Hack The Cybersecurity Interview – Book Review

Once of the questions I often get from people that are looking to break into the cyber security field is how they can get a job in the field. I hear about struggles related to, “which role should I apply to”, “what skills/certs do I need or should obtain”, “how do I know what questions I should ask or be prepared to answer”. And I am finally glad to say I have found a new book that was released, that answers all these questions. So, if you have any of the mentioned questions listed above. This book is a must read for you!

Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Hack-Cybersecurity-Interview-jumpstarting-cybersecurity/dp/1801816638/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hack+the+cybersecurity+interview&qid=1662534007&sprefix=hack+the+c%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Hack-Cybersecurity-Interview-jumpstarting-cybersecurity/dp/1801816638/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hack+the+cybersecurity+interview&qid=1662533978&sprefix=hack+the+cy%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-1

Why should you purchase this book?

The title of the book in my opinion is very accurate. This book literally teaches you how to “hack” an interview. It gives you the data and information to really succeed on a cybersecurity interview.

The book has multiple authors (Ken Underhill, Christophe Foulon, Tia Hopkins). They have done an excellent job on building out this book. I’ve been mentioning to a lot of my peers that we have needed a book that explains and prepares interview candidates with the knowledge to ace an interview. And, I think we finally have winner, and a much-needed resource that cyber security enthusiasts can utilize.

Podcast Episode 3 – Learning about purple teaming



Guest Speaker: Maril Vernon

Check out our podcast episode from any of the podcast links below:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KP2Z46VRkl5GJ4ivbIpCl

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/stealthbay/id1574821334

Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82MTkzMTRlYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/stealthbay-6vkBo1

PocketCasts: https://pca.st/evsg4l7l

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/stealthbay

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/StealthBay-id4410602

Passing the GCTI Exam

Recently, I challenged the GIAC/SANS GCTI exam. And I am excited to say I passed and have obtained the GCTI certificate!!!

The concepts for this course were much newer to me. Threat modelling, researching, and building a threat intelligence tech stack was amazing to learn. Usually, a threat intel program is conducted with very established and mature security programs. So, this is an area I have not seen too many people often get into. However, Threat Intel programs are slowly becoming more common. and knowing your adversary, as well as keeping track of an adversary that could potentially be targeting you is an awesome skill set to accomplish.

FOR578: Cyber Threat Intelligence class

I had taken the full course on threat intelligence. If you want to read my review of it check this blog post out –> https://www.stealthbay.com/a-review-of-for578-cyber-threat-intelligence/

Prepping for the exam

I highly advise everyone take the FOR578: Cyber Threat Intelligence course. You can get more details from here: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-courses/cyber-threat-intelligence/

The course will prepare you for the exam and cover topics and tools that you will be tested on. There is a lot of material to learn in the course. So, dedicate a good amount of time towards learning the course material and all the concepts. The class was a huge learning experience in the world of Threat Intelligence.

After you take the course try going back to each book and building your index. After this, it is a good time to use up practice exam 1 and see how you fair in it. Use the section at the end, which lists out which sections you were weak in and go study them some more. Take practice exam 2 and hopefully this time you see an improvement. If so, then book your final exam within the next 2-5 days and go for it. This format always has worked well for me.

Making an Index

Passing the GCFA exam

Recently, I challenged the GIAC/SANS GCFA exam. And I am excited to say I passed and have obtained the GCFA certificate!

This was one of the more detailed courses I had taken in awhile. The IR and Threat hunting sections were not as new to me. However, the memory and forensics section were very deep and detailed. Normally, most organizations will contract out major forensic type of work to 3^rd party external partners. So, the forensics section was something I do not work on as often. But I found learning and getting the knowledge of various ways malware can hide in memory, or how to detect Time stomping attacks from malware was extremely fun and exciting to learn. Feeling incredibly grateful to learn about all these new attack techniques and detection mechanisms.

Prepping for the exam

I highly advise everyone take the SANS FOR 508 course. You can read my review of it here -> https://www.stealthbay.com/review-of-sans-for-508/

The course will prepare you for the exam and cover topics and tools that you will be tested on. There is a lot of material to learn in the course. So, dedicate a good amount of time towards learning the course material and all the concepts. The class itself was amazing especially when you get into Memory Analysis, File system analysis and the Anti-forensics sections.

Passing The Microsoft AZ-900 Exam

Getting Microsoft Certified for Azure Fundamentals

I decided to challenge the AZ-900 Exam, as I got a Microsoft voucher for a free exam attempt. So, I decided to give the exam a crack. Basing it off other peer’s experience, who had already taken this exam. The consensus I had heard is that it should be a simple exam if you have used Azure before and worked on different services (e.g., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS.) I probably spent about less than 8 hours prepping, as I felt the topics seemed general and things I have already been exposed too.

Prepping to take the exam

My personal experience with Azure is that I have worked with it for 3+ years. If you have spent a lot of time in the Azure environment building things, configuring things and managing different items. You will have no problem challenging this exam. Most of the concepts are related to everyday tasks that you would be working on. Or tasks you would have been exposed to at some point while engineering designs in Azure.

Here is a score list of what you need to know –> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-900

• Cloud concepts (20-25%)
• Core Azure services (15-20%)
• Core solutions and management tools on Azure (10-15%)
• General security and network security features (10-15%)
• Identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features (20-25%)
• Azure cost management and Service Level Agreements (10-15%)