[callumccfc]

Right, i am just about to start college and im going to be doing a BTEC level 3 in IT practitioners. But im thinking ahead wether it will get me a job infront of anyone else after it or will it be a waste of time etc?

(its a choice between this or pathways to apprenticeships mecanical engineering)

Thats why i was looking on uni websites just incase and a computer forensics course caught my eye. I was wondering if this career pathway is hard to get into and would it be worth doing?

Please reply.
Thanks;..

[callumccfc]

(Original post by KerrangLover)
Well what does your BTEC involve? I did IT Practitioners BTEC lvl 3 in Networking. I just firmed my place for my Computer Forensics and Security course in September. What university are looking at going to?

I had quite a dillema as I don't like the first common computing year in my course, as it involved Maths and Programming, both I struggle with. But if you make the effort and always ask for help, I'm sure you will be fine.

Are you interesting in Security at all? With forensics, you can go into the legal/police sector, private sectors, law sectors etc. It also can branch off into many different careers - thats why I firmed this course. Also I love to learn about Network Security. The best thing to do is to look at what you like to do. If you are just starting college, you have a while to go to think about what you like. College helped me decide what I wanted to do over time.

I dont know which uni i would go to if i did. But i live in wales. I could move somewhere to go if i had to. Well the course at cardiff uni was just called 'computer forensics' so i dont know lol. It sounds the same as yours yes. There is maths in the first year then second year if i remember there is networking and software engineering ect. Is the maths heard then? I am predicted a B in maths but think i will get a C. Cheers.

[AndrewPD1993]

(Original post by callumccfc)
Right, i am just about to start college and im going to be doing a BTEC level 3 in IT practitioners. But im thinking ahead wether it will get me a job infront of anyone else after it or will it be a waste of time etc?

(its a choice between this or pathways to apprenticeships mecanical engineering)

Thats why i was looking on uni websites just incase and a computer forensics course caught my eye. I was wondering if this career pathway is hard to get into and would it be worth doing?

Please reply.
Thanks;..

As I mentioned in another topic, I have finished the first year of my BTEC Level 3 In IT Practitioners, and I am loving it . The first year has you doing 9 units (3 a term) and dabbling in all sorts of IT including networking, digital graphics, information systems and programming in Visual Basic. The second year is more specialised with a pathway in Programming and a pathway in Networking, You pick one of these pathways and the units you do in the second year are more focused on the pathway you chose . Sure, the Functional Maths and English lessons aren't the best part of the course, but if you get put down for Level 2 for these in the first year and pass them, you don't have to do them in the second year .

Overall, an extremely good course that gives you basic knowledge and understanding in many areas in IT, and then the second year expands on what you enjoy doing . The lack of exams and well sorted and designed coursework also make this course very interesting and different

[n65uk]

I have a job at the moment, a software developer, and the only qualification I have is the IT BTEC course you are doing. It is a very good course.

[welshwaynejack]

Thought I’d give my two cents on the matter…

I did the BETEC National Diploma in IT Practitioners(General), many years ago after completing my a levels and changing my career direction, the course at the time was very good and gave me a basic understanding on the different areas of computing and IT ranging from basic programming through to web design and business. The course is much more informative than a level IT and in my opinion gives a greater taster on what will come if you either go to university or into the IT sector.

However, unless you’re very lucky IT jobs typically require experience as well as a degree or in the case of entry level jobs such as first line support require entry level certification. Entry level certifications are in the form of Comptia A+, Network+ and a Microsoft cert MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7. These certs will give you the entry level knowledge that employees seek but you will still need experience.

Experience can be gained via volunteering, I noticed you said you lived in Cardiff, there are plenty of IT volunteering experiences around that area. Check out the volunteering wales website for opportunities.

Now onto the computer forensic front, I’m currently finishing my masters in computer forensics at university of Glamorgan. While Cardiff is considered the top welsh university in the rankings, University of Glamorgan has the highest regarded computer forensic course in Wales and the team there work extensively within the London met police force and other forces within forensic area. Personally I would select them over Cardiff due to their close links with the industry as I believe Cardiff have only recently jumped on the bandwagon much like Newport in offering a “computer forensic” course, when in reality its nothing more than a computer science degree with a little bit of forensics and security thrown in. If you want to know more about computer forensics do a quick search online or visit forensicfocus.com or forensicswiki.org these will give you an idea of the specialism. From my experience of studying the masters the area is vast ranging from networking forensics, mobile forensics, data recovery and digital forensics.

