Realizm

I'm basically a newbie. I don't really know anything about hacking or anything in depth about programming, but I am having something of a growing interest in network security.


What kind of courses should I take to gain some knowledge about this? I'd like to know more about securing networks and ensuring that information can not be viewed by other people or only by those who I'd like it to be, etc. I don't even know if you really call this network security..

I would like to know more about tracking hackers and monitoring for them, though. I'm sure there are courses that focus on network/computer security somewhere, though..

Sorry for my ignorance on this subject.

Thanks

mr.montreal

there are some courses given at universities or collges under continuing education for that type of stuff.



if u wanna learn on ur own though, you could aim for a certification, where you buy a book, read it, do exercises, and then go to an exam online at a test center. something like network +, or ccna , would be a good introduction to basic/intermidiate networking. then you could go for something more security oriented.....i cant think of the acronym atm.



otoh, if u just wanna learn some basic hacking, theres a good book, "hacking windows 2000" and the sort, where the authors try to go over some of the valnurabities hackers usually exploit.


..

Pragma

Well, there's two ways to look at it:

(1) Do you want to secure your network and keep your life mostly free of hackers/etc.?
- or -
(2) Do you want to get up to the level so that you can go find a job doing newtork security administration?

(1) Yea, the big red Hacking books [Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed, Hacking Exposed, Hacking Linux Exposed] are excellent places to begin. I'd recommend checking out a few websites like SecurityFocus to get a grip on the basics. Taking classes is probably a bit overkill and getting a certification definitely is.

(2) Certifications are your friend. First, start with the advice above if you know nothing - then aim for the CCSP certification (it's not stricly network security oriented, it's more "Cisco Network Security", but it's damned good to have - I'm working on mine). I'd say learn anything you can about firewalls, Instrusion Detection Systems, VPNs, etc. Let you brain be a sponge, and allow the internet to soak into it.

Above all else, no matter which route you choose: Experiment. Theoretical knowledge gained through book learning is effectively useless. Find an old PC at a yard sale, slap a copy of Linux or BSD on it, then find another old PC and slap a copy of Windows on it. Then try to hack the machines, try to secure them, try to hack them again - examine the log files, etc. Try to figure out what traces hackers would leave, how to keep an eye out, etc.

If you want to know more, let me know and I'll be happy to give you a listing of some of the good books I own.

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irateplatypus

i'm a student majoring in computer network management. currently i'm taking a class called "principles of security I" that would probably be right up your alley.

this morning, our instructor set up a wireless access point and then challenged us to access the network w/it. at first it was easy, then he killed the SSID broadcast, then put in some WEP encryption (had to break out the airsnort). one of my favorite computer classes so far.

our textbook is "Security+ Guide To Network Security Fundamentals" the book does a pretty good job, so i guess i can reccomend it. but honestly, i haven't looked at many others to have a good perspective on what else is out there.

call around to local schools to see if they offer similar courses. even community colleges sometimes offer things like this for cheap tuition rates. if you live in Oklahoma (doubtful), i can at least provide info for one school's program. lol, take care.

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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

~ Winston Churchill

Realizm

Heh, I am close to Oklahoma.. may move there sooner or later.

I would actually like 2, Pragma. To have the knowledge and expertise that would give me even the possibility of getting into that field would be great. As soon as I scrap up a couple hundred dollars I'm going to get network+ and a+ out of the way. Then going to move onto CCNA.

The idea of getting two computers to screw around with sounds good. I suppose I'l l need some level of programming knowledge as well though, won't I? (I don't want to be a script kiddie who uses other people's things..) Working on learning perl/java at the moment..

Thanks for the input guys

mr.montreal

how old are you?
why not go to university? !

Pragma

Learning C - if you're going to do a lot with network security tools - is an absolute must. And I don't mean C++ - you need to learn gritty, low-level C. Also x86 assembly is very useful.

Most universities don't have a lot oriented at network security. They might have one or two classes, but it's really not a lot. What you need to do for the most part is just go out, find books, set up computers, and experiment on your own. It's the fastest teacher.

__________________
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Fearless_Hyena

All good advice so far, esp. from Pragma, and I highly recommend getting 2600 Magazine regularly and subscribing to the mailing lists bugtraq and NTBUGTRAQ. It's important to understand how the people who are going to try to exploit your network think. http://www.securityfocus.com is a good site to follow too.

These types of sources will keep you current while learning the basics from the courses and books etc. that others have suggested.

Pragma

A few other good sites on that note:
PacketStorm Security
NewOrder
Phrack

Realizm

Been kind of away last few days but will check these out, thanks guys.

As for how old I am.. I am going to a university currently and am majoring in Network and Telecommunications Management.

This really isn't enough for me, so I figured I'd ask people what their thoughts were.

cheese

Check out your local tech schools. Technical collages are the ones that specialise in this sort of stuff. hell you can even take just one security class and still go to your regualr collage