Cloud Security Isn’t Entry-Level… Here’s How Beginners Actually Get In

[SPEAKER_02]: Today right now, in 90 days, how I would do it is I would be an ever gonna mess. [SPEAKER_02]: Even still to this day, I'm more on a job if it's my final, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, that's really the best way. [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people apply to a spam and apply online, and that's cool, I mean, you might get some callbacks if you do it enough. [SPEAKER_02]: But the most effective way is going in person speaking.

[SPEAKER_02]: You want to be a cloud engineer right now. [SPEAKER_02]: So really a cost security engineer. [SPEAKER_02]: It isn't so much entry level. [SPEAKER_02]: I wouldn't say that before. [SPEAKER_02]: But you can decide to say, you know what? [SPEAKER_02]: Let me lock in and focus on the security plus. [SPEAKER_02]: Because if you take that knowledge and then go and make an AWS account, make a Microsoft Visual account. [SPEAKER_02]: Like... [SPEAKER_02]: Try to stuff out.

[SPEAKER_02]: We have tools now that you can move the ASS, ChagipiT Gemini, you name it, whatever, to, hey, I need the project on class security. [SPEAKER_02]: While I'm working on my skills, [SPEAKER_02]: I want to know how to build a network, give me a solution, so I can build it out, right? [SPEAKER_02]: You can do these kind of things, and put it on your resume, go to a network and event, say, hey, this is what I've done, and you're telling the truth, that's something that you've done.

[SPEAKER_00]: Look, you probably have a security plus, maybe even a security clearance. [SPEAKER_00]: So nobody taught you how to write poems, or how to test a security control. [SPEAKER_00]: We're submitting ATO Package. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Chris Akpala, I fear years ago, I was in your shoes, all the five on paper, but completely lost when it came to our map.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had a degree, I had the service, I had the drive, and what somebody said, how to test the AT2 control, or got a date stick by this. [SPEAKER_00]: I had no clue what that actually looked like. [SPEAKER_00]: Fast 4 or 5 years, I worked across DOD and federal agencies, led control assessments, ring ATO package, and pass orders. [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I built our Neficatomy to teach you the real-world execution. [SPEAKER_00]: They don't cover in certification books.

[SPEAKER_00]: Inside, I'll show you how to write a poem. [SPEAKER_00]: And don't get fast back. [SPEAKER_00]: Tests of Guided Security Controls, Translate Tech Jardin, Navigating Miss 853, and horror map with confidence. [SPEAKER_00]: If you're in IT support in the government systems or stuck on edge of the security, this is your way. [SPEAKER_00]: The people who go through my training don't just get hired, they hit the ground running because they practice the work before they win.

[SPEAKER_00]: Go to horror mapercatemy.io and let's get the work. [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome, everybody, back to another edition of the Techwork Podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm your host Chris and I'm especially excited to go to Techspace. [SPEAKER_01]: And in today's podcast, we're going to talk a bit about the cloud security.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we brought in a good guest today to kind of talk about that and kind of talk about how he got it to tech with no experience at all, especially in the cloud security space. [SPEAKER_01]: So without further ado, we brought on Mark Lawrence. [SPEAKER_01]: He's the founder of Respect Detect. [SPEAKER_01]: He has worked with a lot of big companies that's in a gov tech space. [SPEAKER_01]: And really, I can't name the name of the companies, but he works at some really big companies.

[SPEAKER_01]: He does a lot of hacking tutorials. [SPEAKER_01]: And he's been the soft, scary space doing everything he can to make sure everything is known. [SPEAKER_01]: People know about it and just know that his knowledge is out there So without further ado, we have Mark Lawrence. [SPEAKER_01]: How you doing brother? [SPEAKER_03]: It's very good. [SPEAKER_03]: Good. [SPEAKER_03]: Good to be here now.

[SPEAKER_01]: I appreciate you coming on especially on a Saturday You know, and they said it was gonna snow do you see any snow? [SPEAKER_01]: I don't see any snow, but you mean you of course [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and it's cold and it's probably seen the green so just to say just respect coming out here Just to do this podcast, I know you've been talking so yeah for a little while so I'm glad to be that We found it me that it was a been like a year just all morning as it been a year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, at least a year baby. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I said you just had a net worth and then we just talked from there to just kept slowly slowly Yeah, yeah [SPEAKER_01]: And then you do a lot of things, you had a conference, you go into what to go, DevCon, like that. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, DevCon knew it, after a tech, we've been doing a couple of things. [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean? [SPEAKER_01]: Say it with your trust, man. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you do a best of amazing things.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know people that's in the field, it's like 40, 50 years old, and you get in those places, man. [SPEAKER_01]: You're speaking there, so, amen. [SPEAKER_01]: This is what makes sure you know that, and I respect the tech. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thanks. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, if we shake that, man. [SPEAKER_01]: So, so tell me about your early life, you know, tell me about like, before Tech was a thing by, how did you first figure out that Tech is a thing that you can get into it?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And tell me about your experience in that way. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so it really started from school.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you want to say, when I really started looking at tech because my childhood, I played a lot of basketball in my neighborhood, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: I was cutting grass, because I lived in Merlin, in Booye. [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, I was outside a lot. [SPEAKER_02]: I wasn't on the computer a whole lot, but I knew that I wanted to make a living for myself to do something, you know.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, when I got in my senior year, I started really thinking, okay, what can I do? [SPEAKER_02]: And my Jew, I was outside a lot, sweating. [SPEAKER_02]: And I got allergies, so I'm like, man, I wanna do some while not outside, you know what I'm saying? [SPEAKER_02]: And I knew I was good at math. [SPEAKER_02]: To a certain extent, like, my grades weren't crazy good, but I remember like being in like, algebra and stuff like that. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was pretty good at math.

[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, my own story shows, I was like, you know, I hear some IC computer science, so I just went with it. [SPEAKER_02]: I went to community college, and I run a community college. [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm studying computer science. [SPEAKER_02]: Still brand new. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm learning how to code and Java and all that kind of stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm going to store a shot. [SPEAKER_02]: I built a really good relationship with my teacher and community college.

[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and ended up being like the president of the computer science for the day. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and at that point, you know, we were doing stuff like Playing with Raspberry Pi, things like Raspberry Pi. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you could do like all kind of like quirky stuff for me I mean, but it was very it was a very brief period.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I was in I was the president for a semester And I went to school community college for a little over a year [SPEAKER_02]: One I was in community college, I had a close friend of mine that I cut grass with, his name is Mark Kees. [SPEAKER_02]: So we've been business partner. [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm watching when he's on, he's seeing what I'm doing. [SPEAKER_02]: He was a little bit older than me, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: So he's at the state where he really trying to make a living form. [SPEAKER_01]: So, you work here's on that, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you might have met Mark Kees. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you had. [SPEAKER_02]: But I watched him because... [SPEAKER_02]: I saw he was trying to figure things out and I don't want him to make some money. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to do something like I was telling you and he wanted his bootcamp called Europe.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was talking to one of the executives of the past, but they really do a good job. [SPEAKER_02]: For sure, I mean, it works, it works for me, it works for him. [SPEAKER_02]: When I saw a work from him, that's when I was okay. [SPEAKER_02]: He went there for a year, I'm still in the school, I'm doing pizza, doing just enough to pass, but I'm like, I don't know, really I'm not really feeling the school, but I know I want to do something.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it worked for him, he got his first job. [SPEAKER_02]: So I saw that, literally that next semester, stopped going in and running a community college out, applied, got accepted, and then that whole year, that whole following year, 2019, I just locked that focus, you know, and just been doing it ever since. [SPEAKER_02]: How did your family feel about that? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know what I'm just saying? [SPEAKER_01]: I've been going to school, and I'm just dead, you know?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, so it was my arm, like, so that was why I had the conversation with. [SPEAKER_02]: At the time, it was school, it was gonna go to school, especially with computers and stuff like that. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's an intellectual type job. [SPEAKER_02]: You think you need to agree, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: So I told mom, like, I'm not gonna go to Anna, I don't know more, I'm gonna go to Europe.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I kind of told her this a little bit before he graduated that program because I'm still watching because you know I got to see it before I actually, you know, believe it. [SPEAKER_02]: So I saw that he did it and I told mom about it.

[SPEAKER_02]: She said, okay, you got one year, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: And she knew how it was about my grades. [SPEAKER_02]: I do just enough. [SPEAKER_02]: You feel him saying, she's like, I don't know. [SPEAKER_02]: And he's the thing the way this program is. [SPEAKER_02]: It's not like you just get in there. [SPEAKER_02]: And you just get a job. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: It's designed for you the first six months, you know, you get training, so certification training, but you also get like this work for the development type training too. [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to every day with a suit on and you've got to be on time every single day. [SPEAKER_02]: What up? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: So it was to the point where, um, [SPEAKER_02]: they would give you an infraction if you were late. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, damn.

[SPEAKER_02]: They would give you an infraction if you had a late assignment to, you know, on your own work or something like that. [SPEAKER_02]: Because it was at a school, it was at a, at a, on those vision and community college. [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm driving from Maryland, from Bowie, Maryland, all the way to Woodbridge, every single day. [SPEAKER_02]: Woodbridge. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [UNKNOWN]: Oh, man. [SPEAKER_02]: Ooh. [SPEAKER_02]: Doing a side of the city.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's about an hour on some change. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's an hour, a little around. [SPEAKER_01]: Been coming back with tripping. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, every day. [SPEAKER_02]: But I was never late, not a single day. [SPEAKER_02]: And my people know me, people that know me, they know I'm late. [SPEAKER_02]: But when it came to this, I was on time every day. [SPEAKER_02]: It blew my mind. [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't have a single infraction.

[SPEAKER_02]: I got to a point where I was just like, I'm trying to compete with people. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not about to get a single infraction. [SPEAKER_02]: Because I was that focused. [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to do it. [SPEAKER_02]: make a living for myself, show them to that. [SPEAKER_01]: He was there and then it was like a mom saying, you got one, yeah, you don't know that one. [SPEAKER_01]: He was there too, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: I know that, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly, because my mom, that's my mom, you know what I'm gonna make sure I show up for my mom when I tell them to show up, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: So, do what I, you're doing as your program. [SPEAKER_01]: And then just kind of, can you break that down? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, how does your program work? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you just sign up and then you get picked or it's like, interview like, what's that? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you apply. [SPEAKER_02]: So this is what it was for me.

[SPEAKER_02]: I applied in 2018. [SPEAKER_02]: and I got accepted immediately. [SPEAKER_02]: I got interview first, you know, I'm not sure name, I got remember name, but it was lady she interviewed me, I talked to her about it. [SPEAKER_02]: Then she told me a bit about the European program, things like that. [SPEAKER_02]: It was like an application and then I waited a few weeks and I got accepted. [SPEAKER_02]: I told the people who I knew there was any program to give me the good word.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not sure how far that really ran, but you never know. [SPEAKER_01]: They've been like, oh no, my man, I'm not trying to get in. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, literally, literally, I'm not sure, but I got in, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: So that's how we're, I got interviewed a plot. [SPEAKER_02]: And I got it. [SPEAKER_01]: So you're actually working with companies, right? [SPEAKER_01]: It's kind of like, are you going to pay or how does it work?

[SPEAKER_02]: So you work, you get an internship at a company. [SPEAKER_02]: After your first six months, you have to make it to that stage. [SPEAKER_02]: So if you don't, like, let's say you get too many fractions that you get cut and you can't get into the internship. [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, most of the time it's 4,500 companies, and they have these partnerships, things like that. [SPEAKER_02]: That's six months, I got the security plus, the CYSA plus, and I got like a Splunk certification.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, because I'm telling you, like, that was just what I was on this show. [SPEAKER_01]: And they pay for it, right, on it. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that was the cool one. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, so they pay for it too? [SPEAKER_01]: It's pay for it. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's in our profit. [SPEAKER_02]: So you don't have to pay. [SPEAKER_02]: They pay for your service. [SPEAKER_02]: And you get the answer, I should.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when you was in this program, you was kind of like, did you start to get a, because I know when you first heard about it, maybe you was thinking about, well, maybe it's money, you know, you can make a bag. [SPEAKER_01]: When did you start getting a love for a during this program, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I think the, when I really started getting the love for it was after the program really when I started working professionally, but I also has a thing too.

[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of the reason why I got those shirts and such a short amount of time was because of the people around. [SPEAKER_02]: Like my business partner now with respect to tech, like I met him at Europe. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, no. [SPEAKER_02]: And it's like, you gotta have some kind of love for it because of that process. [SPEAKER_02]: Like you troubleshooting and you bouncing off each other ideas. [SPEAKER_02]: I have a few good friends I got at Europe, you know me.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, it was love for that, it was the education part, it was like the competing and learning and like, oh yeah, because most people then passed the certification exam, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: But I was one of the ones that did it. [SPEAKER_02]: So it was kind of fun in that way, you know? [SPEAKER_02]: So. [SPEAKER_01]: No, I understand.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was trying to find his name on sauce and set up the sauce and I was getting my security Plus we just balance them back to each other and to this day we've been working with each other for years Yeah, so you got to and I see when you out you found those people and then and to this day They probably love you. [SPEAKER_01]: They're like, oh, what's up with this? [SPEAKER_01]: They make you one of them I'm gonna go see what I was doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is making you get to the next one Is that how this how you take it? [SPEAKER_01]: Billy. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, most definitely like because it's like It's when when you when you talking to people you could relate to about this kind of thing in mode of age [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and they never get bored with it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, it's helping you get what you need to go.

[SPEAKER_01]: Would you recommend to other people like when you find a good group, like keep those people around you or do you think you can just do a solo? [SPEAKER_02]: That's the obvious question. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's obvious to me. [SPEAKER_02]: You gotta keep the people around you because, I mean, at the end of the day, it's still things that you're responsible for as an individual, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: The only person who's gonna pass that test when you take the test at you, for example. [SPEAKER_02]: But the people around you, they help a lot, man. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, it just helps you a lot. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because even watching you from a family like me and Mark doing this thing, man, I gotta do this or I gotta do that or not talk to you about the, and we gonna get to it the things that you're doing with respect to tech.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, man, when I was doing that 26, I went doing 9, 25, 26, 24. [SPEAKER_01]: I literally wasn't doing that. [SPEAKER_01]: He was running these streets literally, and I think he was creating a literally run the streets like, so that's kind of the life I was living, you know, so, okay, you're in this, you're at program.

[SPEAKER_02]: great after the play I did the program in fact I was the playing was to get converted from that internship. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah and then I was going to be a contractor at a bank I'm gonna say the name but it was at a bank good bank and I made a lot of good connections there you know me and it just was taking a long time like I had graduated the program and I was still networking and [SPEAKER_02]: just to see who was hiring.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was letting people know what shirts I had, but I was trying to do. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was interviewing. [SPEAKER_02]: So I ended up finding something else. [SPEAKER_02]: Because of a referral, and it had a work in my first company. [SPEAKER_01]: And you only got the referrals and everything because you was working so hard in that, and your reprogram, and it was like, I'm gonna take care of you. [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I'm saying?

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of what happened, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and they saw what I was doing, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: And I was able to articulate it too, like, when I would go to whatever event. [SPEAKER_02]: I will let them know. [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, this is what I'm working on. [SPEAKER_02]: This is what I focus on. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I see you looking for this. [SPEAKER_02]: You're high for that work. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's not like hell.

[SPEAKER_02]: So close miles don't get fair, basically. [SPEAKER_02]: For the absolute guided, you got to know how to speak. [SPEAKER_02]: So, and then when you was interviewing, did you kind of tell them how you can help them or once they're short? [SPEAKER_02]: Asking the right questions, you know? [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's the most important. [SPEAKER_02]: Personally, for my experience, I feel like the question that you ask the most important.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, so like I remember interviewing and looking forward to saying, you got any questions for me because of course I do, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, of course I do and I would even try to like ask questions in between, you know, as we're going because I want to make a conversation, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, definitely be.

[SPEAKER_01]: The best advice I might ever told me, you know, ask them questions so you can know them, let them know like what you can do to help them, like, ask them not exactly. [SPEAKER_01]: I had this, I had it, this is what I can do, you know, so that's one of the best things to do. [SPEAKER_01]: So you got all that, and I know we went through a lot, but you did all this within a year, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So to the audience, is it possible, because you know we in a different tech market, just to kind of get it out the way, like, is it still possible to get a job in 90 days and if so, how would you do it? [SPEAKER_02]: Today, right now, in 90 days, how I would do it is I would be in there, I would be in there in this.

[SPEAKER_02]: Even still to this day, I'm running a job if it's on my phone, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, that's really the best way.

[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people apply to experimental online, and that's cool, I mean, you might get some callbacks if you do it enough, but the most effective way is going in person speaking, bringing that confidence, the energy, and, [SPEAKER_02]: face to face, you know me letting them know, hey, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm interested in, what you got going on because this is what I'm good at, you know me, that's how I can help.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good, or it's like, I'll never have been still good because you know I'm not all of them. [SPEAKER_01]: You know in DC, you know it's a lot of party I'm going on. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, not all of them, you know, not all of them, you know, not all of them, but, [SPEAKER_02]: You know, and you're not going to always be able to pick the right ones, but, you know, you've got to be outside, and you definitely, and this is just going to job, too.

[SPEAKER_02]: This is all, it's not just going to job, it's also if you have a business as well, you know what I mean, but yeah, you still got to get out of tape there. [SPEAKER_01]: So, so I hope the dome, like what networking events would you recommend for somebody to go, just trying to get in the space? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, right now, I will pay attention to it. [SPEAKER_02]: If you try to cloud AWS has stuff in the skill center on a regular, you know, so I will look out for those.

[SPEAKER_02]: Lately these days, I'm still working closely with Blacks inside of a security. [SPEAKER_02]: They grant, yeah, they are. [SPEAKER_02]: And they have virtual stuff too, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: But pay attention to these platforms, these online platforms, for a while, meet-up was really good for me, event break was good for me. [SPEAKER_02]: Nine days, people are starting migrate to boomer, I'm starting to see boomer's good.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, so I mean that too, just pay attention to the platforms. [SPEAKER_02]: and look out for those things and just see what's out there. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, just try it out, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_01]: So, I'm like, what is the hardest thing for people to get into cyber-skiddy right now? [SPEAKER_01]: The hardest thing right now? [SPEAKER_01]: What is the hardest part, what is the hardest part? [SPEAKER_01]: What is the hardest thing holding people back?

