Just finishing up week 1 of my GSEC recertification. It's actually been a lot of fun, but I find I'm being distracted once again by the "fun" parts of information security...penetration testing. I've been using BackTrack4 as an attack platform, and I'm really very pleased with all the tutorial and virtual labs set up by other pentesters to hone the craft. I'm planning to post more about pentesting and the tools I find useful in future posts, but for now I need to stay focussed on the GSEC so that I can get this exam over with soon.
I've developed a study regimen that breaks down the 6 books by number of pages needed to complete each book in a week, giving me a target exam date of November 6th. Based on week #1, this schedule is incredibly aggessive. I'm working at being better about *not* reading the stuff I know already and reading thoroughly the information I don't or am foggy on. For instance, I spent a good amount of time on decoding frames with tcpdump - it's something that, if you don't use it every day (or even every week) you are going to lose it quickly. I'm surprised how much I enjoy picking apart frames and packets in hex, though. The inner geek in me comes alive!
Lastly, the amount that I've lost since the last exam is prompting me to develop a personal improvement plan for myself that will include working through these labs as well as the CCNA labs a little bit each week. The intent is to keep my breadth of knowledge and then to focus in on more specific technologies as my career grows. Again, I hope to post more about my plans and lab scenarios more as the weeks unfold.
But tonight, I'm done for the week and going to bed. Tomorrow my twins turn 5 years old, and I intend to spend the evening doing important things, like playing Star Wars Legos and Playmobile Dinosaurs...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Motivation, self-discipline, avoiding distractions
It's been a while since my last post. The summer has been full of activity just as I knew it was going to be, and as we enter the traditional "end-of-summer-weekend" for millions of children across the USA I'm finding myself struggling to get motivated for my next career task. Funny how this seems to happen regularly.
I've been certified by the Global Incident Analysis Center since 2001 in Security Essentials. My certification expired this past August, and I have purchased the recertification exam materials and one shot at the exam. The course is a 40-hour bootcamp that is a mile wide and perhaps more than an inch deep, but doesn't really create "expert" status in any one technology. I typically enjoy this stuff...
But I find I'm lacking in motivation to start or continue when I do start. I have audio copies of recent classroom lectures by Dr. Eric Cole (who, by the way, is an excellent teacher and brilliant security expert), I have a copy of the class books. I have a nifty linux boot CD that provides all the tools I need to perform the work. All I'm missing is the motivation to get up early or stay up late to do this.
My problem is that I am loathe to give up even a minute of my family time. We like to spend time together and do things together. As it is, I only get about 2 hours with my kids every day (if that). I have learned and believe that spending small amounts of "quality time" with my kids doesn't provide the relationship I desire with them. I find that to produce the sort of heart-bond with my kids that I feel is necessary requires a "quanitity of quality time, coupled with constant presence during the regular moments." I think it's important to be there for my kids foundationally in their lives as opposed to being an occasional special moment.
So with that, my time to study and practice is limted to after the kids' bedtime and before I go to work. I'm searching for ways to discipline myself to do this work during that time. Blogging about my geeky studies was good during the CCNA, so I just may attempt that with the GSEC. I also need to remind myself that providing for my family is just one of the ways in which I love them, and at times it needs to take precedence. The danger here is that my financial provision has a tendency to overtake everything else and I justify it by thinking that I'm doing all this work "for them." In reality, I gain a lot of satisfaction from my work, and I do a lot of this for me. I will need to balance that and keep it in perspective. (I lean on my lovely wife for assistance here...)
Lastly, my study room is a mess. I have legos, CD's, guitar parts, cables, books, magazines, and all other sorts of things stacked up around me that take my eyes off the goal. In a sense, this blog post is a distraction. But sometimes I just feel a need to regroup and gain perspective and getting it in writing helps. I have a couple techniques that I've recently learned, like the "(10+2)*5" and "Ultradian Sprint." I'll start using those and probably blogging about their effectiveness.
The bottom line is that I have a goal that needs to be accomplished, and while it's not exactly what I feel like doing right now, it needs to be done. It's time to get to work, both metaphorically on this recertification and literally for the day, so I'm signing off.
More to come...
I've been certified by the Global Incident Analysis Center since 2001 in Security Essentials. My certification expired this past August, and I have purchased the recertification exam materials and one shot at the exam. The course is a 40-hour bootcamp that is a mile wide and perhaps more than an inch deep, but doesn't really create "expert" status in any one technology. I typically enjoy this stuff...
But I find I'm lacking in motivation to start or continue when I do start. I have audio copies of recent classroom lectures by Dr. Eric Cole (who, by the way, is an excellent teacher and brilliant security expert), I have a copy of the class books. I have a nifty linux boot CD that provides all the tools I need to perform the work. All I'm missing is the motivation to get up early or stay up late to do this.
My problem is that I am loathe to give up even a minute of my family time. We like to spend time together and do things together. As it is, I only get about 2 hours with my kids every day (if that). I have learned and believe that spending small amounts of "quality time" with my kids doesn't provide the relationship I desire with them. I find that to produce the sort of heart-bond with my kids that I feel is necessary requires a "quanitity of quality time, coupled with constant presence during the regular moments." I think it's important to be there for my kids foundationally in their lives as opposed to being an occasional special moment.
So with that, my time to study and practice is limted to after the kids' bedtime and before I go to work. I'm searching for ways to discipline myself to do this work during that time. Blogging about my geeky studies was good during the CCNA, so I just may attempt that with the GSEC. I also need to remind myself that providing for my family is just one of the ways in which I love them, and at times it needs to take precedence. The danger here is that my financial provision has a tendency to overtake everything else and I justify it by thinking that I'm doing all this work "for them." In reality, I gain a lot of satisfaction from my work, and I do a lot of this for me. I will need to balance that and keep it in perspective. (I lean on my lovely wife for assistance here...)
Lastly, my study room is a mess. I have legos, CD's, guitar parts, cables, books, magazines, and all other sorts of things stacked up around me that take my eyes off the goal. In a sense, this blog post is a distraction. But sometimes I just feel a need to regroup and gain perspective and getting it in writing helps. I have a couple techniques that I've recently learned, like the "(10+2)*5" and "Ultradian Sprint." I'll start using those and probably blogging about their effectiveness.
The bottom line is that I have a goal that needs to be accomplished, and while it's not exactly what I feel like doing right now, it needs to be done. It's time to get to work, both metaphorically on this recertification and literally for the day, so I'm signing off.
More to come...
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