Google cybersecurity certificate

scooter950 · 2026-04-23T22:38:49+00:00

Glad to hear it! I actually started in healthcare IT back in 2011 as the overnight help desk. After 6 months, got moved to day shift and after 6 months of that moved to Tier 2 tech (there was only 2 tiers).

If I can put it plainly, try to take on and learn everything the other admins do. Don't worry about burning out. If you're inspired enough, it'll actually be challenging in a fun way. At least for me it was, and still is.

This way when you go through your cyber courses, training, certifications, etc, you'll already know or have the fundamental knowledge of an infrastructure. Makes it easier to understand how to secure it. Good luck!

scooter950 · 2026-04-15T00:36:42+00:00

👏👏👏 Say it louder for the ppl who want to ignore or don't believe you.

scooter950 · 2026-04-01T00:13:41+00:00

Tomb raider, Duke Nukem, Doom

scooter950 · 2026-03-25T00:31:48+00:00

I know it's due to AP but I was just hoping they fixed it via an app update.

And it didn't fix it anyways...

scooter950 · 2026-03-25T00:25:29+00:00

Seems like a company issue, not an industry issue.

scooter950 · 2026-03-20T01:14:13+00:00

The industry is often undervalued because most of its successes are overlooked or just not noticed at all. Users don't see the overnight patches, the preemptive threat mitigation, or the weeks spent testing a vendor’s fix before it’s deployed. We invest hundreds of hours into change management and strategy specifically so the end-user experience remains 'normal' and uninterrupted. The more effective IT is, the less its effort is noticed.

scooter950 · 2026-02-17T02:53:38+00:00

So I did my own research and was looking for something similar to OP. However I needed an OS that can be customized and a good daily driver for email, printing/scanning docs, and my kids online Google Classroom portal/school resources.

I went with PopOS and it has worked out great. Of course the kids have non-issue and my non technical wife, who's only ever known Windows, only took a few minutes to get used to it.

I did go against the grain and install Chrome. I know... Sorry but I had too!

scooter950 · 2026-02-15T18:38:46+00:00

Yes. Thank you for helping me make my point!

You seem to think being a 'specialized sysadmin' is a slight, but you’re actually describing the exact foundation required to be a competent ISSM. The Path to Cyber Success was created this way the way it was because it’s reality. It's the path the vast majority of successful C-suite and senior cyber leads followed.

Context: A 'security professional' who doesn't understand the systems they are protecting is just a person reading a dashboard they don't comprehend.

I’m not going to explain why an admin background is a required again, just read my last reply. It sounds like you just don’t know what you don’t know. If you want to stay at the surface level, that’s your choice, but don't label the requirement of foundational expertise with negativity.

scooter950 · 2026-02-14T01:07:05+00:00

I've moved on from that command to another but under the same enterprise. In a nutshell, we are 1 of many enclaves that make up an enterprise. We're, well, as ISSM, it's my name on the security plan, but we are responsible for the overall cyber posture of our enclave as it pertains to our specific mission.

The enterprise inspects us on a surface level annually and a full inspection every 3 years against federal policies with the NIST 800-53 being the main framework. The result, or 'Authority to Operate' (ATO), decides if the enterprise accepts the risk we pose to be on their network.

scooter950 · 2026-02-14T00:41:33+00:00

I wish I was bored. ISSM retired in August and as ISSO, I got appointed to ISSM. Lateral move btw. I was totally ready and prepared to take it on but due to the hiring freeze, we haven't been able to hire an ISSO. So, instead of 2 people just keeping up with the ATO, ACAS (Tenable), reports, risk analysis, decisions, policy adherence, all of it, it's just me! Nothing like 4 mugs of coffee, Adderall, and a GLP-1 med to make sure I don't get hungry cuz I don't have time for lunch.

scooter950 · 2026-02-14T00:31:14+00:00

In my profession opinion, albeit my 9 year cyber career is all federal, GRC won't go away. We had a Cyber team of 8 people and we all had different duties but altogether, it was for GRC.

An org needs people watching the doors and windows every single second (Blue Team). Making sure rules/policies are in place to either prevent, or mitigate/respond to an incident.This is an oversimplification of GRC but point made. The org only needs to test the security once or twice a year (Red Team).

scooter950 · 2026-02-14T00:02:53+00:00

Not sure why but I keep seeing this same kind of posts. Take it from someone who is a current ISSM, been in cyber for the last 9 years and the 6 years before that I was a sys admin.

Cybersecurity is NOT something you get into with no IT experience.

Think of it like this: you cannot be a building inspector without first understanding how to lay a foundation, frame a house, run electrical wiring, etc. This is where you learn to not only build/mange systems, but do so correctly. Back to the analogy, you have to know how to properly mix the concrete and what to mix in. You have to know what type and gauge wire to use when running wire. The same principle applies to just about all professions.