[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's two things, but the first thing really is, [SPEAKER_02]: It's talking to people, it's talking to people. [SPEAKER_02]: That's the first thing, man. [SPEAKER_02]: Because you got to ask what you want. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because even with me, man, I don't know a lot. [SPEAKER_01]: Like when I first started, before I started networking, even me, it seems like I'm good at talking to people, but really, I'm introverted sometimes.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what to ask, or sometimes I'm kind of iffy. [SPEAKER_01]: But at this point, I'll just ask, and I can't say coincidences later. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I would totally, you could tell me, no. [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's good. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So I agree. [SPEAKER_01]: So that's, and I think that's how you move now.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: and it is what it is, but you know you know you're intentionally, you know what you were trying to do. [SPEAKER_02]: It's not always going to work 100% a town, but don't try to get out of that perfectionist type thing like just do it, just do it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, so let me actually about like, so we're going to get into like, some kind of like cloud, like, yeah, so you just break down like, what is the cloud from your perspective?

[SPEAKER_02]: The cloud is really, I think it's a fancy term [SPEAKER_02]: It sounds hot, like it sounds, for while, you know, it's a tension crack, grab I guess, right? [SPEAKER_02]: But Cloud really is, [SPEAKER_02]: It's somebody else's computer as a service. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: You're able to use someone else's servers, for example, AWS, Amazon, they host a lot of web servers.

[SPEAKER_02]: It will really virtual machines that have all of these, all this computing power that you can run out. [SPEAKER_02]: And it's scale. [SPEAKER_02]: So if you have a business, you need some web apps running, you can go to them and they provide that infrastructure for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I don't know how you break it down in a simple terms, because there's a lot of data centers. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, data centers are becoming real. [SPEAKER_01]: There's actually a data center right now in the street for me. [SPEAKER_01]: You know? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like really right there, like literally. [SPEAKER_01]: So it's like, you see all these data centers being built out. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's where a lot of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the cloud. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's a lot of the data is being held in that place. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And the thing about people always talking about the cloud, they make it seem like it's new. [SPEAKER_01]: It's not new. [SPEAKER_01]: It's only been around for like, I think, 15 years. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but that's still new. [SPEAKER_02]: 15 years.

[SPEAKER_02]: I still think it's, well, when you compare it to, because like, man, they've been making computers for a long time. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, in 80s, that 90s, I mean, it's, I think all the stuff is new. [SPEAKER_02]: It's just to be real, like, all the stuff is just computer's period. [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, like, you're what you're saying, yeah, I feel you because it's not three years ago. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: It's not like, [SPEAKER_02]: You know, last year with two, three, like, now it's been, it's definitely come a long way. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I guess it depends with you, because I'll talk to some older folks. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they'll be like, man, that's new, man. [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, they'll be talking about that. [SPEAKER_01]: Or AI, like AI better. [SPEAKER_01]: Allegedly, they'd be like, AI better, else it's 90s, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, they'd be like, what are they talking about it now? [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so, I guess it's who you are, too. [SPEAKER_03]: It is, it is. [SPEAKER_01]: So, what is cloud security, and I know that I'm familiar with cloud security, I know what it is, but just to the audience, what is the cloud security? [SPEAKER_02]: It's securing a infrastructure in the cloud.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, if you view our business, right, and you have a lot of presence in Amazon, Amazon Web Services, AWS. [SPEAKER_02]: Cloud security is securing that infrastructure. [SPEAKER_02]: So make sure that you're in compliance. [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot of regulations out now to make sure that you're doing what you need to do in terms of securing your environment. [SPEAKER_02]: but it's pretty much making sure that your checks and balances are in place so that bad guys can't get in.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because even with me, I'm trying to look into self-posting now. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm certain things. [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people tell me they're hosted in like AWS or something like that. [SPEAKER_01]: And if you keep breakdown something to cloud platforms and also can you talk about some of the inherited security that some of those platforms already have that you might not have to worry about or Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm really from the most, I'm from me with this AWS. [SPEAKER_02]: do also have a drawer as well, but Amazon web services, they have stuff out of the box, security hub, but also a big piece of security in cloud is IAM. [SPEAKER_02]: So understanding what policies that you have set up and also your network infrastructure, so make sure that you're not even things out in the public that don't need to be out in the public.

[SPEAKER_02]: knowing how to scan for private keys and things like that in your infrastructure as cold stuff like that is really important. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's why a lot of these bigger companies, they're attacking, I mean, they're trying to create software. [SPEAKER_01]: And they're hiring people like us to make sure it's secure, because if some go wrong, it's a lot of money.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're a beginner in this space, and if you're a beginner in a cloud security space, what is one thing, what are some of the mistakes that people make? [SPEAKER_02]: overly permissive roles and permissions. [SPEAKER_02]: So, like, access control? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, access. [SPEAKER_02]: I am, like, just overly permissive stuff, given too much access to things that just don't need it. [SPEAKER_01]: So, so, how would you remediate that?

[SPEAKER_01]: I know you have things like CloudTrail to see who's auditing, you know, see who's going through the system, but how would you remediate that? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's scanning your network. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, there's platforms that are specifically designed to check for overly permissive roles, for example. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I recommend like, automated and stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you don't want to have to look and to everything, you know, one by one, and man, you be.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, go get those platforms, like, present them a cloud, the waves, the qualities, and stuff like that. [SPEAKER_02]: And you can scan for that kind of stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: Not just for vulnerabilities, but overly for Mr. Stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: Things that are in public, they don't need to be. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: I understand.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, so, like, [SPEAKER_01]: And when you're in the cloud environment and again, you know, a lot of people like to do things simple. [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have to learn coding to get in this space? [SPEAKER_01]: I know you have to tell me how to compute something. [SPEAKER_01]: You have to learn. [SPEAKER_02]: No. [SPEAKER_01]: No. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't have to get in. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't need to code. [SPEAKER_02]: But the level of it is good to know.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's good to know. [SPEAKER_02]: you know, I just was interviewing with force of position right now and they're looking heavy for it. [SPEAKER_02]: So, like, I'm starting to advance in my career and I'm noticing that they do want you to know how, you know, what Python is, what infrastructure's code is, you know, what is terraformed.

