Re: What is being a pen tester really like?

From: crazy frog crazy frog (i.m.crazy.frog@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Jul 30 2006 - 04:39:02 EDT


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
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This List Sponsored by: Cenzic
>
> 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
> results from other product. Contact us at request@cenzic.com for details.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

-- 
ting ding ting ding ting ding
ting ding ting ding ding
i m crazy frog :)
"oh yeah oh yeah...
 another wannabe, in hackerland!!!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This List Sponsored by: Cenzic
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 
results from other product. Contact us at request@cenzic.com for details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Sat Apr 12 2008 - 10:56:27 EDT