Pentest Journal 2 - Draft Objectives

Draft Objectives

Habit 2: ‘Begin with the end in mind!’ - Stephen Covey

Having a set of draft objectives will let me assess what I need to know, why and where the gaps are.

Listening to several ‘overview’ videos and webinar replays and conisidering my previous interests and expriences was very helpful. I’ve experience in network protection and malware/vulnerability discovery and a strong interest in digging into technology to find problems. So my initial high level objective is to work towards Ethical Hacking and/or Malware Analysis.

Both would appeal to my interest in learning and gaining a deep understanding of how things work.

With that high level objective, I looked at what I would need to know to work in these fields.

Here is the knowledge and skill ‘T model’ that illustrates the draft objectives I have identified.

From this understanding I can see I need to increase my knowledge in the areas of:

• Advanced Networking
• Penetration testing processes
• Penetration testing techniques
• Penetration testing attack vectors
• Malware in general
• Malware analysis
• Python for developing exploits
• Scripting
• Cloud Technologies

I should also refresh my skills in:

• C programming
• Machine Language

To develop a personal brand as a freelance professional in Infosec, I need to:

• Change my social media profile - especially LinkedIn
• Network with others in the domain
• Build this blog demonstrating the knowledge gained
• Consider a youtube channel - I have the time and skills

Now there are tried and tested routes to deliver on some of these objectives. These include formal courses and certificate.

Next Action

Review the training courses and cerrtification to see if they:

• deliver on the knowledge and skills required
• are value for money
• needed by employment gatekeepers
• just another money spinner for companies

What I do think is helpful though is to see what succesful others are doing in the field and how they got there. That doesn’t mean their recipe will work for me, but success leaves clues that hint at what works well. Google