#Small Studyblr Network

[shlrleystudies]

Tonight's setting

[studyupmarianne]

Found some really old medical books in a friend's lab today ❤

I really like those kind of old illustrations, I think that modern medical books tend to focus on realism a little too much and sometimes you just need a simple drawing in order to understand something

[nuitnostalgic]

100 days of productivity: day one

Hello my name is Tania, I’m 23 and I’m studying neuroscience. I’m using this account as my little academic journal/diary to hold me accountable for my goals.

To do list for today:

1. Go to work

2. Go to class, I had biology.

3. Go to gym

4. Clean kitchen

5. Study 4hrs: Biol 226

6. Duolingo: let’s keep up the 547 day streak

All has been accomplished🫶🏾

[cyberstudious]

A Beginner's Guide to Learning Cybersecurity

I created this post for the Studyblr Masterpost Jam, check out the tag for more cool masterposts from folks in the studyblr community!

(Side note: this post is aimed towards the technical side of security, rather than the governance/management side, because the tech stuff is what I'm familiar with.)

Where do I start?

Cybersecurity is a specialization of general tech & therefore builds on some concepts that you'll need to know before you can dive deep into security. It's good to have a background in and understand:

how computers & operating systems work

how to use Linux

computer networking & basic protocols

If you're serious about learning cybersecurity, it can be helpful to look at certifications. Even if you don't want to get certified or take the exam (they can get expensive), they provide you with a list of topics that you can use to guide your self-study. And if you want to find a job, a certification is practically required for getting your foot in the door.

I personally recommend the CompTIA series of certifications, because they're well-recognized and I think they expose you to a good breadth and depth of material to get you started. Start with the A+ certification if you have zero tech background. Start with the Network+ certification if you've never taken a networking course. Once you get your basic computer and networking knowledge down, then you can jump into security. The Security+ is a good starting point.

Do I need to know how to code?

No, but it would be really really helpful. You don't have to be a skilled software engineer, but understanding the basics and being able to write small scripts will give you a solid foundation.

From Daniel Miessler's post How to Build a Cybersecurity Career:

You can get a job without being a programmer. You can even get a good job. And you can even get promoted to management. But you won’t ever hit the elite levels of infosec if you cannot build things. Websites. Tools. Proofs of concept. Etc. If you can’t code, you’ll always be dependent on those who can.

How do I gain skills?

Play Capture the Flag (CTF) games.

Stay up to date with security news via an RSS reader, podcasts, or whatever works for you. Research terms that you're unfamiliar with.

Watch conference talks that get uploaded to YouTube.

Spin up a VM to practice working with tools and experiment on your own computer.

There are lots of brilliant, generous people in cybersecurity who share their knowledge and advice for free. Find their blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Look for local meetups in your area.

I'm still relatively new to the field, but I have a general knowledge of lots of different things, so feel free to send me an ask and I can probably help point you to some resources. We're all in this together!

Previous Cybersecurity Masterposts

An Introduction to Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Book Masterpost

Free Cybersecurity Learning Resources Masterpost

Masterpost of Study Tips for Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Tools Masterpost

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the #StudyblrMasterpostJam this week! It was wonderful to see what other studyblr folks are passionate about. The jam technically ends today but there are no official rules, so if you've been thinking about writing a masterpost, this is your sign!

[heart-ghost-studyblr]

This one has an interesting story. It was in a place where we shared files through a shared data server locally (localhost only), so there was no network access to use the famous "I love PDF" or software like Adobe to convert and make some changes.

With that in mind, I used the PyPDF library to make a code that changes like converting, splitting, merging, and set it up on the server for people to use. Everyone loved both how the program worked and the crazy aesthetic that I made it and my boss approved. Well, problem solved! And fun too, I must say. And since this is a Studyblr, I have to mention how worthwhile it is to study a library you've never seen before but that seems to do everything you need at that moment. Putting a small project into practice, seeing how people react to it, then studying and improving it in a way that reflects your own growth. That was made with Django Web Framework.

[studynwrite]

091022 | colby actually posting study content? shocking, i know. but have some photos of some notes/book for my class on the canterbury tales.

[its-soil-not-dirt]

✨ s w e e p s p r o j e c t ✨

— had trouble getting this project done and it’s still not

— but i’m calling it here since it’s the end of the year already

— in two days, i will be presenting work to designers and other people in the industry at nyc

— in exactly a week, i will be walking at commencement

— in maybe nine days, i’ll be moving into housing for a summer stock for the next three and a half months

— and after all that, i have no clue what i’m doing

[geographicas]

learning how to work with GIS is proving to be a lot more fun and easier than i expected!

[oxfd-studies]

Duke Humphrey’s Library, the Bodleian, Oxford. May 2019.

Re-uploading these because I finally figured out how to format them!! I will never stop being grateful for the chance to study here.

