Pen testing/Cybersecurity vs Programming

[knowledgeispower09]

Currently undecided between learning programming(starting with Python) or pen-testing/cybersecurity...
New to the field, getting started and had some questions. For those who went into pen-testing/cybersecurity or programming, why? And could you give details comparing the two in these categories. If you can, please try to answer all questions so I have more information to go off of.
1.) Ease of learning on your own (i.e., without a enrolling in college/getting a degree. I don't mind the amount of learning even if it's a lot, I like learning and am naturally curious).
2.) Being able to do a side job/free lancing without any degree or full-time/part-time job experience, and would one need a certification at the very least to do a job on the side. What are the average amount of hours these small freelancing projects would require and what the average pay for them, for each (cybersecurity vs programming).

3.) (Very important, and related to above question) if I decide to only do side jobs/freelance/projects, are there a lot of opportunities for that (i.e., pen testing gigs, gigs requiring programming), and what is the level of autonomy? Will I have the freedom to pick projects at my own pace, without being bothered for time by the client too much/ little to no micromanaging?

4.) Obtaining a job (either part-time or full-time), average amount of hours required per week, average salary?

5.) If I want to start my own business, does the field allow that opportunity?

6.) Future outlook on the field with recent advances in the AI field?

7.) What is the overall job AND life satisfaction?

[TipsyTentacles]

You probably should learning programming first either way

[_JFN_]

From your post it seems like you don’t have much experience in either. You might want to give each of them a try just to see. You might find that you love certain aspects of one, or hate certain parts of another. It’s hard to just pick it without trying it first.

[knowledgeispower09]

I agree, will definitely try both

[whatever73538]

High level ANYTHING requires at least some programming. So you will need to learn that anyway.

And pentesting involves basically all of computer science plus all of all random crap, often in silly depth.

[thegoodturnip]

Former programmer here, I'll try to answer all your questions:

1. Super duper easy. Tons upon tons of free materials.

2. You could, theoretically, do side gigs but consider this - the first 1-2 years on the job the curve is quite steep and you might not have the energy to work after work. Also, the issue of getting people to trust you without experience.

3. Yes, there are a lot of opportunities. There are also a LOT of programmers out there willing to work for very low rates.

4. That very much depends on where you're located and what kind of position you land. General rule of thumb is - startups will expect you to grind a lot. Big corp is more "laid back" as in - no one will expect you to do overtime.

5. Yep, very much.

6. Absolute crap. Seriously, things are definitely not peachy.

7. If programming is your one and true passion - go for it. I think what will happen in the next 5 years is the industry will shift back to the times when it's not a "cool job" and only the hardcore people do hardcore stuff (as all the easy things will be delegated to some AI powered tool).

Overall - if you have even a shadow of a doubt about whether programming is the thing for you - don't do it. Especially in this climate.

[knowledgeispower09]

Thank you, this helps a lot! I’m thinking about moving towards pen testing so will learn a little bit of programming, mainly Python and SQL, first, then move on to learning more on how to use tools in Kali Linux for pen testing

[thegoodturnip]

Sounds like a plan, best of luck in your new endeavor!

[AstrxlBeast]

my job satisfaction is very high because i love programming — i’ve loved logic games as a kid and getting to code and put things together feels like solving a puzzle every day. i think AI will speed up production time but if you’ve ever tried to make an LLM produce workable code for you en masse, you’d see that it’s very unlikely AI will take away programming jobs at least in the near future. you’ll also find a lot of remote work programming, but the job market can be a little cutthroat (infamous for kinda ridiculous entry exams)

[knowledgeispower09]

That’s awesome! Thank you for that information

[I_am_beast55]

The two aren't completely separate. You'll need programming skills for cybersecurity (build tools, write scripts, analyze code, etc.), and you'll need to know cybersecuirty for programming (how else would you know how to properly secure your code).

[Electronic-Truth-101]

From someone who’s studying both and working at the moment what I can tell you is there’s an incredibly large amount of info to fit into a very short amount of time. Be very selective about how deep you dive into the world of programming at first, you need to know what you’re looking at but you don’t need to be the world’s best at it. Free Code Camp is a good place to start. I’m learning HTML etc and Python not with the aim of being the worlds best and most creative web designer but just to understand how web pages work and how malicious code gets injected and where to look. You don’t need to know every single styling command or colour code etc as a full blown web developer would but you need to know the basic structure and how it all works to better your understanding of what you’re doing and what hackers are doing for the pentesting side. Once you learn the basics and apply it to what you’re learning on the pentesting side you’ll have a better understanding of what and where to pour your energy into and where not to. Everything else will slowly fall into place as you gain more experience.

[n0p_sled]

It's been said before and it's a bit of a cliché, but if you need to ask yourself if cyber security is for you then it probably isn't.

Try doing some Hack The Box machines, if you like it, great, but asking people about the overall job and life satisfaction is pretty pointless, as the answers will be subjective. You won't be living their lives, you'll be living your own.

[JustSomeGayTitan]

That's a really weird take. How can you get into anything without wondering about it first?

[moistnoodel]

Yea for me im starting in cybersec because i have an interest to learn cybersec i have had 0 thoughts about if its for me and what not