In the latest episode of Redefining CyberSecurity, host Sean Martin speaks with co-authors Tyler Wall and Jarrett Rodrick about launching and advancing a SOC analyst career, providing insights into necessary skills, job market strategies, and the impact of automation. Their practical advice and personal stories offer invaluable guidance for anyone looking to break into or grow within the cybersecurity field.
Guests:
Tyler Wall, CEO, Cyber NOW Education
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerewall
On YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@cybernoweducation
Jarrett Rodrick, Sr. Manager, Threat Management at Omnissa [@WeAreOmnissa]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarrett-rodrick/
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Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/sean-martin
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Episode Notes
In the latest episode of Redefining CyberSecurity, host Sean Martin converses with Tyler Wall and Jarrett Rodrick, co-authors of "Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career: A Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success." The discussion dives into the essential aspects of starting and advancing a career as a Security Operations Center (SOC) analyst, shedding light on the realities and opportunities within the cybersecurity landscape.
Tyler Wall, a full-time cybersecurity professional and founder of CyberNow Education, highlights that entering the SOC analyst role doesn't necessarily require a college degree. Wall emphasizes the importance of certifications like Security+ and Network+, combined with real-world IT experience. The discussion points out that many successful SOC analysts have transitioned from desktop support roles or other IT positions, using these pathways to gain relevant experience and knowledge.
Jarrett Rodrick, formerly a SOC lead at VMware and now overseeing multiple security teams at Omnissa, underscores that this field values practical skills and continuous learning. Rodrick's own journey from combat soldier to SOC manager exemplifies the diverse backgrounds from which professionals can emerge. He points out that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cybersecurity job market was robust, but now there is fiercer competition with many qualified candidates vying for roles.
Wall and Rodrick discuss the structure of their book, which includes five real-world stories from various SOC analysts. These stories serve to inspire and provide practical insights into the everyday challenges and rewards of the role. The book also covers the technical and non-technical skills necessary for SOC analysts, such as curiosity, the ability to delve into rabbit holes of information, and a thorough understanding of cloud security.
Networking and community involvement are vital for career growth, as highlighted by Wall. He advises aspiring SOC analysts to join groups like DEF CON, 2600, and online communities such as Black Hills Information Security to build connections and gain industry insights. Blogging about one's learning journey and challenges can also attract attention and establish a professional network.
The conversation also touches upon the future of the SOC analyst role, particularly in light of advancements in automation. Rodrick notes that while automation will handle some of the more mundane tasks, it will never completely replace human analysts. These tools are designed to enhance efficiency and allow analysts to focus on more complex and strategic issues. Wall adds that having a background or education in cloud security is increasingly important as more companies migrate to cloud environments.
In summary, the episode provides a comprehensive overview of the SOC analyst career path, highlighting the need for practical skills, continuous learning, and community engagement. Wall and Rodrick's insights and recommendations serve as a valuable guide for anyone looking to enter or advance in this critical cybersecurity role. Their book, "Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career," is a testament to their commitment to supporting the next generation of SOC analysts and promoting a secure digital world.
Key Questions Addressed
About the Book
The frontlines of cybersecurity operations include many unfilled jobs and exciting career opportunities.A transition to a security operations center (SOC) analyst position could be the start of a new path for you. Learn to actively analyze threats, protect your enterprise from harm, and kick-start your road to cybersecurity success with this one-of-a-kind book.
Authors Tyler E. Wall and Jarrett W. Rodrick carefully and expertly share real-world insights and practical tips in Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career. The lessons revealed equip you for interview preparation, tackling day one on the job, and setting long-term development goals.This book highlights personal stories from five SOC professionals at various career levels with keen advice that is immediately applicable to your own journey. The gems of knowledge shared in this book provide you with a notable advantage for entering this dynamic field of work.
The recent surplus in demand for SOC analysts makes Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career a must-have for aspiring tech professionals and long-time veterans alike. Recent industry developments such as using the cloud and security automation are broken down in concise,understandable ways, to name a few. The rapidly changing world of cybersecurity requires innovation and fresh eyes, and this book is your roadmap to success.
