Journey Into Cybersecurity – Conversations with Cyber Newcomers, Part 2

Journey Into Cybersecurity – Conversations with Cyber Newcomers, Part 2

In the second portion of this blog series, we are sharing member stories from those with four to six years of experience in cybersecurity. We asked members about their entry into cyber from their first positions to today and what advice they have for newcomers. Do you have advice for incoming cyber professionals? Weigh in on the (ISC)² Community conversation “How to start a career in cybersecurity?


Brian Bresnahan, CISSP, Senior Security Analyst | United States


Prior to migrating to a security role, I programmed voice and video systems for 15+ years. I also had extensive data center experience with generators, UPS, cabling, electrical design, network redundancy, fiber rings (SONET) and call routing for call centers. In my first cybersecurity role I worked for a LEC and served in their Security department to detect toll fraud and network intrusion.


My advice for those interested of joining the cybersecurity field is to apply your past experiences as they should relate to security because security encompasses multiple fields. Everything from writing to network design, to legal issues. It impacts everything so, bring your background to a security role. Often “security people” lack legal backgrounds, or don’t understand operations. You really need a broad understanding to migrate to security effectively. I had a strong operations background which enabled me to see consequences or lack of redundancy or security issues.             


When I think about my career transition, I think I would have gotten out of operations sooner than I did and informed hiring managers that “I am already dealing with security today.” Do not underestimate past experiences as they may relate to secur ..

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