question

do you have a job somewhere with the government? obv you do not have to answer if you want, but i am an SRA (securities risk analysis) major at penn state. its basically the same thing as what this forum is about, so im curious if you got schooled in it somewhere/got a job and if you have any tips for someone that will be graduating in like 1.5 years with a degree in this field. (will be a senior this year)

thanks in advance

Hello, and welcome.

I am not currently employed by the government. I have done contract work for some government agencies and worked closely with others in networking/systems/security capacities over the course of my career but I intend to migrate to full time government employment in 2010 if I can get security clearance and rack up the appropriate credentials/certs.

That said, I have friends and coworkers in IS who have worked for the government, some since long before I owned a computer.

My advice to you, and this is the same advice given to me when I asked them the same question basically, is to learn how to RE malware and augment that with an intimate understanding of mesh networking protocols (eBGP).

Government work does not pay well, however you do get to know exactly whats going on months before anyone else, you have access to bleeding edge hardware and software, and it opens a huge number of doors down the line.

Best of luck and I hope to see you contribute to the content here!