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Resources
Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career: A Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success - 2nd Edition (Book): https://amzn.to/3MRUFbW
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Book | Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career: A Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success | A Conversation with Authors Tyler Wall and Jarrett Rodrick | Redefining CyberSecurity with Sean Martin
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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Sean Martin: [00:00:00] And hello everybody. You are very welcome to a new episode of redefining cybersecurity here on ITSP magazine. I am Sean Martin, your host. And as you know, if you listen to the show, I get to talk to cool people about cool topics, all in support of, uh, raising awareness for security. Programs for the business that not only enable the business, but enable it securely, uh, helping it generate and then protect the revenue and market share that it creates.
And one of the key roles, one that I'm very fond of, probably more so than the CISO role. In fact, I think there's a lot of pressure on the CISO role, but, uh, the, the SOC analyst, uh, does a lot to protect the business and, um, the never ending change of. and scope and environment and all kinds of fun stuff that they have to consider.
And the tools change, [00:01:00] change the game a bit. Uh, business changed the game and there's a lot going on. And, uh, That's assuming you even get in the role in the first place. So we're going to talk a bit about that. So, uh, I'm thrilled to have two authors on, uh, Tyler Wall and Jarek Roddick. Roderick, how are you guys?
Tyler Wall: Doing well. Thank you, Sean. Outstanding.
Sean Martin: Good, good to have you on the show. And your book is Jumpstart Your SOC Analyst Career Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success. Uh, freshly off, uh, the printing press and, uh, congratulations guys on that. I'm bringing
Tyler Wall: Thank you very much.
Sean Martin: And before we get into all the, uh, all the fun stuff about the book, let's talk about the fun stuff about, uh, the two of you, uh, what you're up to your role and, uh, then we'll, then we'll kick it into gear.
Tyler, are you up?
Tyler Wall: All right. Yeah. So I work full time in cyber security and in the sock analyst, uh, role. Uh, [00:02:00] but I also have my own company, cyber now education, which, uh, provides training material, um, courses and, and this book is a product of it as well. And, um, you know, we. We try to, uh, to help folks that are just coming in because folks helped us when we just started.
So that's what we do.
Jarrett Rodrick: Love
Sean Martin: it. And Jarrett?
Jarrett Rodrick: Yeah. So, uh, I've made the jump from SOC analyst to SOC manager, um, and now more of a, uh, uh, more of a director role as it were. Um, I am. Was formerly the sock lead of VMware for the U. S. Sock, uh, took over as a senior manager at VMware post acquisition from Broadcom.
Um, obviously Broadcom has his own sock. So, uh, looking to divest actually, uh, new company is called Omnissa. Uh, formerly the end user computing division of VMware is being divested. Um, and I'm taking over [00:03:00] the. The SOC, the Incident Response Team, the Forensics Team, Red Team, and Vulnerability Management Team for Omnissa.
That's, that is, uh, what's happening in my world. Uh, formerly, uh, Army Cyber, and that's where I came from. And I've been with VMware ever since I retired from the Army.
Sean Martin: I appreciate, uh, your service there and Yeah, I think lots of folks know, uh, no one probably use some part of VMware in some capacity. That touches a lot of things, and I can only imagine the stuff you've seen in that talk. Uh, all right, so let, let's get into, uh, into the book. Um, I guess what you mentioned, Tyler, that a lot of it was kind of driven by some of the work you're doing with the, uh, the, the training you offer and, and helping folks get involved.
But to have content and to have an idea is one thing to actually bring it to life [00:04:00] in the form of a book is another, uh, talk to me a bit about how that all came to be.
Tyler Wall: Yeah. So it started about, uh, about three years ago I was actually doing the Dave Ramsey. Are you familiar with Dave Ramsey?
Sean Martin: No, I'm not.
