Infosec is an exciting field and statistics are constantly showing a high demand for individuals with security-centric skills. Whether you’re a student who just graduated, an IT professional pivoting to security, or someone looking for a career change, one ever-present variable is the challenge to transition into infosec. Bypassing the HR Firewall discusses the reality of transitioning into infosec, the challenges involved with that transition, and how to overcome those challenges.

Hiring is hard. Hiring in tech is often harder because we tend to focus on concrete, measurable skills and often ignore or devalue soft skills since they’re not as easy to evaluate. As the gatekeepers of an operation, many security roles face soft skills challenges that other engineering disciplines do not.

Individuals should attend to learn ways to directly improve the quality of your interview process and the new hires that will become your colleagues. Managers should attend to understand how to better facilitate improvements to your Hiring Pipeline and ensure every hire is a Great Engineer.

Leaders are shaped and challenged constantly. Patience and perseverance are what make them considered great. Our community needs mentors and mentees badly. Also, each needs the other and picking the right pairings are important.

How do you become a mentor, a mentee, or both? We’ll discuss how to pick the right role and person. We’ll take a look at how volunteering can present both opportunities and obstacles to becoming a good leader. We’ll look at the cost of burnout and timing for moving on to the next role.

Whether your current staff members are handing in their notice, or that candidate you’re excited to hire is turning down your offer you’re feeling the Information Security skills gap. With unemployment in the security industry at such low levels, the pandemic is reducing the candidates on the market. The skills gap is getting bigger, not smaller.

Candidates are getting more offers and your security team are getting multiple calls and emails offering them the world. You need to make sure that you understand the drivers of why people start looking for new opportunities, as they are the same reasons that candidates accept positions.

Cybersecurity leaders are beginning to recognize they need a new way to cultivate expert talent. Using apprenticeships as a foothold, they can bridge the workforce gap for a much broader population of Americans and bring in a new talent pipeline. To show an example of how this is currently being used in the US workforce, we will look at Purdue University’s Cyber Apprenticeship Program (P-CAP), which provides an implementation path for successful apprenticeships. P-CAP blends traditional models for a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree and is built on the NICE workforce framework. In the program, apprentices can earn a degree while they are employed, gaining simultaneous on-the-job training and mentorship through an employer coalition.

Note: This presentation has content for Salute! attendees.

Transitioning from the Military isn’t simple, but we make it more complicated when we think we are the only ones who do it. The Military has trained us to be flexible and responsive in our leadership and work ethic, why can’t we use those skills when we leave the Military? Preparing for your transition and being your own advocate is not only essential but common sense. Transitioning to an area where the Military or Federal Government is not prevalent is not a hindrance but an advantage if you make it that way.

We’ll work with you in real time on your resume language, and you’ll get group feedback and support on your job hunting situation. We’ll also tell you about the job hunting dogma you need to avoid. Some of the people who have met in these groups stay in contact with each other long after the event is over, and return to give us good news about progress in their careers.

This is a ShellCon U class taught by the RaiseMe instructor team.

Stuck in a bit of a career rut? Perhaps it’s time for you to explore where bits and bytes meet flesh and blood- the fast paced and dynamic world of healthcare security. From insulin pumps to electronic medical records, from pacemakers to PACS systems, modern healthcare is dependent on the same connected technologies that permeate every other aspect of our lives- but the sector is drastically lacking the security talent enjoyed by other industries. The congressionally mandated HHS Healthcare Cybersecurity Task Force of 2017 estimated that most medical facilities across the country lack even a single full time security professional- that’s a lot of patients who need protecting. Join quaddi and r3plicant, physicians by day, hackers by night, as they give you an overview of the operational needs of this space, describe the perspective needed to succeed in healthcare, explore the conundrum between best practices and standard practices and how that may lead to tension between clinicians, administrators, and security professionals, and how you can literally use your skills to save lives.

