (infosec) is a very broad field that may seem to have a high barrier of entry from the outside. If all you know of infosec is from exaggerated news or security conference press coverage, it may seem that many of the engineers and researchers in the fields are as much magicians as they are scientists. That’s rarely the case. STEM fields have many different specialities that each have their own skill sets and focus. Practitioners form a base set of foundational skills and then dive deeper into specialized skills depending on the focus; infosec is no different. This talk intends to break down the field of infosec into some high-level fields of expertise and break down the skills needed to pursue one of the many types of professional jobs available in the industry. This will reveal foundational skills that are helpful no matter which field of infosec you might focus on, as well as some recommendations for next-steps to enhance your field-specific knowledge.