However, as I have found after nearing the end of my course the job opportunities are limited with competition high for graduate forensic positions. Personally if you want to get into computer forensics I would recommend either doing a computer science degree and then doing computer forensics at masters level or studying computer security first as an undergraduate degree then doing computer forensics at masters levels and moving into the computer security sector as both specialisms work hand in hand with one another.

Good luck..

[gaspar]

(Original post by welshwaynejack)
Thought I’d give my two cents on the matter…

I did the BETEC National Diploma in IT Practitioners(General), many years ago after completing my a levels and changing my career direction, the course at the time was very good and gave me a basic understanding on the different areas of computing and IT ranging from basic programming through to web design and business. The course is much more informative than a level IT and in my opinion gives a greater taster on what will come if you either go to university or into the IT sector.

However, unless you’re very lucky IT jobs typically require experience as well as a degree or in the case of entry level jobs such as first line support require entry level certification. Entry level certifications are in the form of Comptia A+, Network+ and a Microsoft cert MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7. These certs will give you the entry level knowledge that employees seek but you will still need experience.

Experience can be gained via volunteering, I noticed you said you lived in Cardiff, there are plenty of IT volunteering experiences around that area. Check out the volunteering wales website for opportunities.

Now onto the computer forensic front, I’m currently finishing my masters in computer forensics at university of Glamorgan. While Cardiff is considered the top welsh university in the rankings, University of Glamorgan has the highest regarded computer forensic course in Wales and the team there work extensively within the London met police force and other forces within forensic area. Personally I would select them over Cardiff due to their close links with the industry as I believe Cardiff have only recently jumped on the bandwagon much like Newport in offering a “computer forensic” course, when in reality its nothing more than a computer science degree with a little bit of forensics and security thrown in. If you want to know more about computer forensics do a quick search online or visit forensicfocus.com or forensicswiki.org these will give you an idea of the specialism. From my experience of studying the masters the area is vast ranging from networking forensics, mobile forensics, data recovery and digital forensics.

However, as I have found after nearing the end of my course the job opportunities are limited with competition high for graduate forensic positions. Personally if you want to get into computer forensics I would recommend either doing a computer science degree and then doing computer forensics at masters level or studying computer security first as an undergraduate degree then doing computer forensics at masters levels and moving into the computer security sector as both specialisms work hand in hand with one another.

Good luck..

Hi Welshwaynejack,

I have narrowed down my choice of computer security courses to two: BSc (Hons) Computer Security at Glamorgan (http://courses.glam.ac.uk/courses/55...puter-security ) and BSc (Hons) Cyber Security at Staffordshire (http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/Cyber...cm44-36588.pdf ) or ( http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_...yber_security/ )

The Staffs course is attractive because I feel the dept is good/strong in the networking area and have good labs/facilities to support their computing/networking courses. They also have a forensics & security lab which supports their Digital Forensics and Cyber security courses. The Cyber Security course seems to have a good mix (balance?) of networking, computing/systems, security and forensics modules especially when you consider that they offer the forensics modules as options in stage 2 and 3. Then the course also offers a placement year and opportunity for certifications including CCNA...; EC Council Ethical Hacking (and maybe Mobile Device Forensic (XRY) certification if you take the forensics optional modules)....

Equally, the Computer Security course at Glamorgan offers attractive strengths: BCS and industry accreditation; likely running longer than the Staffs course, good lab and dedicated facilities for the course; the modules are more on the systems side (much less on the networks side?); placement year; etc [I notice there's no mention of the Tiger Pen Testing certification you talked about?]

So mate, could you look at the 2 courses and comment on them as much as you can, in terms of helping decide on the better of the 2? Please freely chip in as much as you want to.

And all readers are welcome to give their comments/assessment....

Thanks.

[isengard1]

I'll be starting my BSc on Ethical Hacking & Countermeasures in September at University of Abertay Dundee (btw check computer security and forensics courses at UAD, they may interest you as well ). In your pants, I would probably choice the course offered by Glamorgan. Its syllabus seems to me more solid.

[welshwaynejack]

Hi, the best advice I can give you is to visit each facility during an open day and talk with the course lectures with any questions you have. Or alternatively you could email them and they should provide additional information. From my experience Uni Glam has an excellent computer security and forensic departments. The staff regularly contributes to the info sec sector and are very knowledgeable. The department has a good relationship with GCHQ and the Met police and from I gathered quite a few ex students ended up at GCHQ or other related security jobs. They mentioned the Tiger scheme on the masters prospects, but if you want further clarification then the official tiger scheme website (http://www.tigerscheme.org/training-providers.php) confirms them as a provider. I believe the Tiger scheme certification is offered as an additional qualification as well as the opportunity to gain additional vendor forensic certification, hence why it wasn’t mentioned on the course prospectus.

