Difference between revisions of "Security"

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Security with computers is its own profession. In an honest world, none of this would be necessary as people wouldn't trespass onto other people's computers. By using electricity to access someone else's computers, you are physically (literally trespassing) on their property by virtue of electrons on a wire. It is a sin. It is evil.
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Security with computers is its own profession. In an honest world, none of this would be necessary as people wouldn't trespass onto other people's computers. By using electricity to access someone else's computers, you are physically (literally trespassing) on their property by virtue of electrons on a wire. It is a sin. It is evil. That is with regards to Offense.
  
 
I prefer to focus on architecture of electronics / computers and how things work more than security. But it's impossible to avoid it completely, so I see some of it in my work and study.  
 
I prefer to focus on architecture of electronics / computers and how things work more than security. But it's impossible to avoid it completely, so I see some of it in my work and study.  
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The final reason to avoid computer security, is that it is miserable work, and there is always someone that holds higher keys than you. You can't beat the surveillance state.  
 
The final reason to avoid computer security, is that it is miserable work, and there is always someone that holds higher keys than you. You can't beat the surveillance state.  
  
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If there is a reason to do security, it is because you can get rich. But that's greedy, so count me out. And there is high demand for computer security researchers, because there is always high demand for soldiers. You can't be the world's number one military without having the world's best computer security forces. Such is modern warfare.
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If there is a reason to do security, it is because you can get rich. But that's greedy. And there is high demand for computer security researchers, because there is always high demand for soldiers. You can't be the world's number one military without having the world's best computer security forces. Such is modern warfare. The only viable reason to do computer security these days is to reinforce your own defenses. I.e. vulnerability management. Or to remove malware from computers, which is a type of antivirus job.
  
 
All that being said, here are some resources on security, since someone asked me.
 
All that being said, here are some resources on security, since someone asked me.
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With any 'computer security consultant' the fact is that it will take 5-10 years of study before you become competent and you will probably need to know a little bit about all of the above (i.e. be somewhat of a generalist). This kind of a profession, where you are guaranteed a high paying income is something you have to seriously dedicate yourself to.  
 
With any 'computer security consultant' the fact is that it will take 5-10 years of study before you become competent and you will probably need to know a little bit about all of the above (i.e. be somewhat of a generalist). This kind of a profession, where you are guaranteed a high paying income is something you have to seriously dedicate yourself to.  
  
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I would say it's probably easier to get a job paying six figures in security than it is to get one paying six figures in programming, but I would also say that programming is more rewarding as it allows for humility and learning, and not just the pursuit of money. Though, I don't do computer software or security, so what do I know.
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I would say it's probably easier to get a job paying six figures in security than it is to get one paying six figures in programming, but I would also say that programming is more rewarding as it is more about building functional tools, rather than patching them or trying to break them.

Revision as of 04:31, 30 October 2025

Security with computers is its own profession. In an honest world, none of this would be necessary as people wouldn't trespass onto other people's computers. By using electricity to access someone else's computers, you are physically (literally trespassing) on their property by virtue of electrons on a wire. It is a sin. It is evil. That is with regards to Offense.

I prefer to focus on architecture of electronics / computers and how things work more than security. But it's impossible to avoid it completely, so I see some of it in my work and study.

One thing to keep in mind with computer security, is that if you become a full time security consultant in any type of a government position (either directly or indirectly - as a consultant), you are essentially part of your nations military. And this means other nations may attack you (either in war or terrorism). Modern warfare is going to be largely computer based, and this means that computer security employees are soldiers. Being a soldier means you are a target. This is another reason, not to participate in computer security as a full time occupation. Computer security researchers will be prime targets if there is ever a World War 3.

The final reason to avoid computer security, is that it is miserable work, and there is always someone that holds higher keys than you. You can't beat the surveillance state.

If there is a reason to do security, it is because you can get rich. But that's greedy. And there is high demand for computer security researchers, because there is always high demand for soldiers. You can't be the world's number one military without having the world's best computer security forces. Such is modern warfare. The only viable reason to do computer security these days is to reinforce your own defenses. I.e. vulnerability management. Or to remove malware from computers, which is a type of antivirus job.

All that being said, here are some resources on security, since someone asked me.

Computer Security Job Paths

Online computer security job path images are 80% nonsense. They are general and vague. They repeat too much.

Here are some potential roads in the Computer Security Industry:

  • Hardware Researcher
    • Power Supply / IO Glitching to beat encryption (see https://theamphour.com/552-shouting-at-chips-with-colin-oflynn/)
    • RF hacking and security (HackRF and related Radio devices)(GNU Radio)
    • BIOS hacking (https://www.coreboot.org/)
    • Hardware Hacker by Bunnie Huang https://nostarch.com/hardwarehackerpaperback (he covers a number of different items which you could deep dive into, e.g. onboard SD Card microcontrollers. Less job paths, but things/tools to have in a portfolio).
    • TV Satellite Security - If you can find a way to get free TV from satellites, beating the existing encryption, they will hire you to improve it. Somewhat obsolete with the internet. (I can't find the amp hour episode at the moment, because search engines are trash).
    • Anything with regards to Internet of Things hacking


With any 'computer security consultant' the fact is that it will take 5-10 years of study before you become competent and you will probably need to know a little bit about all of the above (i.e. be somewhat of a generalist). This kind of a profession, where you are guaranteed a high paying income is something you have to seriously dedicate yourself to.

I would say it's probably easier to get a job paying six figures in security than it is to get one paying six figures in programming, but I would also say that programming is more rewarding as it is more about building functional tools, rather than patching them or trying to break them.

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