Tyler Wall: Okay. Well, he is a, he's kind of a guy that helps people, uh, build wealth and everything. So he has his whole plan about, uh, about these steps that you take. So I was looking for like a side hustle. that I could do to, um, to really kind of build my, my income and everything. And scrolling through some internet websites and I came across an ebook and I just had this, this, this aha moment.
It's like, I was gonna, you know, I, I, I'm in the kind of entry level role at the time and. And I know a bunch about it. I could help people get started. There's a big demand for it. And, and, uh, so one thing led to another, I, I shot off, um, ideas to publishers and a couple of them got back to me and they were really interested in the book and the [00:05:00] idea and, and everything.
And at the time I was just kind of. starting at VMware with with Jarrett Roderick and I asked him to come on board with the book and he's like, yeah, I'd love to help you people too. So, uh, we just kind of got together, put our heads together and spent, uh, the next, um, I don't know, what was it? I don't know, five or six months writing the first edition of the book.
Um, and that came out and it was, it was a good start to this, but, uh, the second edition surely is an improvement over everything. We added three new chapters, uh, We update all the information, you know, cause as three years gone by, that's a long time in the industry. So a lot changed and we updated a lot of information.
We added some quizzes and some new graphics and some, you know, some, some, some, uh, like I said, new chapters and everything. And, and we, we spent another few months together, put together the second edition, which just came out, but. Really, it was driven, but it really, it was driven by the desire to kind of give back to the [00:06:00] community because, uh, I'm not sure how, how, how, how the community gave to Jared, but the community gave to me a lot, um, especially when I first started folks like Dave Kennedy and.
And I could just go on a list of just numerous people that just helped me out when I first started. And I wanted to do something to give back to the community as well. And, you know, there's no, there's no big money in writing books. You do it, you do it because you, you like to write and you want to give back.
And, and so that's what we did. Um, and that's kind of how the book came to be.
Jarrett Rodrick: Yeah, from my side, uh, it was a COVID project, one, but two, uh, I saw this opportunity to really add a, uh, a way for veterans to jump into cybersecurity for just show my story of how, you know, one, I started off in the military as a combat soldier.
I did not do anything in technology, um, [00:07:00] to go from that and move into cyber security realm, um, inside the military and then to get out and, and jump into a, you know, fortune 100 company like VMware, um, was a blessing. And I, I saw a path into that realm that others could take that not, that wasn't necessarily, um, you know, required that didn't necessarily require the same level of education that, you know, college graduates need.
So I wanted to represent that for the veteran community. And when Tyler approached me with the book, that's the first thing I asked was like, can I represent? The, the veteran path in, and he agreed. And that's, that was my goal.
Sean Martin: So talking about paths, um, I'm reading here that it tells five stories, clearly you're one, um, Tyler, were you, were you a second story and, and what were the other [00:08:00] three?
Tyler Wall: Well, no, we, we, we, there's little bits and pieces of information about our story inside the, inside the first part of the book, but those are, there's, those are other sock analysts that we found in the community that wanted to To kind of give their stories. So we're not included in another spot. Those are five additional people that, that we got from the community to give their story.
Sean Martin: And can you, can you give an overview of, I mean, you can name them if you want. That's fine too. But just, uh, I'm, I'm curious, is it different types of organizations they represent, or do they come from different parts of the world, kind of paint a picture for who, who those stories come from? Cause like, like Jarrett's coming from military and entering is an interesting story and one, I think a lot of people need to hear, and I suspect some of the Of the actual five have some of those elements as well.
So if you can share some of that, that'd be great.
Tyler Wall: Yeah. So we have, um, It's, it's a very diverse group of, of people [00:09:00] that, that wanted to contribute to the, the book we have. We have people coming from college backgrounds, we have people coming that were self-taught. Um, we have people that were, uh, veterans that came through, and we have people that, that, um, you know, just, just kind of, uh.
Came from other areas, IT as well. Um, I guess those are the four primary backgrounds that they came from.
Jarrett Rodrick: The five stories are actual like real world stories of what happened in the SOC. Uh, to go back to my story coming from the military and my journey into the SOC and then Tyler's journey into the SOC, those are told throughout the chapters of this is, this is how we, uh, learned.
