UK: What path to take into Computer Security[Uni etc]

Hello :)

I'm a second year A Level student, taking Computer Science, Maths and Philosophy; and coming up to that time where I have to plan for next year.

I'm wondering if anyone could advise me on good courses I could take to get into computer security, or if going in directly isn't possible what courses would you suggest to give me a foothold in the industry which I could spring from, from there?

I was looking at Computer Science Degree at Reading, UK. Any opinions? See http://www.cs.rdg.ac.uk/itdegree/IT.htm http://www.rdg.ac.uk/ug/courses/59.htm http://www.rdg.ac.uk/ug/courses/58.html

Any comments on those courses?

And as well as Uni courses, are there any other exams I could take which are thought highly of in industry? I heard CISCO runs one, or something about the CCNA? Are these exams which can be studied for indepently, and then only have an exam sat at an institution?

Any other information you could offer would be much appreciated,

Adam.

(/ramble :rolleyes: )

I was going to tell you to go to Royal Holloway to do InfoSec MSc, because it's one of the best in the World. I came out from there a few years ago. But you are after BSc. So maybe you should aim to go there after BSc.

You can also do Sans.org's exams at the mean time, CCNA is good but only for networking.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Which type of Computer Security industry you are planning to get into? Different types means different skills requires to get in.

Thanks for your reply.

I went off to do a little bit of research of that course; and it sounds good. Says it's steadily grown in popularity since it's introduction in '92.

So it definitely looks like something to consider as a postgraduate.

To be truthful about your question of what area i'm looking to get into; I really don't know. I'm not really aware of the options, hence my posting; all i'm trying to do at the moment to give me the best possible grounding is to read as much as possible. At the moment i'm trying to read up on Forensics, and Cryptography; is there anything else you think I should give particular attention to?

And do you have any suggestions as to an undergraduate degree? I've searched UCAS, and there's a lot of quite general degrees, but they're mainly at the old polytechnics; which i've been told often aren't worth the paper they're written on.

I'm not sure if i'm going to find conclusive answers, or find a 'best route' to gaining computer security qualifications; but before I go making mistakes, I want to know the opinions of people on here.