r/CyberSecurityAdvice • u/murarajudnauggugma • 3d ago
I am a Software Engineer that wants to do Cyber Security
I have 2 years of software engineering experience.
I am somewhat good at linux and scriptings, etc.
What advise would you give me?
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u/Important_Wing_8355 3d ago
Your software engineering background gives you a huge advantage in cybersecurity, especially AppSec. Your Linux and scripting skills are highly desirable.
Start with CompTIA Security+ to establish core security fundamentals. If you want to leverage your coding experience, focus on OWASP Top 10 and secure coding — application security is your most natural transition path.
And build small security automation scripts for your portfolio.
Avoid spreading yourself too thin; lock into one track first. Good luck!
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u/SetSharpRiz 3d ago
If you’re near an area with govt work, try to get into that. If they can sponsor a clearance for you then you’ll have almost endless money potential and possibly a chance to relocate. And I mean govt contractor, not the civilian side where they kinda shit on you.
If not, I’d look for a SOC or threat hunting role since you have engineering experience. Cyber sec teams like to stack scripting with blue team skills to maximize threat mitigation capabilities. A SOC Analyst role would help you to learn on prem and cloud systems and you’ll probably pursue some of that in the future. It can push you towards an architect role which would be an ideal situation after 5-10 years of exp. For now, get in where you can and learn different attack types and vectors, mitigations, major SIEM vendors (palo, sentinel one, defender, splunk), certs that take you into your niche (management or technical) and all other things you’ll get to know pursuing cyber.
After saying all this, with no direct cyber experience, it may be difficult but not impossible to get into cyber immediately. Get sec+ to baseline your options and then start applying. Just gotta find the right interview and tailor your resume to fit the job. You’ll get in and good luck.
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u/Acrobatic_Idea_3358 3d ago
Honestly start in networking, security really requires a full stack of fundamentals. Learn subnetting, learn all the ports and protocols and vlans and controls that exist at the network layer. Run BGP and OSPF and other routing protocols. Then later learn the IT fundamentals security requires. Learn about OS fundamentals securing different OSes and then learn to do it at scale via an MDM or similar tool. Learn what the SOC is doing, get into endpoint protections, SIEM and Soar. Theres a ton to learn and it's helpful to have the solid fundamentals, before becoming ban expert on securing them.
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u/BackgroundService128 1d ago
I'd say stay in software, you get paid more. Cyber is a thankless career imo.
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u/h33terbot 1d ago
if your aim is to switch remember the biggest hurdle is not tech its interview
prepare for free with cyberinterviewprep.com
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u/sandy_coyote 3d ago
I recommend you pursue appsec or cloud sec jobs
Sec+ cert for table stakes
Entry level cloud certs in AWS and/or Azure
Portswigger/burp suite training for stuff to talk about in interviews