Cyber Security is Very Interesting…

Tim Sumalinog
Sep 4, 2018 · 5 min read

A short Cyber Security blog from a Waipahu High School Student

Quick Intro

Cyber Security is filled with an abundance of interesting topics that intrigue me. It offers great jobs and covers many topics that I will enjoy learning. It really changed my perspective of the cyber world. It is a part of the future that I will be proud to be in.

Cyber Security Careers:

Link: Image of what an Information Security Analyst looks like

Information Security Analyst

My first choice of an ideal Cyber Security job would be an information security analyst. This would be my first choice because it conducts a lot of penetration tests. This is relevant because I feel that I will enjoy the attacking side of cyber security more. I feel this way because by learning how to hack you also learn how to defend. This career requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and requires at 5 years of Cyber Security experience. It also requires a certified information systems security professional (CISSP). Some skills that are needed are analytical, problem solving and ingenuity. Overall, this career looks really interesting and it doesn’t have too much requirements then I thought it would.

Information Technology Specialist

Link: Image of a IT Specialist fixing hardware problems

This career interests me because this career involves a lot of things I learned from my academy. This career does require knowledge of computer hardware, networking, programming and Cyber Security. I have experience and at least some knowledge for all of those except for networking. In addition, It involves knowing how to fix problems. I personally love fixing problems because to me they are like mini games. An information technology specialist requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and at least a 3 year experience in the technology field. Some basic skills that are needed are communication, leadership, decision-making and organization. This is a career I would love to have because with this career I would feel like a computer geek that knows it all and I will be able to help many people with their technology issues .

Topics That Interest Me

Oh boy, after taking a look at the topics and diving more in to Cyber Security I feel that there is a lot of things I want this class to cover. There are just so many to choose from and I feel that it is going to be so hard just to pick 3. Well here goes…

How to use Kali Linux

I brought this up the question, “Are we gonna use Kali Linux?”, at the start of the school year and I was quite happy when I heard the words yes. Kali Linux as far as I know is an operating system design for hackers. It has a bunch of tools and programs that are pre-installed that makes hacking 10x easier. It consists of password crackers, pen test tools and reverse engineering tools.

This is one of the topics that I really want to learn about because it saves a lot of time with its pre-installed tools. Kali Linux also has a lot of tools for penetration tests will is one of the things I am looking forward to learning in this class.

Penetration Testing Companies

As stated earlier, I am quite eager to learn how to preform penetration tests. A penetration test is a simulated cyber attack that tries to find exploits in security. This is really important for everyone, especially companies. Companies hire people to preform these penetration tests so that they can beef up their security. If a company gets hacked or DDOS they lose ship loads of money.

Link: An image of Penetration Test Methodology

So comes the question: Why am I interested in this? When it comes to Cyber Security, the attacking side peaks my interest. The attacking side of Cyber Security just seem more fun compared to defending. In the future, when cyber attacks become more frequent, companies would want to ensure that they are safe so they will hire many people to try to penetrate their system. This means more job opportunities and more experience to develop in the cyber security field.

Passwords and learning how to crack them

Link: An image of logging in? Anyways it looks cool

Ah, the all mighty password. Everyone has one for pretty much everything. Social media, games and accounts that people access daily. It keeps things secure and its the key to many vaults.

I am interested in learning how to crack passwords because it will be a useful skill in the Cyber Security Field. It may be necessary when preforming penetration tests and when trying to implement stronger security. From what I learn last class, people have simple passwords that are easily cracked in a few minutes. This is really interesting in general. The process and the thought of being able to crack passwords.

Other Topics

One other thing I am interested in is learning Python. Along with wanting to be in the Cyber Security field, I also want to be an app developer. Learning Python will be a great addition to my arsenal of programming languages. I also want to learn social engineering and convincing people to do things because it is a very cool and useful skill. Manipulating people is dangerous and it can be viewed as unethical but there will be times where it may be necessary to do the right thing.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade