How To Break Into Cybersecurity? Tips From An Electrical Engineer To Security Engineer

foreign welcome back to another episode of talk Tech with Tiff in this episode I sat down with Emily who is a security engineer at Amazon we spoke about her journey starting from when she studied electrical engineering and how her career path went into cyber security we also spoke about the demand for roles in cyber security different tips she has for entering the industry and also where she thinks cyber security is headed before we get into it though if you haven't already make sure to subscribe to my newsletter it's linked down below it's completely free which features unique job postings discounts career advice uh some personal tips for me and more okay let's Dive Right In [Music] welcome to entire career Journeys and current roles I created this series to hear from people who are established in the tech industry so that we can all learn what these individuals do in their day-to-day jobs and the type of opportunities out there hi Emily how are you I'm doing well how are you I'm good I'm so happy to finally meet you in person I am as you know a huge fan of y'all your videos so I feel like I'm I'm fangirling right now oh my gosh I have skin Girling on the way here thank you so much for having me on thank you I feel like you're one of the first people I followed with my stem Diaries account so like to actually meet you in person unreal oh my goodness I feel the same way I am that means a lot coming through because I just I think I love what you are doing and how you break down technical Concepts and um are educating so many so many people and we'll get more into that later but first of all congrats because you recently not too long ago landed a new job as a security engineer at Amazon I did yeah thank you it's been it's been a fun Journey it's like kind of crazy but yeah how many how long ago was that it was a few was it a few months ago it was so I started August 1st so what what is that now like almost November so two months three months has it gone by it has flown by it's been a great experience like definitely learning so much and yes like still adjusting sometimes but like it's still such an amazing place to be and learning a lot so that is awesome and I feel like we were speaking with us a little bit prior to to starting this video but just to you know be extra safe all of your views and or I'll let you say I'll let you say the quick Spiel like should I look at the camera yes serious time but yeah all of my views are like not reflective of Amazon's or anything they're all my own views yes own views and opinions own views and opinions yes of course um so what security engineer what does a day-to-day look like for you yeah so a lot of learning I do a lot of automation for my team like to just automate our processes and stuff like that so I use a lot of python and then I've learned SQL which I feel like Amazon's such a big company that you just face such interesting challenges and like interesting projects because of its scale so that's really cool yeah yeah it's such a large company and I'm sure there are so many different teams or areas that you can can focus in on that it's kind of like the opportunities probably feel Limitless in many ways as far as definitely how you want to grow your career and all of that definitely definitely and they're very open about like making sure you're happy in your team and yes and everything so that's yeah so security engineer how did you how did your give me a bit of your background how did you end up in security engineering all right so going all the way back yeah um so in college I applied for an externship at Morgan Stanley's cyber security team when I was a sophomore and I ended up doing that falling in love with cyber security um oh I probably should mention this earlier but I'm an I had a degree in electrical engineering yeah so not really cyber security related but um had this externship fell in love with cyber security um and kind of after that I knew I wanted to pursue a career in cyber security so I ended up doing an internship then my junior year of college and intertwining it was machine learning software development intertwined with cyber security I really liked that and then after that at Accenture doing cyber security Consulting and now in my current role cyber security security engineering and Amazon so going from electrical engineering into cyber security for your first internship was there anything that you had a kind of teach yourself prior to the internship or kind of on board with uh leading up to it yeah so I felt like I really had to learn a lot more coding skills and programming skills yes when I started it was kind of like in school I learned a little bit of programming but it's just so much so much more different when you're in the real world yes like here's a project solve it like there's no professors telling you like guiding you oh like this way is better like Yeah it's you're definitely just like thrown into the weeds so I don't know if that's the right site but thrown into the weeds I like it in the weeds and things I don't know you know what I meant yeah um but yeah so so how did you what did you find when you were for example leading up to that one internship how did you find what methods I guess you could say worked best for you for self-teaching that's a good question I learned the best doing things like when people explain things to me I'm like okay I'll pick things up and then I feel like once I start doing something I have like a thousand more questions and I feel like just do it completing projects really helped me um I mean like Google but yeah just like making mistakes and learning from them being like okay like this worked great why did it work or this didn't work why didn't work yes and figuring that out yeah it really helps when you were in that kind of and I'm sure you know and I say when but I'm sure you're still always learning as you know being in Tech but starting going continuing in that time frame did you have a mentor that you could kind of Bounce things off of or was it kind of just you like learning from different things online and and all that definitely learning online and I mean in my internships like my boss or I don't know if like when you're interning you have a boss but like the person yeah I reported to in the internship like was super supportive and like just really helped me along the way also so I felt like in a sense she was like my mentor um which was really nice yeah and she was also like we went to the same college but she was like she graduated before I started so it was like also that Bond that's nice yeah that bond that trust is yeah already yeah exactly um as I'm sure I mean of course you know but there's probably so many viewers who are watching this who are either interested in uh security engineering uh cyber security in different aspects and it's I don't know if I wrote down in my notes I don't think I did but the stats around how many jobs are needed for it and how oh my yeah the stats are insane insane there's so many so many rules that need to be filled and and one question I had for you is and uh if someone wants to get into one of the roles I guess so I know there's so many but either security engineering or other roles in cyber security uh do they need to go back to school for it or do you work with people who maybe come from different backgrounds even yourself starting with electrical engineering too yeah to know yeah so I feel like you don't necessarily have to have a background in cyber security like I feel like I've gotten that question on on Instagram a lot is like wait but you're an electrical engineer how are you in cyber security and I feel like these technical degrees or even if you don't have a technical degree but like if you're a good Problem Solver I feel like problem solving being a quick learner being a hard worker are like the ingredients that you need to be successful in a career in Tech and like very transferable skills because you're not ever going to know everything there's to know about any field in text so it's all about like how do you learn if you're quick at learning and and stuff like that yeah so yeah I agree and of course there is the technical side of being a security engineer of course but what are some of the common soft skills that you find yourself using oh definitely like communicating my What I've Done during projects like especially at Amazon like being able to communicate like here's what I've tried here's what didn't work like and I'll ask some people on my team like why do you think it didn't work but if you can't like communicate what you already tried then like you'll end up going in circles and I feel like communication has just been so important um not only at Amazon but like just in general in general yeah like in college too yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you a question that I didn't tell you I was gonna ask you but as I've been doing but I just came to I'm just I'm genuinely curious because I just like hearing people's career paths and where they're where they're going and I think a lot of times people don't know where they're going which is a beautiful thing as well but um as a security engineer what is what is a I'm gonna say typical if that's even a thing but what is a typical kind of career path for security engineers oh that's a good question I'm throwing you off I'm like adding questions in here [Laughter] um but typical career path for a security engineer I feel like you have people who are just like security Engineers yeah until they retire and then some people like go into more of the project management side and Leadership side of teams and so for me personally I don't know yet like which path is for me but right now I like where I am I like doing the technical side of things I felt like at my previous job it was less Technical and I kind of learned from that and I was like oh like I definitely like problem solving yeah so maybe like as I get older I'll want to get more into a project management sort of role it will evolve or it might evolve yeah yeah different ways yeah we'll see yeah I agree I think that's one of the My Favorite Things um about tech as a whole is that you can be in one role right now and your experience will be transferable to many other roles if you choose for it to be yes yeah I think that's amazing yeah so many opportunities so many opportunities and and kind of going back we talked spoke a little bit earlier about your social media and your videos and you know for myself I absolutely I I admire them I love them your your visual effects are oh my gosh your visual effects are just like next level like I'll literally just watch them over again I'm like I'm like this is amazing it's thank you it's a whole other skill and talent in itself so I think they're wonderful thank you but on that note why do you find it important to to share these videos and what made what inspired you really to start sharing about uh technical I keep on going back to Tech explained you have other videos as well of course but kind of getting into sharing your your experience in these videos yeah no I I do feel like most of my videos are mostly like Tech explains so yeah I feel like it's kind of two different sides to the first thing is that I feel like there's this stigma around Tech like that it's so complicated and I really want to have my videos break down these Concepts so like simply that people are like wait that makes sense to me and like kind of have that light bulb go off in their head and then also I really believe like you can be what you can't see and to have my social media platform be able to inspire other girls and women in Tech I think is such a powerful platform and experience to have and so I really want to use it for those two things and like have women and girls like especially like high school or college girls see my videos and be like wait that makes sense and like and relate to me as a human being and be like oh like I'm I'm like Emily I could be a I could be an engineer or I could be in Tech too yeah I totally agree and even too for and I don't know if you feel this way as well but for myself who's been in the industry for a while as yourself as well going online and seeing other creators like what you're creating and others it makes me feel because sometimes the journey can be a bit lonely you know and a bit like sometimes I don't as much anymore but sometimes questioning should I stay in Tech is this really right for me and and it's not because I'm not very passionate about my role and what I'm doing but there definitely is depending on the company you work on and whatnot um more often than not less women than than men and sometimes it feels a little bit lonely and going online and saying oh wait like Emily experienced this as well or it makes the journey a lot more less alone I guess you could say it does it does and I feel like the women in Tech Community on Instagram is just incredible like yeah I was talking to my my mom and I are really good friends so like yeah thank you so I was just talking to her she's like wow you've met so many women through your Instagram platform like that's so cool I was like took a step back I was like that is really cool like we do all and I feel like we all support each other like it's just such an incredible Community to be a part of I agree and so genuine too and and I think it's it's one of those things I who like even we were talking earlier about um how you now are very good friends with with Linda yeah and and that is through meeting on social media initially it's just you never know the relationships that will form and I mean who knows maybe later in your career working in the same company or different things like that which is really interesting yeah like you never know where you're gonna end up you never know where you're gonna end up exactly one other question I had for you is around where do you see the future of security engineering okay great question so I feel like security engineering is a fairly new field and Industry to be in so it's like as we get smarter so do the hackers and I think it's just so interesting to see the progression and just like as more gadgets are creative it leads to more vulnerabilities and more areas to be hacked and just like more in demand I feel like right now as you're saying earlier like security is so in demand and it's just going to keep getting more and more of a necessity to have people in the field but I just think it's so interesting I was listening to I don't know if you listen to the dark net Diaries no but I've heard really good things about the podcast I've but I love it to it yeah yeah and they just like it's all about cyber security um and this one episode was all about this guy who's a pen tester um in case the the viewers or listeners don't know what pen testing is it's um short for penetration testing it's where you're kind of like a good hacker and you see where the where the vulnerabilities are in devices and and software and and stuff like that but so this guy was saying he was pen testing children's toys okay and all my ears perked off I was like what's there to like pen test yeah in a children's toy and it was this baby doll again I was like where is the story going like yeah so random but this baby doll used Bluetooth to say like Google Gaga and these different words and he was saying that there's this attack called a replay attack relay attack relay attack and it's where you can record the signal that's transmitted to these devices through Bluetooth and so then without using the remote control so like for example your car key sends a signal to your car to unlock it you could record that if you're like a malicious hacker yeah and open up someone's car in the parking lot by replaying that signal and so what this guy found was by using this attack on the baby doll he could make it say like goo goo gaga which not that interesting but the interesting part was that some of the signals he sent took up more computing power than other signals and what would happen is the ones that took up more computing power would make it the doll hotter and if he kept sending them it could get so hot it could potentially like burn a child which I thought was such an interesting application and so he that's what he presented to the company of this like children's toy but I'm just like you wouldn't ever think about that you wouldn't just hearing cyber security so I that's like what amazes me about the field is like there's so much from the surface that you can't see yes I thought when you started this story it was going to