[sagittarius-studies]

25.4.21 // planning my first thematic chapter. ive been much chiller about my phd ever since ive decided i dont want to stay in academia. i dont feel the crushing pressure of having to know everything under the sun about my field, and pleasing my supervisors and other people in the uni has become just a practicality rather than grounds to build self esteem upon. ive also gotten a referral to the psychiatrist because the initial screening for adhd my gp had me do showed i was struggling a lot. excited to see how it all will pan out...

study plan: @earthbound-madness

[study-revolution]

jan 18th, 2020

missing my trips to budapest and local bookstores. my portland shops are still closed, so it’s no cafe trips and coffee for me just yet. studying will have to be confined to my desk for now, but hey. least I’m saving money.

currently listening: the magnus archives season four

[shlrleystudies]

my go-to pizza at uni (recipe below)

tomato + spinach veggie pizza

ingredients:

naan bread

tomato sauce

red onion

tofu

cheese

spinach

vegetable oil

salt + pepper

chili flakes (optional)

parsley flakes (optional)

steps:

add onto the naan bread in the following order: tomato sauce, red onion slices, tofu crumbles, grated cheese, spinach

drizzle some vegetable oil on top

bake at 300 degrees C for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted

add salt, pepper, and (optional) chili flakes and parsley

enjoy!!

[studyupmarianne]

6.09.23 - Some microbiology notes 🧫

[just-rolling-at-this-point]

Hi! So Its been a while but I've been settling into my placement area! I'm currently in community and I feel like I'm learning so much. It's sparked curiosity for more knowledge. So I'm spending my day doing that with snow falling outside.

[cyberstudious]

An Introduction to Cybersecurity

I created this post for the Studyblr Masterpost Jam, check out the tag for more cool masterposts from folks in the studyblr community!

What is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is all about securing technology and processes - making sure that the software, hardware, and networks that run the world do exactly what they need to do and can't be abused by bad actors.

The CIA triad is a concept used to explain the three goals of cybersecurity. The pieces are:

Confidentiality: ensuring that information is kept secret, so it can only be viewed by the people who are allowed to do so. This involves encrypting data, requiring authentication before viewing data, and more.

Integrity: ensuring that information is trustworthy and cannot be tampered with. For example, this involves making sure that no one changes the contents of the file you're trying to download or intercepts your text messages.

Availability: ensuring that the services you need are there when you need them. Blocking every single person from accessing a piece of valuable information would be secure, but completely unusable, so we have to think about availability. This can also mean blocking DDoS attacks or fixing flaws in software that cause crashes or service issues.

What are some specializations within cybersecurity? What do cybersecurity professionals do?

incident response

digital forensics (often combined with incident response in the acronym DFIR)

reverse engineering

cryptography

governance/compliance/risk management

penetration testing/ethical hacking

vulnerability research/bug bounty

threat intelligence

cloud security

industrial/IoT security, often called Operational Technology (OT)

security engineering/writing code for cybersecurity tools (this is what I do!)

and more!

Where do cybersecurity professionals work?

I view the industry in three big chunks: vendors, everyday companies (for lack of a better term), and government. It's more complicated than that, but it helps.

Vendors make and sell security tools or services to other companies. Some examples are Crowdstrike, Cisco, Microsoft, Palo Alto, EY, etc. Vendors can be giant multinational corporations or small startups. Security tools can include software and hardware, while services can include consulting, technical support, or incident response or digital forensics services. Some companies are Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), which means that they serve as the security team for many other (often small) businesses.

Everyday companies include everyone from giant companies like Coca-Cola to the mom and pop shop down the street. Every company is a tech company now, and someone has to be in charge of securing things. Some businesses will have their own internal security teams that respond to incidents. Many companies buy tools provided by vendors like the ones above, and someone has to manage them. Small companies with small tech departments might dump all cybersecurity responsibilities on the IT team (or outsource things to a MSSP), or larger ones may have a dedicated security staff.

Government cybersecurity work can involve a lot of things, from securing the local water supply to working for the big three letter agencies. In the U.S. at least, there are also a lot of government contractors, who are their own individual companies but the vast majority of what they do is for the government. MITRE is one example, and the federal research labs and some university-affiliated labs are an extension of this. Government work and military contractor work are where geopolitics and ethics come into play most clearly, so just… be mindful.

What do academics in cybersecurity research?

A wide variety of things! You can get a good idea by browsing the papers from the ACM's Computer and Communications Security Conference. Some of the big research areas that I'm aware of are:

cryptography & post-quantum cryptography

machine learning model security & alignment

formal proofs of a program & programming language security

security & privacy

security of network protocols

vulnerability research & developing new attack vectors

Cybersecurity seems niche at first, but it actually covers a huge range of topics all across technology and policy. It's vital to running the world today, and I'm obviously biased but I think it's a fascinating topic to learn about. I'll be posting a new cybersecurity masterpost each day this week as a part of the #StudyblrMasterpostJam, so keep an eye out for tomorrow's post! In the meantime, check out the tag and see what other folks are posting about :D

[ukrainianstruggles]

let's fall in love for the night