1. Career
in
Information Security
Anant Shrivastava
http://anantshri.info

2. Agenda
• What is Information and Security.
• Industry Standards
• Job Profiles
• Certifications
• Tips

3. What a person wants in life
• Money 
• Fame   
• Nirvana 
We will talk about first 2 

4. How to be wealthy ?
Have Rich Parents
Marry a Rich Spouse
Win the Lottery
Become a Successful Black Hat Hacker (Live
life underground)
Work as a White Hat (this presentation)
YOU WILL MAKE YOUR OWN CAREER!
Others may help, but it’s ALL ON YOU!

5. Do I have your attention now.

6. Why Information Security?
• Increasing regulatory compliance
• Requires organizations to adopt security
standards and frameworks for long-term
approach to mitigating risk
• Evolving and emerging threats and attacks
• Continual learning of new skills and techniques
• Convergence of physical and information security
• Accountability between information security
professionals and management falls on several
key executives to manage growing risk exposures

7. What Is Information?
• Information is collection of useful DATA.
• Information could be
– Your personal details
– Your corporate details.
– Future plan’s

8. What is Information Security?
1) Access Controls
2) Telecommunications and Network Security
3) Information Security and Risk Management
4) Application Security
5) Cryptography
6) Security Architecture and Design
7) Operations Security
8) Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning
9) Legal, Regulations, Compliance and Investigations
10) Physical (Environmental) Security

9. What Next

10. Explore : – Industry Standard
• Knowledge – nothing beats core concept
understanding
• Certification – helps in proving your exposure
as fresher.

11. Explore : Types of Info-Sec jobs
• Ethical Hacker
– Vulnerability Assessment
– Penetration Tester
• Forensic Investigator
• Security Governance
– Auditor
• Security Administrator
• Secure Developer

12. Explore : Type of certification
• Security Analyst – CEH, ECSA, OSCP
• Development – SCJP, MCSE
• Server Security – RHCSS
• Auditor – ISO 27000 lead auditor

13. Clarify : Information Security

14. Clarify : Information Security
• keep the bad guys out
• let the trusted guys in
• give trusted guys access to what they are
authorized to access

15. Clarify : Security Triad

16. Security Triad

17. Clarify : Secure Developer
• A Developer who is aware about security
issues.
• Developers now are classified In 3 major
category
– Thick Client Developer
– Thin Client Developer.
– Kernel or driver developer.
• If you can exploit it you need to patch it.

18. Clarify : Security Administrator
• Server Administrator with background into
Security.
• Skills Required
– Server Hardening.
– Firewall configuration.

19. Clarify : Vulnerability Assessment
• It is the process of finding possible exploitable
situation in a given target.
• Target could be Desktop/ Laptop, Network,
Web Application, literally any device with a
processor and motive to achieve 
• Skill Set
– understanding of target architecture.
– Eye for details and thinking of an exploiter.
– (Optional) Programming for nessus plugin.

20. Clarify : Penetration Testing
• Next Step to vulnerability assessment.
• Here the target is actually evaluated against a
live attack.
• Skills Required:
– Programming : C / C++ , Python, Perl , Ruby
– Understanding of an exploitation framework.
• Metasploit
• Core impact

21. Clarify : Forensic Expert
• The post – mortem specialist for IT
• Responsible for after incident evaluation of a
target.
• Skills
– All that’s needed for VA/PT.
– Understanding of forensic concepts not limited to
data recovery, log evaluation etc.

22. Clarify : Auditor
• Reviews the systems and networks and related
security policies with regards to Industrial
standards.
• Skills Required
– Understanding of compliance policies
• HIPPA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOX and many more.
– Understanding of ethical hacking concepts and
application.

23. Commit : How to gain Knowledge
Spend first few years mastering fundamentals
• Get involved in as many systems, apps, platforms,
languages, etc. as you can
• Key technologies and areas
• Relevant security experience
• Compliance/regulatory/risk management
• Encryption
• Firewalls
• Policy
• IDS/IPS
• Programming and scripting

24. Commit : Technical Skills Required
• LEARN the Operating System
• LEARN the Coding Language
• LEARN Assembler & Shell Coding
• Learn Metasploit
• Learn Nessus
• Learn Writing exploit for Metasploit
• Learn writing scanning plug-in for Nessus.

25. Commit : Soft Skills Required
• Learn Presentation skills.
• Learn business language. Management likes to
hear that.

26. Commit : how to gain certificate
• Attend Training
• Learn, understand and apply the concepts in a
controlled environment.
• Take exam when you have confidence.

27. Commit : how to practice
• Set up a lab at home.
– Physical Lab (best)
– Virtual Lab (second Best)
• Keep yourself updated subscribe to
Vulnerability DB.
– Practice regularly on a secured home lab.

28. Commit : First job
• Lower rungs of the tech ladder
• Unpaid Overtime is Expected
• When offered company training – take it
• Expect to make Mistakes
– Learn from them

29. THINGS TO REMEMBER

30. Things to Remember
• Learn to Question Everything.
• Keep yourself up-to-date.
• Be expert in one field however, security
specialist are more on advantage if they
develop generalist skills.
• Security is extension of business needs and
should support it.
• Form group of like minded people.

31. HACKER GOT HACKED
• Keep your system and network secure first.
• Avoid publicizing about being “HACKER” till
you have practiced enough and feel confident.
• Self proclaimers are not seen with good eyes
in security communities.
• Your work should speak and not your mouth.

32. Work and personal Life

33. CERTIFICATIONS

34. Why Certification is good
• Nothing beats the first hand Job Exposure.
However
• When you hit roadblock, certifications helps

35. More on Certification
• Passing a Certification exam says that:
– You have the minimum knowledge to be considered for
certification (at the time of the test)
OR
– You are very good at taking tests.

36. Industry Certifications
• EC-Council
– CEH, ECSA, CHFI ,ECSP and More
• ISC2
– CISSP
• Offensive Security
– OSCP
• ISACA
– CISA and CISM

38. Any Questions