A question pertaining to all of you.

I'm 19. I've been into computers for almost 10 years now. Nothing special really, just playing games mostly :) I didnt want to learn. I know very little about security, and I'm probally the only member that really isnt interested in it eather. Web Development started to get my intrest about 2 years ago. About a few months back I started my own company in webdesign, graphic design, hosting services and domain registration.

So, after playing games, I got into webdev. Now I'm here, and I still know **** about security.

Respect.

I've been into Networking and Information Security for somewhere around 5-7 years and then around 4 years ago I got into Web Development. Then, I decided to learn a few programming languages (a few turned into like 7) and now I'm here, continuing to learn about anything tech related and learn as much as I can.

Oh, and I remember when my friends and I loved Lotus and all that crap on my computer. Used to be so much fun, but those day's are gone. :)

[B]I remember when computers had vacume tubes...

I remember pong... ( I was the first on my block to have it ;) )

I remember when I could fill the tank on my motorcycle, hand the attendant .50 cents and get back change!!!

I remember when drugs were bought at a drug store, and smoking pot was when Mom burned dinner...

I remember when you could buy a 1 ton pickup, loaded with all the extras for under $6000.00...

And you guys are old??

I have been into computers since 1984, and interested in security for about 2 years now. I am 42 years young. :D

Oh Dear..... You are all so young...... :o

I started my foray into computers in 1981 with a Sinclair, (read Timex if you are American), ZX81. I remember I was the coolest chap around when I upgraded from 1k to 16k of RAM, (no that is not a typo.....<s>). I guess I started out learning by being a cracker..... I was the one who cracked all the copy protection schemes so we could share games without paying.... Shhh.. Don't tell..... <s> In order to do that I taught myself assembly language, (which I have now forgotten).

I remember I was even cooler when I upgraded to the Sinclair Spectrum...... Wow...was I _the boy_.....

Since I was in the military I was forced to take something of a sabbatical from computing from about 1986 until 1988 when I left and moved to the US where I soon became a Systems Specialist for a company in NJ working on PC's, Novell LANS, IBM 3070 Mainframes amongst other things, (DOS 2.0 was _the_ best...<s>).

Moving from NJ to MI I became the Manager of IS for a non-profit where I have built a 650 workstation WAN across 18 locations in 3 counties from the ground up. We act as ISP for 4 sister organizations and provide all internet connected functions and security for the entire network. My interest in security was peeked about 4 years ago when a little web site I had at home was hacked. Nothing special - just a little note at the bottom of the homepage saying "for more info - [email protected]", (I still remember the address but I never contacted it). It was a real wake-up call and I became determined to prevent the systems I am responsible for to ever be hacked in the future.

At almost 45 years old..... :( I have learned that it isn't a matter of if you will be hacked..... it's when!!!! The secret to security IMO is being able to recognize the fact that you have been hacked - be capable of reconstructing the events, effectively mitigating the damage done and preventing a repeat performance of the same exploit.

PS: For those of you who hate school learning - I have never taken a computer class in my life - I am completely self taught.

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PS: For those of you who hate school learning - I have never taken a computer class in my life - I am completely self taught.

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I am also self taught, this has also hindered my persuit of work in this field. I cannot seem to even find an employer that will accept an application without a college degree under my belt.

You, Tiger Shark, are a very lucky man :thumbsup:

I don't think it's luck - I think it's my incredible good looks and charm...... :D

Seriously - yes there has been a certain amount of luck - I agree. OTOH - I have hired for several positions in the last 10 years and have been so utterly inimpressed with candidates with Masters in Computer Science that it has driven me mad. I don't know what they have been teaching but these people don't seem to know some of the basics of how a computer works, (the relationship between IRQ, Port Address and the CPU for example). I have been so frustrated by this that, in consultation with HR, I have changed job descriptions to read "X years of experience, BS in computer science preferred" rather than having the BS mandatory.

IME there are people who are very bright but do not take to computers well. OTOH there are others who, while not being exactly Albert Einstein, take to computing like a duck takes to water. I like the latter.....

im not old. just a geek.

i remember...

logo : basic : adventure games in only text : 8 baud modem : clevenet (clevelane freenet) : bbs
win 95 was only for rich people and businesses : hard drive? whats that? : tape drive, now thats storage : load "*" ,8,1 : trash-80 : no mouse, didnt need one : played games with my old atari controller

I'm 20 now, I've been into computers since I was 12. Security has been something I just came across as I went through school to school. I started out as a hacker trying to get into the computers just for fun. Then I learned how much damage someone can do, so I would have to say since about 15 or 16 I've been a big security person who is trying to fight against all the hackers who are out to destroy the world we call the Internet.

I recently just found antionline.com, as a joke just typing in random URL's. Though if you are trying to learn TCP/IP (which I too agree is very tricky if you don't have a background), this is a good place to find people to help you out with problems or questions.

And to qwerty_smith for what you said, it's all too true!

Well, I'm 18, although I've been into computers for about 6 years. I joined not too long after my 18th birthday(go Halloween!)

heh, well as of today I'm 32 (urgh I feel old). I've been professionally involved in the IT field now for 12 years with a focus on computer security for about the last 6.

Now for fun I've been playing around with computers and "hacking" them since I was 10. The first hack I did was on a friends computer where we hacked his dad's bank account information just to see if we could. We never did anything with it, but I think I was 11 at the time... LOL that was such a long time ago. I've been "white hat" ever since :D



El Diablo