Our, our skillset. And this is what we did to better our skillset to get into the field. Um, here are resources for veterans. Here are resources for new college graduates, stuff like that. And that's, that's literally throughout the book of the different chapters.
Sean Martin: Nice one. [00:10:00] And what, um, are there any misconceptions, um, for what newbies or folks who want to enter the, uh, enter this space might think they need, I don't know, the one that comes to mind.
For myself is you have to have a coding background, right? You have to know stuff. I don't know if that's true or if that's a misconception or if there are other things that, that, uh, you uncover that and share in the book along those lines. I guess
Tyler Wall: the biggest misconception is that you need a college degree to.
to become a sock analyst. And that's just not true. Um, you know, you want to stack the cards in your favor, of course, as much as you can. If you can get a college degree, that's great. It'll help you, but it's not required. Um, you know, a couple of certification security, security plus, maybe a network plus, uh, certification would go a long way and have an actual real world experience in other areas of I.
T. So some of the [00:11:00] strategies you stack. That new people trying to get into cyber security might take is they might take a they might take a desktop support role or another area. I key and then kind of maneuver their way in with real world experience. And that's that's certainly an avenue. That's that's very fruitful for a lot of people, but you don't a four year college degree isn't required.
It helps. And if you can get it, you have the time to get it. It doesn't put you through a hardship. Definitely do get it. Um, so that, but it's, it's not required you should, and you should, you should apply for all the jobs that you come across, whether it says it requires a college degree or not, because you just never know, you know, you're going to miss all the shots.
You don't take
Sean Martin: any, any, before you go, Jarrett, any thoughts on. Parts of the traditional college course set that will really help in the role of a SOC analyst.
Jarrett Rodrick: Uh, you know, I, I can't, it's hard for me to answer that because I didn't take the [00:12:00] traditional college course set. Um, you know, I, I just got my college degree last year, but I went through the SANS technology, uh, institute.
Um, my education was, uh, seven SANS courses. So let me back up my army cyber education. Was seven SANS courses in 14 weeks. Um, over my time in the Army, uh, four years as a cyber, uh, warfare, uh, specialist in the Army, I, uh, I accumulated 12 SANS certs. Uh, that's a lot. And I was able, I was fortunate enough to be able to bring those to the SANS Technology Institute and wrap those into a bachelor degree.
So I, it's very difficult for me to wrap those into that question, unfortunately. I would say, I would say If I could give an answer there, I really think the only thing that I could give is the dedication, right? If you're dedicated to finish a degree, you're dedicated to continue your own education. And I [00:13:00] would say that as a hiring manager, that's what I'm looking for more than just, do you have a degree?
What's your home lab look like? What's your, what's your learning path look like after you've graduated? What are you currently deploying at your home? That you're learning now, that's what those are the type of questions I'm asking more about more than, you know, what's what runs over TTC 422.
Sean Martin: Yeah, I, um, obviously this isn't about me, but I'm fortunate to teach a security analytics class as part of an MBA course on occasion, and, um, I'd love that. That's the MBA program that they put together includes security analytics. So it's driven by analytics and they offer the option to do it with a security lens on it.
And for me, that's what I find in those, those classes is the ability to look at information and sift through the noise to find the root of something. [00:14:00] And then to translate that into a story that some action can be taken either directly by a team or perhaps even by a management. Layer where if they don't know what's going on and you can't translate it, they're not going to give you the resources and the action you need.
So those are the two things that I, that I found. I don't know if you, if you have any others, uh, Tyler, from some of the, some of the things you uncovered, but yeah.
Tyler Wall: Yeah. So curiosity is something that, um, you know, not every, some people, I found that some people are born with just, they're just curious people.
They're just born that way. You know, even little kids are curious. There are people that aren't, aren't, aren't very curious, but you can cultivate curiosity. It's something that can be learned and you practice it over time. And that, that ability to be able to jump through rabbit holes and, and, and research things and, and come across something you don't know.
