Sometimes people ask me how they can get started in a career in Information Security. I took a path different than most, but I am sharing it here because it may be helpful to others looking to move into the security field.
While in high school, I used to drive a dump truck to make money in the summer. In my junior year I found out about a diesel truck racing event at a nearby drag strip. I went down to watch, thinking that it would be a bunch of tricked out diesel trucks of some sort. When I got there I saw normal looking trucks, very similar to the type I drove everyday.
I asked an official... "what does it take to race a truck in this event?", to which he responded "a pit pass....". I asked "how do you get a pit pass...?" and he said "$20 bucks", to which I responded "I'll be right back..." : )
I went home and came back driving my 1974 Brockway dump truck (the red truck below). The first year I chalked up to a learning experience, but the second year I took 2nd place, winning a nice trophy, $500, and a set of Rosco screwdrivers.
The trophy and screwdrivers didn't help much with getting involved in InfoSec, but the $500 did purchase my very first computer, which lead over the course of years to an interest in Information Security.
So if you want to get involved in InfoSec, try dump truck racing. It worked out well for me... : )