[SPEAKER_02]: But at the same time, there's a lot of tools out here now, AI tools, specifically that I hope you are on that process, you know, but not to get in, you do not need to know how to call. [SPEAKER_02]: I've been going, I've gone this long, I've been almost seven years strong. [SPEAKER_02]: and it hasn't been a requirement for me.

[SPEAKER_02]: But it has helped me in terms of making API calls and all the big little things when I needed to, but it's not a strict requirement, no. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so like, say if I'm a new person trying to get into your space, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: What would I need to get to become a cloud engineer or a cyber security engineer in that space?

[SPEAKER_02]: If you want to be a cloud engineer right now, so really a cost security engineer, it isn't so much entry level. [SPEAKER_02]: I wouldn't say that, okay. [SPEAKER_02]: But you can decide to say, you know what?

[SPEAKER_02]: Let me lock in and focus on the security plus because if you're brand new, if that's what you need, if someone's brand new, you least want to have some kind of, [SPEAKER_02]: guy, guy, point to what's some of the language in the verbiage that needs to understand, you know, what are some of the protocols and things in that nature. [SPEAKER_02]: So that way I'm familiar with what's going on.

[SPEAKER_02]: But then take that knowledge and then go and make an AWS account, make a Microsoft Azure account. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, try to stuff out. [SPEAKER_02]: We have tools now that you can move the AS [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I'm working on my skills. [SPEAKER_02]: I want to know how to build a network. [SPEAKER_02]: Give me a solution, so I can build it out. [SPEAKER_02]: You can do these kinds of things.

[SPEAKER_02]: And put it on your resume, go to a network and say, hey, this is what I've done. [SPEAKER_02]: And you're telling it to you, that's something that you've done, that's something you did. [SPEAKER_02]: You might've even got your security plus at that point. [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm certain it's security plus certified. [SPEAKER_02]: But you can get creative with that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now you can, and that's why a lot of people hold them back because it's like, you literally go to the championship. [SPEAKER_01]: So I know like sometimes like when you're getting training or something, you need somebody that's in the space to kind of like guide you to let you know, or you might need some pointers of what to look for, but literally you just type in chatGVT. [SPEAKER_01]: This is what I need to know, just to get the baseline. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's good to talk to somebody in the space too, just to get that second thing. [SPEAKER_02]: But it's a lot of content online, like if you find [SPEAKER_02]: You follow, and you're familiar with, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: You can kind of use that as a kind of a guy on light, but it's really good to know somebody that's in the space. [SPEAKER_02]: So hey, I'm trying to do this project. [SPEAKER_02]: Take a look at this, you know, what you think?

[SPEAKER_02]: No, I've done that. [SPEAKER_02]: I've had people talking to me. [SPEAKER_02]: So what is the deal of life of a clown security engineer? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, what do you do? [SPEAKER_02]: Man, so... [SPEAKER_02]: So you can do a lot of different things as far as cloud security engineering.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it's kind of a broad thing, you know, you have different folks areas for me. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm a cloud security engineer. [SPEAKER_02]: I've done quite a bit of work in it, but the way it really goes is, I specialize in knowing the product itself. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I work at tech companies that make cybersecurity products.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I just specialize in knowing the product [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I like the back of my hand, know how to communicate that, and then also coaching them through the process, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: That's really important. [SPEAKER_02]: So communicating right in those emails, know how to listen for things, you know, knowing the cues and in terms of, okay, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. [SPEAKER_02]: This is a priority for them.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean, that kind of thing. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, not, not, not, not, not, not, not, so it can be anything. [SPEAKER_01]: So it can be kind of like, you know, you get tickets. [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you get a ticket, you got a resolve. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: You didn't know in the product, you got to know it because you got to sell it sometimes. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: You didn't break it down to people.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you kind of like, you're smeing that way, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because I were closely with sales team, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: But so another class security engineer to your point, they could be just at one company and it just monitoring the tickets that are coming in and managing the infrastructure. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: Doing administrative work. [SPEAKER_02]: We'll come up with solutions to automate certain things.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like it just really depends, you know. [SPEAKER_01]: So why do you think Cloud in general is important? [SPEAKER_01]: Like why do you think Cloud security is important? [SPEAKER_01]: Do you think that's the field that everybody just needs to focus on? [SPEAKER_02]: I think, so I'll start with the first question. [SPEAKER_02]: Cloud Security is, it's just very relevant right now. [SPEAKER_02]: It's a lot of folks migrating to the cloud right now.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's easily accessible. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, one of the go-to examples I have is Netflix, like, they're holding infrastructure in the cloud. [SPEAKER_02]: And it's the reason for that, because they want things to be highly available. [SPEAKER_02]: You live in an economy, a global economy, where everybody wants things right now, right now. [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, you get mad if you don't have it right now, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Being in the cloud, it enables that availability, you know, so if you know how to build in it and help these companies or build in it yourself, you know, if you have an app or anything like that. [SPEAKER_02]: It's irrelevant skills, it's important, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's hard to inform, because like you said, this was that, a lot of these big companies can afford it.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's like, if you get with the big companies then you're good for life, yeah, that's what you want to do. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: As long as you need to do it. [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to go there, because you know, it can become a country, you know, in tech in general, if you don't know your knowledge, you know, you want to stay on point, you know, but yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to tell me about some of the tasks that you're doing as an in-cloud security in general. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so right now the main thing, the most of the tasks like day-to-day is emails listening to kind of clients knowing the requirement.

[SPEAKER_02]: and then also know how to follow up. [SPEAKER_02]: But I do a lot of troubleshooting on the backhand. [SPEAKER_02]: So like, I'm looking at a lot of logs. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm also like looking through my platform, because like I said, we do a science security product. [SPEAKER_02]: So what we do is a lot of the time, I'm just taking a look at, hey, we just did a deployment. [SPEAKER_02]: This isn't working, why isn't that working?

