4 posts tagged with "Careers"

Short answer: bug bounty pays per valid finding and most participants earn nothing, because the easy issues in mature programs are already reported. Penetration testing pays a salary regardless of what you find. Bounties are a superb portfolio and a poor first income — do them alongside a job, not instead of one.

Short answer: the red team emulates a real attacker to test whether the organisation detects and responds; the blue team defends, detects and responds; the purple team is the two working in the same room so that every attack produces a detection rule. Red teams are glamorous and rare. Blue teams are where most jobs and most learning are.

Short answer: if you want to do the work, take a practical exam — PNPT or CPTS to start, OSCP when you can afford it and have the hours. CEH gets you past HR filters in government and large corporate settings but teaches little. No certification gets you hired alone; a practical one plus a real report does.

Short answer: expect 12 to 24 months from zero. Learn networking, Linux, Windows and Active Directory, and Python first — then attack techniques. Most people are hired on demonstrated work: a home lab, a handful of documented engagements against legal targets, and one report a stranger can read. A degree is not required; the ability to write is.