I desire a degree in cyber security, but I have no knowledge of the cyber spectrum. Should I go for it or start with IT program and software?

I am retired from the AF and have been in the field of information security or “Cyber Security”. If this is a field you really want to get into the field there are several fields within Cyber Security you can get into. But back to your question; it is nice to have that practical base of information technology. This is because it gives you a foundation of the technology. A good place to start is NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education or NICE

https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice

It has a bunch of information and resources that lays out requirements for education and job skills, jobs that fit into the cybersecurity role. For free training on top of what was provided here is a good site:

https://www.cybrary.it/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzpWYy7Ld2gIVSi-BCh0mXQl9EAAYASAAEgLdNfD

If you are active duty, federal employee, or state employee here is a site that can be used for free:

https://fedvte.usalearning.gov/

I have done this job for over 15 years and one thing I can tell you is it never gets old.

If you have any other questions, just hit me up on here

Hello, I just retired from the military a few months back. My MOS had little to do with IT. I'm currently pursuing a degree in Computer Networks and Security so that I can go into the cyber world. I'd recommend doing what ever it is that you have an interest in. However, I'd also do quite a bit of research to determine the certificates you will be required to obtain to reach your goal. For instance, you'll need A+ and Sec+ (and potentially Net+ though less likely). You'll also need CISSP or similar. Maybe CEH, CNE, or something like that. Those take time to get. Most jobs also ask for experience amounting to several years. I'd find a place to get some OJT while going to school if Cyber-security is something you're interested in

Either way, good luck!

Seems like a familiar question but I like to answer them as them recur to try to keep the information fresh.

"Cyber" is a buzzword that encompasses a lot of areas. That being said, when looking at programs, you'll find a lot of areas and concentrations. I link one of the programs from my local community college as an example.
https://catalog.aacc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=20&poid=6817

In an academic sense, they'll really teach you the things you "should" know. But compared to classroom learning, you may not get much hands on experience depending on the program. Any program will have the required general education stuff, and then focused concentration in the area of interest. So you'll need to figure out your area of interest. The below program is a 2 year AAS, so obviously you can do a more advanced additional 2 years for a bachelors, and then even further for a masters. In some cases, it will be how adept you are at learning the technology and material if you think you may not be good enough you may want to take some additional intro courses.

There's always a lot of training available at Skillport for things in the cyber spectrum you can run through for free.

Here are some additional online and free training that you should utilize. It will help your skills and knowledge.

The following courses are on DCITA website (http://www.dcita.edu/ ) I would suggest.

- Unix Shell Scripting
- Advanced Bash Scripting Techniques
- Introduction to PowerShell
- Collecting System Information & Searching Data with PowerShell
- Filtering Network Traffic
- Network Enumeration: Attacker Tactics
- Managing Network Traffic Using Snort
- Creating Trusted Tools for Linux Incident Response
- Creating Trusted Tools kit for Windows
- Anatomy of a Buffer Overflow

Using Sysinternals for Forensics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLwZaarxw90

Use your mail.mil account to sign up for free for Safari Books Online which has a lot of training books.
http://techbus.safaribooksonline.com/uicode=dodarmyhttp://techbus.safaribooksonline.com/?uicode=dodarmy

I also tend to recommend viewing presentations given at DefCon to have an idea of what topics are covered when we talk about "cyber".
https://www.youtube.com/user/DEFCONConference