[SPEAKER_02]: What do I need to do to make it work, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: And a lot of the time, just because in that working, it's some kind of issue, you know what? [SPEAKER_02]: Some machine trying to connect, but it can't because it's something getting in the way of it. [SPEAKER_01]: No, God, so like, say if somebody's trying to get a job right, you're a hiring manager, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: What are some things that they're looking at so that they can like, okay, I think I should hire this guy, or if somebody's trying to come in, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Like, what did they look for? [SPEAKER_02]: Man, they look for somebody from my experience to be inquisitive. [SPEAKER_02]: So like somebody who really cares about what's going on and is willing to figure out how to solve whatever problem is popping up.

[SPEAKER_02]: So like, from what I know this, folks just really appreciate somebody that knows how to ask the right questions. [SPEAKER_02]: Like I was telling you, you know, because that's just shows that you're paying attention and it shows that you're trying to figure out, okay, what do we need to do next? [SPEAKER_01]: And also figure out things on your own, like, who would you do? [SPEAKER_01]: Because that's what I'm learning more now, and the more and more I grow, like, cloud.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have to learn the cloud, because even when my space, we have this thing that we're dead. [SPEAKER_01]: Some of our AJON's coining eight. [SPEAKER_01]: What's it called? [SPEAKER_01]: GRC Engineering and a lot of it is just cloud automations. [SPEAKER_01]: So even with me, I have to learn the cloud and learn that process myself. [SPEAKER_01]: So I have to learn coding and things like that. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's kind of self-study. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, all the main is important.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's man. [SPEAKER_02]: If you don't know how to automate or you're not automatically, I don't understand what you've seen and anyone who's just not automating it. [SPEAKER_02]: So you have to, you got to, yeah, it's some capacity. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: OK, so you've been working so you've been doing this for a while. [SPEAKER_01]: And also too, what are some certifications that the cloud engineer might need? [SPEAKER_01]: Well, a cloud security engineer.

[SPEAKER_02]: So one, I mean, you want to have a platform that you're good at, you want to start with something. [SPEAKER_02]: I started with AWS. [SPEAKER_02]: So I got my solution architect. [SPEAKER_02]: Before that, I got a cloud practitioner. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was already, I had already at that point. [SPEAKER_02]: I was doing a lot of hands on work with AWS anyway. [SPEAKER_02]: I had a lab where I would just do a lot of deployments.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would configure a lot of just different things. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm for the product that I was focused on at the time. [SPEAKER_02]: So I would just recommend, you know, pretty much focusing on those things.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so this focus on like one CSP or cloud service provider just kind of focus on that and get it get some search too I mean for me like because everybody's different some folks get that CISSP I haven't got my CISSP the security plus see why I say that was enough for me to really get that jump start And it says then I've been able to just you know build on my experience

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's good advice so yeah and also know Mark you've been kind of doing a lot of red team and stuff more lately you kind of been doing you know just doing projects and yeah he created respect to tech how did that how did that come about yeah so in the sort of red team and stuff that's completely with the the workshops that we do you know what I mean my day today I don't do any red team of my business partner he does a lot of it

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we build the workshops around pretty much folks that are interested, who want to understand cyber security, but from a hacker standpoint. [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, one of the basics, one of the first steps that someone would take if they wanted to do a penetration test, you know, and then just breaking those concepts down to a really understandable level, but also having a lab available.

[SPEAKER_02]: So folks can go in, you know, plump of vulnerability scan, you know, because we tell them what, hey, these are what vulnerabilities are, these are the basic network protocols, you want to be aware of, all that kind of stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: And we put it all over our lives into AWS. [SPEAKER_02]: So you can just go and get you the domain you log in. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so as you host to yourself, is that cheap? [SPEAKER_01]: No, is that cheap to host to yourself as well?

[SPEAKER_02]: It's cheap, it's not, it's not cheap. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, we turn it, so what we do is we don't have it just sitting in running. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you can't, if you want to, but what we do is when we have an engagement, we turn it on. [SPEAKER_02]: that folks, you know, do what they need to do, be demonstrate how to perform everything, and then we turn it off, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: But you got to watch your monitor.

[SPEAKER_02]: You got to monitor your billing for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because I'm doing it to that pretty slow and trust me, I'm working on some things now, and I got to host some stuff, so let's see. [SPEAKER_01]: It may be too much. [SPEAKER_01]: It turns as low expenses. [SPEAKER_01]: So I had that most like I hung out on the 50. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, because they don't want to expect to be a thousand. [SPEAKER_02]: Unless you forget to turn something off, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like that's the only thing is when you do one things and in these, when these platforms, on these cloud platforms, it's easy to forget the turn and stuff off. [SPEAKER_02]: and then they just rack up on a price. [SPEAKER_01]: So if you got, like, the same for example, if you got like a thousand users, what would that be, like, hefty? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, because it, so what happens is the more users you have, the more computer power you need.

[SPEAKER_02]: If, like, if you have a platform, right? [SPEAKER_02]: So something that's available for users to log in or do whatever they need to do. [SPEAKER_02]: So, [SPEAKER_02]: really most times if you have a thousand users, you're not going to just have one machine. [SPEAKER_02]: You want to have multiple things. [SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have some kind of scaling, all the scaling group, AWS, for example, some low balancing, all that stuff caused money.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it adds up in that way because you need more stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, okay, so you're doing these workshops and you're creating all this things, so what is respect to tech though, like what is it though? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, respect to tech, so we focus on education first, that's what we do, that's our bread and butter, you know, we started doing workshops and meetups, maybe, I start. [SPEAKER_02]: was really meet-ups.