go something in the direction of that uh that you know you could spy on the children using the toy or something like that yeah I did not expect it to take that turn at all right wow yeah unexpected it is and when I think when I think you know hackers and like the movies and all of that right but which which is not accurate I understand but I think I always think digital I always think I don't think like that where it has a physical impact like an immediate physical impact on someone or and I'm sure we'll see maybe if I'm totally off just let me know but do you maybe more of that with even uh Vehicles as well as they continue to get smarter and smarter than the hackers can kind of yeah definitely so interesting wow it's interesting you're in a field that yeah you're always learning and discovering now yeah so do you think kind of on that note some some traits of people who are looking to get into uh security engineering once again aside from the technical and I know you talked about the soft skills as well but being curious sounds like it's definitely another one or continuing wanting to continue to learn definitely definitely I feel like that's been such a big part of my career is just being curious and also with social media I feel like I'm always curious about like oh I heard this concept at work what does that mean like Googling I'm like hmm maybe my audience would find this interesting too okay like there's a video topic to explain this topic um but yeah I feel like just being curious and and being like wanting to learn yes is so important like I felt like I was always like loved learning growing up and it's really helped me in my career yeah on that note of learning how do you find the time or how do you balance the time you know full-time job creating content you know maintaining a social life of course and and self-care how do you how do you and then learning on top of that how do you find the time or how do you balance things I feel like I really love creating content so to me that doesn't feel like work yep and honestly same with I mean obviously my job is work but I feel like I enjoy what I do so it's never like I mean some days you're just like whoa that was a busy day and it's a lot but I never I rarely feel burnt out from my career and social media so it's like I do still have the energy to do things I feel like I'm very lucky like that that I enjoying like and passionate about my career and social media and stuff like that I love that and I think it too A lot of that goes back to really enjoying what you do and choosing something you're passionate about because yes there are days where they're long and tiring of course but overall it's you're passionate about enjoying it and it doesn't exactly burn you out as quickly at least or if at all exactly yeah oh that's great Emily I always end these conversations around advice that you would give to your younger self what advice would you give to your younger self I feel like I would tell my younger self like you're gonna have good days and bad days especially in college like my test grades some of them were not were not great but it's like you have to keep pushing through and like I think being curious going back to being curious like getting a bad Tasker and being like okay like why did I get this wrong and learning from your mistakes it's so important and just like pushing through and knowing that like you have blips in the road but at the end like your goal is your goal and you'll get there sort of thing um and then also just exploring different fields and like if I didn't have that externship at Morgan Stanley with for cyber security like I would have never had a career in cyber security and it was just I remember filling out the application I was you could apply to five and I was like I don't know anything about cyber security but I'll give it a shot and yeah here we are so I feel like just being curious and exploring and stay curious yeah yeah exactly and not being afraid to ask questions yes I feel like it's a big one too like asking questions doesn't mean you're not intelligent like it means you are intelligent if you have questions so I agree I agree that's something I still have to remind myself I feel like me too especially when starting a new job as we both did recently I I sometimes it seems to be like you go into and then part of me is like Tiff you should know it all it's like wait no no no they want you to ask questions because that means you care and you're curious and and all that but definitely stay curious I love that Emily thank you so much for taking the time to to connect with me it was great to hear about your journey about security engineering uh and for everyone watching I linked Emily's socials down below so make sure to go check her out I'm sure all of you have already but if not go say hi thank you so much for having me on this has been amazing thanks Emily I'll talk to you soon foreign [Music]

Channel: Tiff In Tech

Views: 27,627

Keywords: How To Break Into Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineer To Security Engineer, tiff in tech, tech interviews, cybersecurity for beginners, information security, cybersecurity careers, cyber security career, careers in cybersecurity, cybersecurity jobs, cyber security training, cyber security careers, getting into cyber security, cyber security jobs, information technology, cyber security for beginners, cyber security course, how to get a job in cybersecurity

Id: cIRQZmCLENs

Length: 23min 9sec (1389 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 20 2023