And just a spark goes off in your head that says, Yeah, I don't know about that. Let's let me go look that up. You know, just curiosity really helps you as a [00:15:00] security analyst and as a sock analyst. Additionally, if you're starting out, uh, you're considering degree programs and for to become a sock analyst or inside the security, I would really consider one that has a cloud component in it.
So that's, that's really important. Because if you're starting in a degree program that doesn't have a cloud component, by the time you reach graduation, A few years from now, you're not gonna, you're gonna have to go out and learn cloud anyway. Um, you know, it's, you, you really have to, you know, every, all these companies are migrating to the cloud and they're doing it very, very rapidly.
And it's becoming just the way we, we conduct business in the way we, we work these days. And so you really, if I was just starting out and looking to get started in cybersecurity and I was considering going to college for it, I would consider one that had. Cyber security program that had a cloud component
Sean Martin: makes a lot of sense.[00:16:00]
So there's a couple of different things here. So there's the, the role itself and preparing for that, uh, which I, I, uh, looking through the, through the notes on the, on the book here, you cover that clearly, of course. Um, the, what might even be more difficult is the finding a job part. How to present what you know, how to connect with the right people to find your way into the organization so you can even tell your own story, hopefully in a way that's compelling and meaningful to that, that organization's program.
Um, how does the book, uh, touch on some of that element of, of this equation?
Tyler Wall: Yeah. So, um, the book really goes into detail and talks about the different groups you can get involved in both online and both in person. like DEF CON groups and 2600 and, uh, online communities like, um, Black Hills information security and these, these [00:17:00] online discords that you can get connected to, you know, they're all fantastic and networking is a big part of it because you need to, you need to find somebody that, um, especially if you're coming from a non traditional background, you need to find, you need to know somebody that's going to make a recommendation for you that they pick your resume off in the file and look at it and give you an interview.
So you need that. Kind of end. So, you know, connecting to these networks is really important. Um, also blogging. You wanna blog your personal story. You want it to go on medium com. You wanna, you wanna start a blog and you wanna just kind of document your journey, your learning. Anything you're learning, you want to kind of document that you want.
Um, you know, document any, any kind of struggles and challenges that anybody might read, might read it, might be able to relate to. Be sure to put your LinkedIn profile at the bottom in a banner and that way they can connect with you and you can kind of grow your community that way. But, um, you know, there, there, the book kind of goes into detail about how to find a job and what, what job titles to [00:18:00] look for.
There are several different job titles to look for this, you know, stock analyst job is just one job title. But there's. Half a dozen of them that you can, you can look for and where to go to look for jobs as well. The book kind of covers that as well.
Jarrett Rodrick: Yeah. And I think, you know, when we, when we wrote the first edition in, in what was the 2020, um, it, the job market was very different, right?
There, there was no shortage of cybersecurity jobs. Um, we find ourself in a very different job market. Right now. And when we found ourself in this writing, the second book or the second edition, we had to really take a look and change quite a bit on the job boards and what to look for when it came to job positions, because now it's, it's a much tougher market because there's such a large influx of, of applicants into this field,
Tyler Wall: more than I can.
Jarrett Rodrick: It's [00:19:00] very, very more. Um, Very much more competitive. Um, you know, I, I've personally in the last month, even I've, I've had a couple of positions where I've had a rec open for a day and I've had 500 applicants in a day. It's crazy out there. And not to mention the layoffs that are. Are releasing qualified individuals into the job market.
So it's even more difficult for individuals to break through. Uh, and something I wanted to make sure those in the book was don't be afraid to find a, and start with a contract role, right? That is a great way to get that experience and to break into the cybersecurity, specifically stock analyst role, those are out there.
Uh, MSSPs are hiring for, for contract roles all the time. They, they are a great way to start. Off in this field,
Sean Martin: you probably get a wide variety of experience or exposure anyway, through an MSSP as well, for sure. [00:20:00] So tell me a bit about this, the structure of the book. So it sounds like there's some storytelling in there, resources for, for tools and community boards and things like that.