[SPEAKER_02]: We meet-up, and we would have these different concepts, and we would go over them, specifically with cyber security, because that's my specialty on the engineering. [SPEAKER_02]: My business partner, you know, I team mostly work in cyber security, and now we focus on events.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, we just had a hackathon, you know, annual events, respect day, you know, you'll see that if you want an Instagram, and what we do is we focus on pretty much building an environment, a fun environment where you learn technical concepts. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm in a really practical way. [SPEAKER_02]: And that's really what we do. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what we do other things as well, I think. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, hold these conferences, DevCon, Go, TechCon, yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're doing capture the flags, but yeah, man, yeah, I'm doing y'all thing, man. [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I just want to make sure y'all know now they're for that. [SPEAKER_01]: Because a lot of these, a lot of some conferences, and no disrespect to no conferences or any meetups, the main thing is this education.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I feel like when our space is sometimes turning into a party, [SPEAKER_02]: You know, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean, yeah, it's a party now, so yeah, I know what you mean.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think, and that's one thing that I'm, we're focusing on, I'm focusing on this, we're shifting it from the focus being just networking. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, when you come to an event like respect day for example, you're going to be able to pick, okay, which challenge am I going to participate in? [SPEAKER_02]: You know, what am I going to get my hands on? [SPEAKER_02]: learning from, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Because that way when I walk away, I can say, hey, I'm talking to somebody. [SPEAKER_02]: I tried this with about you, you know, how was this when you tried the AI hacking challenge, for example? [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: How much money did you have in your account at the end? [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Because basically, we give away prizes, we give away, you know, a gift card, whoever won the challenge, you know, we do talk as well, you know, because it's important to give the message across. [SPEAKER_02]: The mindset is also really important, but we try to focus on the technique first, the tech first, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: So, what is one thing that you notice from educating a lot of people, like, a big wanna learn?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I feel like, I know people that, you know, I know people that came here still, they said, you, you are killed by the way, especially with the red team and the things like that. [SPEAKER_01]: But it's like they'll come and they know to stop. [SPEAKER_01]: Like, why do you think that people not continue? [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I think, some, it's not always that way, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Some folks take the initiative, some people, you know, I keep in contact with one of my bases. [SPEAKER_02]: But I think at the end of the day, what makes difference between someone who actually is persistent with what they're doing is the fact that they know why they started in the first place. [SPEAKER_02]: And they also were real with themselves about what it took to get to what they were trying to do. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Like it takes some work, it does take some work. [SPEAKER_01]: It just takes time because like for me, when I first got in, I applied for so many jobs, it took like a year or something. [SPEAKER_01]: But then eventually you get it, but when you get into it, you're like, dang, this is really cyber security, man. [SPEAKER_01]: And like this is like, this is what we saw before, like I'm losing my man, man. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, my girlfriend, too, she seemed me sometimes.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm just like, but sometimes, she'd be like, man, like, bro, I don't want to get in your field, you know what I'm saying? [SPEAKER_02]: And you figure out what I'm saying? [SPEAKER_01]: She'd forget this, man. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I can't get crazy. [SPEAKER_02]: I can't get crazy, I can't get crazy. [SPEAKER_02]: Because it picks up the pace picks up quick. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, things move fast.

[SPEAKER_02]: You got to keep up with it and sometimes people look at you crazy like why are you not in 10 o'clock at night working on something like that's why I like the proactive jobs still like I like the ones where I can be on top of my stuff so that way it's not like I'm always reacting to everything you know me that's the thing like you [SPEAKER_02]: You can choose which field you get into. [SPEAKER_02]: You can choose which niche you want to focus on.

[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you want to soccer roll sometimes, it's like, man, like, I just got all these tickets. [SPEAKER_02]: And when this hit came in, we just had this incident. [SPEAKER_02]: And I got to wait till all this is resolved. [SPEAKER_02]: I can't go anywhere, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Which is different than, you know, engineers just here to build stuff, and make sure everything's configured, you good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's like, well, I'm going at, I'm like, I'm doing the risk management.

[SPEAKER_01]: But at some point, it's too much. [SPEAKER_01]: I got to wait on people. [SPEAKER_01]: I got to wait on you to do this. [SPEAKER_01]: I got to wait. [SPEAKER_01]: And then when they don't get done, oh yeah, everything's playing on me, you know what I'm saying? [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm gonna get to a point where I can just go do it myself. [SPEAKER_01]: Without having like management, like getting on, yeah, it's the worst thing. [SPEAKER_01]: So I like what you do.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you kind of can kind of like you react. [SPEAKER_01]: So before you come, you see it come on. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. [SPEAKER_02]: That's the way I prefer to do things. [SPEAKER_02]: I try to be proactive. [SPEAKER_02]: Try to do it first, you know what I mean before I hatch. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, so. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so tell me too like what we're going at cyber security changing, you know, you got AI. [SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to take us out?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, man. [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to change them. [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to change our jobs. [SPEAKER_02]: but it's not going to take them. [SPEAKER_01]: Unless you let it. [SPEAKER_01]: Unless you allow it, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Because most companies, most companies can't and I say the top 10 companies, they can use AI really. [SPEAKER_01]: Because you're like, you can say it requires a lot of data. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of companies can't afford to use AI.

[SPEAKER_01]: So even with quantum rig, when you get to the quantum computing to help with AI, it's we're not ready for that stuff yet, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [UNKNOWN]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: But in pay attention though, you got a pay attention that was going on because, you know, we were talking about automation and, [SPEAKER_02]: Man, you got to pay attention to things that can be automated, because that's where AI really wanna take, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: It's the fact, which I think it should. [SPEAKER_02]: I feel like we should let the machines meet the machines. [SPEAKER_02]: In any of the humans.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you can automate it, because I know people in this industry, you know people too. [SPEAKER_01]: There's people that literally made it they business the automated so good, that they legit million multi-millionaires. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: I know people in a government space that automated it so well, or use AI ages before, he was in popular.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: They may be legit millionaires, they literally, I don't, I mean, on Instagram, they may be, you just, yeah, Dubai, they just be one of them. [SPEAKER_02]: I respect that, I respect it. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: That's the way that I mean, we're going to see more and more of that. [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to see more and more agents out here doing all kinds of different things that, you know, can be automated. [SPEAKER_02]: So why not?

[SPEAKER_01]: And also, what are some other tech trends? [SPEAKER_01]: I know we got quantum. [SPEAKER_01]: I know we can talk about cloud, what are you saying? [SPEAKER_01]: That people need to hop on. [SPEAKER_01]: Well other than AI and cloud? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean anything else. [SPEAKER_01]: Anything else you're saying? [SPEAKER_02]: Or you didn't think people would just focus on that? [SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, yeah, I would.

