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Feets
Premium
join:2002-12-11
Hamilton, ON
 ·Cogeco Cable
| reply to taytong888
Re: Programming languages for IT Security
The people who are the best at their jobs in IT security and programming are people who understand at a fundamental level how the computer works.
ASM and C/C++ will get you "closer to the metal", so to speak, so they are a good place to start if understanding how things are working is important to you.
Higher level languages abstract away so much of how the computer works that you can write code with them never knowing what a pointer is, what the stack and heap are, or how the heck anything is happening under the covers. Hackers know all of this and exploit to do their dirty deeds.
You can learn Java, C#, VB, Python, Perl, Ruby, Delphi, whatever and make a lot of money writing apps, but if security is what you are interested, start at the bottom (ASM) and work your way up.
You don't need to learn x86 asm necessarily. Any CPU will do. Just do it until you get the concepts.
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ZOverLord
Premium
join:2003-10-20
Minneapolis, MN
| reply to taytong888
said by taytong888  :Hi, I am interested in an IT Security career. Which programming languages should I learn? Thanks in advance. Not sure of your education, age or current income, but this might be a good method.
Decide what Industry first. Say you choose banking. Might not be a bad idea to try to get a night shift operators position in a large bank.
While at first this sounds insane, you have a little more slack and free time at night, in some cases, to do some on the job programming while you work, maybe learn some report languages and so on for many platforms at once.
You get to know process, batch streams, and for many platforms at once, in large corporate data centers.
In other words, background processes.
Then apply for a Quality assurance position in that same company say sometime during the first 1-2 years there, if you did well as an operator, you would have a better shot already being there, knowing staff members for different areas and so on.
If you wanted to you could then try for a programing position. The nice thing is by now you would know what systems and applications appeal to you, and you would have many choices to pick from.
All this might seem like to long way to get somewhere, it could take as long as 5 years to pull it all off, but by the time you were finished, you would have a taste of some of the major areas, and would be very well rounded.
Then I would try for the security position. At the same company, or maybe even someplace else.
This assumes you are trying to do this from scratch, with minimal education in the field, a kind of get your foot in the door without the old "Come back when you have more experience routine".
Few people want to work nights, so sometimes, it's the easiest way to get on your way to an IT career.
Again, this would depend on how fast you want to climb the ladder, the more experience you have in as many areas as possible, the more your skills will be valued, both in full time and consulting positions for security.
There are other ways to do all this, but who knows, doing it this way, you may decide QA is better, in some ways Quality Assurance is a form of security, your testing new or modified systems and applications prior to going live.
It would be an interesting journey, and you would have a great edge in the future when your resume is laying on a table with many others who may be lacking prior experience in some of the areas above.
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m0d
join:2005-03-02
ireland | reply to taytong888
"find out if there's a way to know just enough in order to get in and succeed in the field, without becomning a security researcher."
sorry I dont think you can "short circuit it".. | |
taytong888
join:2005-06-20
Nepean, ON
| reply to Marilla
Hi Marilla,
Although I appreciate all replies, I like yours the most. I am already aware of other aspects of IT Security other than programming languages. My intention when posted the programming language question is to find out if there's a way to know just enough in order to get in and succeed in the field, without becomning a security researcher. I want to be able to update my IT skills just enough to avoid being "outsourced". | |
Marilla
I Am My Own Arbiter
Premium
join:2002-12-06
Belpre, OH
| reply to taytong888
To pile on with dave , I would say this; If you are looking into Information Security, and you want to concentrate on security as relates to development of code, then you really need to have a fairly broad range of programming skills (including Java  - more accurately, including whatever languages any prospective employer might need you to work with)
That said, I don't know if anyone specifically sets out to be "A computer security professional with specialization in programming language X". You might get a programmer who specializes in security-related issues, or a security professional with knowledge of programming in general.
What I would do in your position is find someone; a college counselor, trusted expert in your intended field, or other such mentor, who can get to know your strengths and desires here, and can also help guide you as far as your educational and professional options. It seems to me you are aiming yourself quite a bit narrow here; A security professional needs to be something of a 'jack of all trades' at times; systems administration, networking (from the physical to the application layer), software development and all sorts of other things. Naturally, you will likely specialize in some particular field to some degree or another, but to get started, you need a broad based education, IMO.
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m0d
join:2005-03-02
ireland
1 edit | reply to taytong888
C/C++ ASM.. and there is "no one single path" just that one is the one most take.. ^^ | |
dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
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| reply to taytong888
Why do you think you need any programming language at all? IT Security and Programming don't necessarily overlap.
Though, of course, I think everyone ought to learn several programming lanaguages.
The right choice is not Java though. | |
taytong888
join:2005-06-20
Nepean, ON | Hi,
I am interested in an IT Security career. Which programming languages should I learn? Thanks in advance. | |
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