Do you feel this as a reference? Is it an inspirational piece? What was your intent? It's kind of got
Tyler Wall: both components. Um, it's, it's a book to reference from, uh, for instance, we kind of, we, we start out going into the demand of cyber security and then we kind of jump into how to find a job, how to look for a job.
Um, and then we kind of jump into the, what is the day to day life like as a sock analyst, what tools, what terminology you use, um, you know, and then we kind of, we jump into the technical skills. So, you know, what is, what is zero trust? What is, privilege and you know, G. C. P. I. P. We kind of break it all down for you.
So it's a good, good book to reference there as well. Then we kind of move forward into where, where, where the industry [00:21:00] is heading and where it's going into cloud security. So we cut, we have, we have a chapter dedicated entirely to cloud security. And then we have a chapter dedicated to security automation.
So that's a big part of the role. And that's something we address some of the concerns like what's going to happen to all this, right. all the SOC analysts when automation takes over. And, you know, we kind of, we kind of, we kind of addressed the, you know, the key concerns of SOC analysts today in a chapter dedicated to SOC automation.
And we even, we even cover some, some, some new things like, um, you know, how to use chat GPT and as a SOC analyst, you know, in large language models. Um, and then, then you get to the back of the book as kind of additional content, you know, all the inspirational stories from, from our, our, our five, five, uh, five stock analysts that traversed the past recently.
Sean Martin: And Jared, I'm, I'm, I'm itching to ask you this question because kind of looking at where the role is heading and Tyler just touched on, on automation. [00:22:00] Uh, on my show, I talk about operationalizing security, not just, not just in the SOC, but the program at large. And I believe that security in general has a lot of knowledge and data to help the business define itself in a way with reduced exposure, reduced risk.
And perhaps even better, better innovation opportunities, um, with security in mind and no better role than in the sock, I believe for that, for that type of knowledge, which machines are constantly getting popped, which ones are we always patching that we never can patch, uh, cause we never get to the end of the list and they're sitting there exposed and those are the ones that are always in the.
In the list of something to, uh, to explore. These are, these are the threats or these are the types of operating system, whatever it is, there's a ton of information there. So the future of this role, do [00:23:00] you kind of in, in, in relation to the automation may take a role, is there a way for this role to reinvent itself, to be more strategic in my, uh, my Peter Pan view of, of cyber security?
Jarrett Rodrick: I mean. I can definitely see there being additional duties to the stock analyst role to where automation, I think automation is going to remove the mundane tasks from the stock analyst role. And I think what that means is the stock analyst is going to take on more and more responsibility. Right. And I think that's a good thing, but I think at the end of the day, that's going to free up.
Uh, free up businesses to give more tasks to less people. And, you know, that does hurt the job market overall, but that's good for the bottom line of the business, which you can argue back and forth of, you know, is that a good thing for the, for the economy or not, but, you know, I [00:24:00] think that, I think that at the end of the day, the analyst is going to have to be able to do more than just a sonic analyst, right.
That there has to be a path up upwards for SOC analysts to move beyond just being a SOC analyst, you know, in my team, um, you know, the path up is usually you start as a SOC analyst and you move up to an incident responder, either from there, you move over to a threat intelligence analyst or to a, uh, Forensics analyst.
Um, and then we, we kind of have some sim engineers here and there. So if that's what you're interested in, we have a couple automation engineers. So, you know, we have a plethora of specialties that they can move into, you know, beyond being just a stock analyst. Stock analysis is the entry level, but, you know, there's, there's other paths upwards and out.
So, you know, Absolutely. I think you're right. I think there's, um, there's, there's paths up, up and out from being a stock [00:25:00] analyst. Um, as far as, you know, analyzing the risk, I think that's, you know, the magic job. That's what we're here for.
Sean Martin: Tyler, any thoughts on that?