[SPEAKER_02]: As far as trend, trend, these trendy stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's really AI right now. [SPEAKER_02]: I've seen that way. [SPEAKER_02]: And the cloud is also relevant.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I think the most important thing really is like, [SPEAKER_02]: just know what you want to focus on, regardless of the trends, like for me, personally, I really like to, I like the client interaction, but I'm also really good with understanding the technical stuff and then articulating it to people, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: Consulting type work, you know, I think because it's that human aspect that's needed, people need someone that they could trust, that's a human being. [SPEAKER_02]: and they can feel, can get them in the right direction. [SPEAKER_02]: So, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's the number on the communication piece, because it's like, I know the stuff, but I got to figure out a way to break this down, so that the other person can understand.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you could have some businesses on for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: You know what, sure. [SPEAKER_01]: So, like, for people that's trying to get into cyber security, man, like, do you think that right now cyber security is for new people, or do you think it's for intermediate people? [SPEAKER_01]: Or, like, well, it depends. [SPEAKER_02]: For, okay, I'll speak for my experience. [SPEAKER_02]: When I started, I went and started doing cyber security.

[SPEAKER_02]: But, [SPEAKER_02]: The first thing I learned was in Cypher Security. [SPEAKER_02]: The first thing I learned was computer network, you know, it was network for protocols, it was subnetting, IP addressing, you know, you mean stuff like that. [SPEAKER_02]: And then that translated into me, seeing Cypher Security stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: and having the certifications, but even those certifications, all the stuff tied in together, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: So you can't technically get it into, like when my first job was a cybersecurity job, that's, it is possible. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't always have to do help this first. [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of folks recommend it, and I mean, that works for people too, you know, don't give me wrong, but it isn't always the case. [SPEAKER_01]: So this depends on how much you work. [SPEAKER_02]: For sure, for sure.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because it is depends, like, because I know people, I know people right now that's been trying to get in there two through years, and I'm like, man, like, what's going on? [SPEAKER_01]: Because they're like, you didn't get a training, but at some point, you got to end a training. [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: You got to go out on your own, because you're like, in this space, you got to kind of legit, figure it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like literally because they, even me, I got to spit up a BM where I got to practice with, I got to buck my hand a couple times until I get it, you know?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because that's how you learn, man, that's how you, because if you sit down and just read a book or watch a bunch of videos, what's that, you're not actually doing anything, it's like, you just watching everybody else do it, it's not going to really get anywhere, and you're not going to be able to speak to anything because you're watching everybody else. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like, I thought of this content creator as name as I show speed.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Like every day, you should come home at the work and this man will be in every place in Africa. [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, man, I'm watching this man. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, I gotta go there as a point, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: So that's the same thing. [SPEAKER_01]: You can watch them I have for Apple, but eventually you should go for your soul. [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly. [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_01]: See if you sell them and it's nothing like that. [SPEAKER_01]: So tell me about, is there anything else you want to lead the audience with when it comes to getting into cyber security or some advice to that you want to lead for them? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I would say the number one advice I would give is confidence. [SPEAKER_02]: It's confidence and also execution. [SPEAKER_02]: So knowing that you have the resources because there are resources out here today, you know?

[SPEAKER_02]: Don't let the information overload you as a lot available for sure, absolutely, but make a choice, execute, and then be confident in the fact that you can execute it. [SPEAKER_02]: So that way, when you go into these never-can-events, or when you have a conversation with people, you know exactly what you want, or at least you have a good idea, so that way you ask the right question. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and if you need some hope, now, just to the audience, man, make sure you check out our Armour for Academy. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you want to learn some wrist management, you go on Armour for Academy.io, and I teach you too, if you want to learn some stuff to get into cybersecurity. [SPEAKER_01]: Same with luck. [SPEAKER_01]: But Mark, there's not any like websites that you would recommend for them to learn.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so if you want to, so definitely take out respect to Tech.us, follow us on our social media, Instagram, I will also act upon LinkedIn. [SPEAKER_02]: But there's also a lot of line platforms. [SPEAKER_02]: A cloud group is a strong one that I personally have helped me because that's an inclercule group. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I know that website.

[SPEAKER_02]: They're good, they're good. [SPEAKER_02]: Because they have a cloud playground on there. [SPEAKER_02]: So once you make your account, [SPEAKER_02]: You can do a lot of labs, pretty much on their down. [SPEAKER_02]: And what it seems, because it spins up and it tears down as soon as you log out. [SPEAKER_02]: But I recommend that for sure. [SPEAKER_02]: Try hacking it goes another one that I used a lot when I first started.

[SPEAKER_02]: These are platforms that are online to publicly available 24.7. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean, to go from respect to seconds, why I've, you know, a platform in 24-7 as well. [SPEAKER_04]: You know what I mean, just come on. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but, you know, still right now, and today, definitely recommend those. [SPEAKER_02]: And then also make you a cloud account. [SPEAKER_02]: You're gonna do cloud security, make the cloud account, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_02]: And start building stuff, try new things. [SPEAKER_02]: And, yeah, you'll just go from there. [SPEAKER_01]: You just got to try it out because if you don't try it out, you don't know if it works for you and you just got to focus on one thing. [SPEAKER_01]: Then what can they find you? [SPEAKER_02]: They could find me on LinkedIn, on Instagram, Mark Mons on LinkedIn, and on Instagram you could find I said respect to Tech on the score.

[SPEAKER_02]: My Instagram is Mark A success, Mark on the score A on the score success. [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, that's where we most of the actors. [SPEAKER_01]: And so like, what's the last thing you want to leave the audience with? [SPEAKER_01]: Just in general, it could be a quote, it could be a statement, anything. [SPEAKER_01]: Respect it, too. [SPEAKER_01]: That's a good one.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so thank you more for coming on the podcast, I respect the tech man remember like the video subscribe to the channel comment down below If you're trying to learn about our math tests and controls cream documentation cream poems make sure you check out our MF Academy.io So thank you everybody for watching the podcast piece out. [SPEAKER_01]: I see you on the next one