Also to add my 2c.
The people that Paul described are the ones we don't want around and
they are not "pen-testers".
They are more of a generic IT auditor. Usually some ex-admin,
salesman, or wannabe that didn't make it through the dot Bust and is
trying to latch on to a new "hot thing".
In more aggressive organizations, they don't make it thought the
technical interview session for the actual pen-test positions.
A 12 year -old can run a scanner, it takes a little more to discover
an unknown problem for a company that has not released a product or a
financial organization that is developing applications that are not
public. Probably not going to get an out of the box scanner that will
find these.
Along with the other myriad of scenarios besides just the dev stuff.
network architecture, security awareness, etc. Then be able to do
write-ups for all different levels.
On 7/30/06, crazy frog crazy frog <i.m.crazy.frog@gmail.com> wrote:
Good things:-
1)You get New challanges everytime
2)You will get paid for wht u like to do :)
3)you need to think and think
4)you will be far ahead of others in the technical terms(from java deveolpers)
Bad things:-
1)sometime you dont know wht to do
2)its a job and there is a deadline in which you need tu type reports
as well as have to explain the problem.
HTH,
www.secgeeeks.com
On 7/29/06, Paul Melson <pmelson@gmail.com> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> Subject: What is being a pen tester really like?
>
> rahul.joshi2@googlemail.com wrote:
> >
> > I am currently a Java developer but I'm seriously thinking of changing
> paths to
> > a career in security and pen testing.
> >
> > What I would like to know is what is being a pen tester really like?
>
> Despite what you may have heard, being a successful pen-tester (meaning, you
> get hired and make a living at it) is not very hard, nor does it require a
> lot of very deep technical skill. What it really requires is good verbal
> and written communication skills, the ability to work well with clients, and
> the ability to explain security (even inaccurately) in terms of business
> value. Do those things, and you can be successful.
>
> The dirty truth about pen testers is that most of them have a handful of
> tools and scripts (like Nessus and Retina) and run them with the same
> configs against every customer and have the same canned recommendations
> based on the results that their tools spit out. Hell, most vuln scanners
> spit out their own remediation recommendations for the pen tester to simply
> hand over to their customers. Additionally, for a pen test to have the
> appearance of being successful, it only needs to find some of the
> vulnerabilities present on a network or in an application. Unlike being a
> network engineer or an sysadmin where your work has to stand up to the 24/7
> scrutiny of a live environment, being a pen tester means only needing to be
> right more often than you're wrong.
>
> Not to take away from the skills or experience of any individual pen testers
> out there. There are some Mario Andretti's out there driving school busses,
> if I may.
>
>
> PaulM
>
>
>
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--
ting ding ting ding ting ding
ting ding ting ding ding
i m crazy frog :)
"oh yeah oh yeah...
another wannabe, in hackerland!!!"
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Concerned about Web Application Security?
Why not go with the #1 solution - Cenzic, the only one to win the Analyst's
Choice Award from eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise,
you need to proactively protect your applications from hackers. Cenzic has the
most comprehensive solutions to meet your application security penetration
testing and vulnerability management needs. You have an option to go with a
managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure) or an enterprise software
(Cenzic Hailstorm). Download FREE whitepaper on how a managed service can
help you: http://www.cenzic.com/news_events/wpappsec.php
And, now for a limited time we can do a FREE audit for you to confirm your
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