Tyler Wall: Yeah. Um,
Like, I just want to back up what Jared's saying, and that there, there are many career paths for SOC analysts. Um, there, there's so many directions you can, we cover that in the book, there's so many directions you can take from SOC, SOC analysts or senior SOC analysts that, um, your options aren't limited and, you know, there will be less,
there will be less, um, There'll be more challenging things to do for, for sock analysts. Um, you know, you can't remove all of the sock analysts from, from an organization and replace it with machines because there are so many decisions that require, um, you know, just, just. a human to do. [00:26:00] And so while there will probably be less sock analysts in the long run, they're not going to be replaced by by automation.
It's a it's a tool to use in their job, like like large language models and chat GPT. There are tools that sock analysts or for any other industry there, they're just another tool in the tool bag that you can use, um, to make your job more efficient. And more and easier and better that way it frees you up to work on more challenging tasks.
So that's that's kind of in summary my thoughts.
Jarrett Rodrick: Yeah, actually, just relevant to this topic. A team member of mine is at Splunk dot com today. Just sent me a business card for a new company who is advertising a fully autonomous A. I. team member for your SOC. So, like, we're starting to see these products come around that are, you know, advertising products that are force multipliers for your SOC team, right?
Get the information [00:27:00] that we care about to your SOC members as quickly as we can. So, you know, decrease the number of people you need to monitor the dashboard.
Sean Martin: Yeah, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm big on this role. And the reason I asked the question the way I did is I I honestly believe that this isn't, this isn't a job that's going to be replaced by technology.
It's going to be a job that's replaced or enhanced by intelligence and the, the intelligence along with the, what's in the name of the title of the role, analyst, right? I really believe it's an exciting place to be. Um, I, I think we're going to, as I kind of joked at the beginning, Jared, you've seen some stuff, right?
This group sees stuff that I think will shape the way we build businesses in the future. And, uh, no better place to be from my perspective than right there. Yeah,
Jarrett Rodrick: agreed. It's the front line of the cyber [00:28:00] war. Whether, whether it's the, you know, industry, whether it's, uh, Yeah. VMware, Dell, HP, IBM, or whether it's Department of the Army or DoD or, or wherever that's where the exciting stuff's happening.
Right. That's, there's some cool stories we have over there as well. But you're absolutely right. It is the front line of the cyber war that's being waged globally.
Sean Martin: Yeah. And as we all know, uh, no such thing as a hundred percent protection. So something always ends up. No slap. Well, very cool guys. Uh, I'm, uh, I'm appreciative for you joining me to, uh, share a bit about the role in the book.
Um, give you a moment here. Any, any final thoughts, anything we didn't touch on that, that you want, uh, our listeners to know about the book or otherwise,
Tyler Wall: yeah, you can buy the book on Amazon, um, so you can just type in jump, jump, start your sock analyst career. Um, if you end up at the first edition, there'll be a link there, um, when you open it up [00:29:00] to go to the second edition.
Um, and you can, you can buy it anywhere books are sold, but we prefer you to buy it on Amazon and leave a review when you're done.
Sean Martin: Very good. And, uh, folks know that, uh, we always include links to the book as well. So I'll include that link to, uh, the book on Amazon. We encourage folks to read and learn and share your knowledge.
So if you. I'll leave the call here. If somebody read the book and has applied the learnings and wants to share their story, I'm happy to, happy to chat with them as well. And Jared and Tyler, you're back. Welcome back for that anytime too. Um, well, thank you both for that. Uh, jumpstart your SOC analyst career roadmap, cybersecurity success.
And, uh, yep. Cheers to all the folks sitting on the front lines in the, in the SOC. Um, My hat's off to you, literally and figuratively. Um, I've built tools in the past. I know I'm for this group and I know how important the role is and, uh, appreciate all that everybody does there. [00:30:00] And Tyler Jarrett, appreciate you writing this book to help, uh, bring more folks in and get, get people inspired and on the right track to To a successful career in SOC.
Very good. And thanks everybody for listening and watching and please do stay tuned for more here on redefining cybersecurity as we help, uh, redefine security programs for the benefit of the business and the folks in the roles. Thank you all. Bye.