which field makes most money?

[Descartes]

I'm a software engineer doing a lot of security analysis (vulnerability assesments, penetration tests, security policy development, etc.) projects for my company, and it seems to be companies are taking more focus on their security. As far as what makes a good security person, well, that varies. The vulnerability assessment portion of an analysis is pretty easy, and any experienced network adminsitrator should be able to do it. However, it really takes a hacker mentality to have the foresight into potential holes. Determining existing holes is easy, as that's fairly automated, it's determining how something might get exploited that takes skill. One needs to have a profound understanding of most protocols, both high and low level, and a programming background is almost absolutely essential. If you can't build your own tools, or modify existing ones to fit your scenario, you're pretty limited.

 

[Forever42]

<< 100k IS STILL alot for some of us >>



Well, that's what he makes now, so far as I know.. and my mom is a domestic engineer

 

[cremator]

My uncle,which is a consulter for KPMG,makes 50$ an hour, 8-20 hours a day,4 days a week,and his company pays for air plane tickets,and hotel. Might be better money out there,just a general idea of "what makes what" though.

 

[spidey07]

the field where you work for yourself. Working for somebody else never really gets you serious cash. You must be willing to look somebody in the eye and say "My fee is 200/hour with a 40 hour minimum".

Hot fields? Security, DBA, SAP, network comm.

 

[Ns1]

security analysts-

what major would that fall in?

cs? cis? ce?

 

[DataFly]

Any sort of software or computer engineering will usually pay well.

 

[Kadarin]

<< porn production
why
because T & A = money >>



While this is true, I think that porn distribution makes more money. (Which is kind of strange, considering the vast amount of free porn available for easy download. Why pay $ for it?)

-j

 

[jaydee]

I think in prior threads it was determined that Chemical Engineers average out to the highest salary, but I could be wrong.


<< security analysts-
what major would that fall in?
cs? cis? ce? >>


Any of the above plus multiple certifications and much experience.

 

[ace31216]

Jaydee is correct... I don't think there really is such a thing as a network major. Take some CE classes, a couple of program languages, and networking. Then go to UROP of your school and look for internships. Experience is very important. Computers is a very saturated field right now. The more skills and experience you have the better.
I live in California (bayarea) and all the hightech jobs are really being squeezed. Silicon valley is taking a beating.

 

[jaydee]

Actually I know of a few colleges that offer IT degrees with specializations in Networking, but I'd go with something more broad like CS or CE so you can fall back on something if you decide something different. It's all about the certs and experience anyway, an IT degree wouldn't have advantage over a CE degree, although it would probably give you better networking base.

 

[Descartes]

<< security analysts- what major would that fall in? cs? cis? ce? >>



None of the above. What you need to know to be a good security analyst you won't learn in CS, CIS, CE, etc.. The only true way to learn is through your own research, and ambition. This, of course, depends on what type of "security analyst" you want to become. If you simply want to run automated tools to discovery vulnerabilities, then a little experience will be all you need. If you want to actually *understand* the vulnerabilities, discover more of your own, write tools, etc., then you must be self-motivated.

Of course, a CS background helps, as the ability to program your own tools would be of most importance, however, it's not needed.