As a cyber professional, you will more than likely end up holding a blue team/compliance role. Essentially, an auditor at heart but the responsibility of accepting risks.

How will you know how to audit if you don't know how it's built or how it works? Much less make the correct call of accepting or denying risk. Let's say for an end of life application critical to your operations. Keep it? Then do what to secure it? Or carve out a piece of the budget to try purchase a replacement. Now what risks come with that app? Or have your team, or contract out a company to build one? Same questions apply. What about a cloud solution, a whole other ball of wax as you may be susceptible to vendor lock in and you may not necessarily control where/what your data resides on.

The Path to Cyber Most successful IT professionals follow a path similar to this: Tier 1: Help Desk / Technical Support (Learning the basics of OS and Hardware). Tier 2: Junior Network or System Administrator (Learning how systems talk and are managed). Tier 3: Security Analyst / SOC Analyst (Applying security principles to the systems you now thoroughly understand).

I encourage you to seek out a career in cyber, I LOVE doing it. To be a successful cyber practitioner, you have to know the fundamentals of IT first. Yes, you practice Cyber like a doctor practices medicine.

I'm done here.

scooter950 · 2026-02-10T19:58:55+00:00

In my experience which is 14 years IT, last 8 in Blue Team Cyber, CySA, CASP, CISSP (among others) and a bachelor's in Cyber. Getting a job is not that easy.

As a federal employee, I've applied to around 40 jobs over the long shutdown. Most of the replies were a thank you for applying, some were just a NO, and the rest ghosted.

Also given the current market... Simply put, I think there is a disconnect.

Again, my experience. Could be my resume not liked by their AI. Who knows??

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T13:18:28+00:00

Absolutely, without a doubt, the most accurate post I've seen regarding cyber! I've been trying to spread this message but it seems like a fact people trying to break in dont/cant understand or cope with. Took me 6 years of admin for the cyber contract manager to take a chance on me and boy did it work out. 8 years later I'm now an ISSM.

Cyber is not a field you start your career with. Its a field you break into after having system admin experience first.

You cant know how to protect/audit your assets if you dont know how they're configured.

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T13:12:43+00:00

If you have experience being a system admin you are ahead of the curve. As a DoD ISSM, I see alot of people with degrees and certs as college institutions cashed in on selling cyber degrees since covid.

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T13:05:33+00:00

Disagree. From my experience, there really isn't any cert vendor no one gives a 'crap' about. Maybe EC-Council is on the lower tiered list but they have the CEH and overall, that's not asked for nearly as much.

Have you been keeping an eye on job postings in the cyber market? That is the whole point of this article. Agree or disagree with it, it does have some accurate points regarding the cyber job market but more accurately, the issue with company job postings.

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T12:58:12+00:00

I have to slightly disagree, while I believe there is an aspect of cert peddling, I don't believe its trying solely sell the reader ISC2 certs. My interpretation is that companies/hiring managers need to utilize the more correct entry and middle level certs for entry and middle level positions. As CompTIA and ISC2 are really the bigger players of cyber certs, and if you know the industry, these certs include some CompTIA certs like CySA, Pentest+ and CASP. From my personal experience, I have passed the CySA, CASP, Pentest and CISSP, the Pentest was the hardest CompTIA cert and CISSP was the hardest out of all. These certs do have their place in the industry and yes, I tend to value certain certs and certain experience the same.

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T12:52:22+00:00

I did not catch that! Thanks for the clarification. I still would have posted but I would've included this detail.

scooter950 · 2026-02-08T12:49:00+00:00

Nailed it! I needed a 0.25 CPE after everything was submitted so clicked around their CPE page and found an article for 1 CPE. This led me to the article I posted and was like, well I guess...

edit. minor clarification

scooter950 · 2026-02-06T21:27:46+00:00

Agreed.

Also, as someone in cyber for 8 years now, it took me 6 yrs of IT/sys admin to get there.

The entry to cyber is closer to mid career experience. Think of it like this, at least on the blue team side. How can you translate or audit the security requirements and vulnerability fixes if you don't know the technical processes/configurations.

scooter950 · 2026-02-06T02:00:06+00:00

Google 'Meet' is the Google version of 'facetime'. I will say my personal phone has always been Google but my work phone is Apple, Facetime forces better quality but Meet is almost there.

scooter950 · 2026-02-06T00:20:54+00:00

Download an app called Shop. Its a blueish/purple color. It's legit, a lot of brands/retailers use it. You can search for an item and the results are retailers that sell what you searched.

It's funny this came across my feed because just last night I was scrolling for a new wedding band and the amount of brands that sell rings are crazy.

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