Supporting under-represented minorities in infosec, including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), members of the LGBTQ2IA community, neurodiverse people, and disabled people typically looks like creating physical spaces for fostering dialogue or running live events with diverse representation. Unfortunately with wide scale work-from-home requirements and social distancing in place, it can be harder to show up for these communities in a time when they might need it most. This talk will offer practical guidance that can be immediately implemented to create more inclusive environments.

Are you breaking out into the tech field and don’t know where to start? Discuss how you can get over your first obstacle - yourself! In this talk, university students share their journey into tech and discuss the often overlooked parts of the paths they took to get to where they are now. Explore with us on the topic of imposter syndrome and the difficulties many beginners and veterans alike face within the tech industry and how you can combat it.

In many technical communities (security included) there exist both proprietary and community software solutions to solve common problems. Frequently, experience solving such problems with community-developed open-source solutions can be sufficient to gain access to employment opportunities, however dedicating unpaid time to learning those tools can be a struggle.

Luckily (due mostly to coincidence) much popular open source security tooling for security works using the same or very similar platforms and technologies as modern open source IT infrastructure automation (aka DevOps). This means that, depending on project focus, it is possible to use DevOps roles as a paid training opportunity for learning certain blue team infosec skill sets (primarily patch/vuln management, scanning, digital supply chain security, and log management).

During this 30 minute talk Jason will detail tools, technologies, and platforms that are shared between the disciplines. Additionally, some time will be spent discussing ideal projects to participate in to build desirable security skills while being paid for performing DevOps responsibilities. Finally, we’ll touch on supplementary opportunities that might provide additional experience to people for whom this sort of a lateral career transition might be appealing.

Many of us are working from home these days. It is possible that we will continue working from home – at least part time – even after the pandemic becomes a thing of the past. This begs the question of how we, as employees, and our organizations, are protecting our information assets in the COVID-19 world. Are those assets just as protected in the home office as they are when in an office building? We might also find ourselves looking for new work. This may involve increased online activity, including interviews that take place via video conferencing. What are some basic tenets that, when followed, will increase the candidate’s likelihood of success?

The speaker will explore these questions from the perspective of an information security professional that has worked from home full time for 5 years – well before COVID-19. The goal is to provide simple tips to remain secure while at home, and also tips related to avoiding pitfalls while searching for jobs and interviewing online during this new normal that we live in.

Non-Disclosure, IP Rights Assignment, and Non-Compete agreements are staples of the technology world. But do you understand what you’re signing? What makes these agreements good, bad, or ugly? In this talk, we look at why these agreements exist, and some common terms and conditions. We’ll show you how to evaluate them before you sign, defend against an exploitative agreement, and share some stories about agreements gone right…and wrong.

The military has something called the “Rank Structure” and as a service member gets promoted they typically move away from the technical or the doing of the work and start taking on leadership and strategic roles within their respective commands and services. In a lot of traditional Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) the processes and supporting technologies do not change all that quickly, however, the IT field does not operate that way. Military members within the IT MOS field traditionally find themselves in charge and thus lack the time and opportunity to keep up-to-date with the rapid changing pace of technology and can easily find their knowledge base out-dated and struggle to lead and advocate correctly for troops and their assigned mission. Information Security as we know it, changes extremely fast. It takes a lot of effort for senior military members to maintain their skills and knowledge in order to do what’s right for their troops. Taking those senior military members who are now retiring and desire a career in infosec can be challenging due to a perceived lack of skills and hands on experience. Compounding the barriers of entry when transitioning as an active duty military member with over 20...

Many candidates have come to us frustrated by the number of interviews they’ve attended without getting any job offers. Sometimes they need help getting over interview anxiety. Also, some candidates don’t realize that when they receive an offer, they are expected to negotiate. A well-understood negotiation is essential in order to settle on a set of compensation parameters and working conditions that will make them happy, and commit to the company for the long run. This training is in a group environment to offer maximum support and feedback.

This is a ShellCon U class taught by the RaiseMe instructor team.