In relation to what you learn on the course, you will need a good understanding on programming and systems so you can understand the different techniques used by hackers. However, Security and forensic fields are so big and come with many different niches it’s really down to personal preference, hence alot of courses different in content. Would you consider after the undergraduate course study a masters? If this was the cause the security masters at Uni Glam from what I remember covered Linux and Windows hacking, a comprehensive network security hacking module, security management and project management. However, it seems they have altered the course slightly. The course has now added vulnerability development, which id assume will involve creating viruses or focusing on pen testing.

From the computer security students who shared modules with me during my time at Glam, the course was very technical and the assignments from the linux and windows hacking module involved them creating a unique virus. I shared the networking module and we were tasked to hack networks using the techniques we covered in lectures.

I’d focus on computer security modules if I was you, rather than mixing and matching. You could always do a masters in forensics, which will give you a brief overview of the fundamentals. From my experience forensics is a tougher discipline to get a job in, while there is a considerable amount of pen testing, network security and security management jobs atm. Again its really down to you.

As for the other course I can’t really say much as I have no experience with them. The XRY certification is very easy to attain and much of the forensic vendor certification isn’t really valued. I believe if you want to get into pen testing then the Tiger scheme is highly valued and will prepare you for the job. Id be a little wary if a course mixes different disciplines as you may miss out on some vital area. Ignore Cisco certification, it will hold you back for jobs. Cisco certification is for those who work with the kit day in day out.

Check out both courses open days and bombard the lectures with questions. Ask about certification, what placements past students have done? (Remember placements are down to you not the university to arrange), what links with industry, what jobs past students have gone onto, and ask about course content.

Hope that helps and good luck!

[gaspar]

(Original post by welshwaynejack)
Hi, the best advice I can give you is to visit each facility during an open day and talk with the course lectures with any questions you have. Or alternatively you could email them and they should provide additional information. From my experience Uni Glam has an excellent computer security and forensic departments. The staff regularly contributes to the info sec sector and are very knowledgeable. The department has a good relationship with GCHQ and the Met police and from I gathered quite a few ex students ended up at GCHQ or other related security jobs. They mentioned the Tiger scheme on the masters prospects, but if you want further clarification then the official tiger scheme website (http://www.tigerscheme.org/training-providers.php) confirms them as a provider. I believe the Tiger scheme certification is offered as an additional qualification as well as the opportunity to gain additional vendor forensic certification, hence why it wasn’t mentioned on the course prospectus.

In relation to what you learn on the course, you will need a good understanding on programming and systems so you can understand the different techniques used by hackers. However, Security and forensic fields are so big and come with many different niches it’s really down to personal preference, hence alot of courses different in content. Would you consider after the undergraduate course study a masters? If this was the cause the security masters at Uni Glam from what I remember covered Linux and Windows hacking, a comprehensive network security hacking module, security management and project management. However, it seems they have altered the course slightly. The course has now added vulnerability development, which id assume will involve creating viruses or focusing on pen testing.

From the computer security students who shared modules with me during my time at Glam, the course was very technical and the assignments from the linux and windows hacking module involved them creating a unique virus. I shared the networking module and we were tasked to hack networks using the techniques we covered in lectures.

I’d focus on computer security modules if I was you, rather than mixing and matching. You could always do a masters in forensics, which will give you a brief overview of the fundamentals. From my experience forensics is a tougher discipline to get a job in, while there is a considerable amount of pen testing, network security and security management jobs atm. Again its really down to you.

As for the other course I can’t really say much as I have no experience with them. The XRY certification is very easy to attain and much of the forensic vendor certification isn’t really valued. I believe if you want to get into pen testing then the Tiger scheme is highly valued and will prepare you for the job. Id be a little wary if a course mixes different disciplines as you may miss out on some vital area. Ignore Cisco certification, it will hold you back for jobs. Cisco certification is for those who work with the kit day in day out.

Check out both courses open days and bombard the lectures with questions. Ask about certification, what placements past students have done? (Remember placements are down to you not the university to arrange), what links with industry, what jobs past students have gone onto, and ask about course content.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Thanks a lot for the helpful comments and advice....I really appreciate the information and input. I'm getting closer to making a decision and I'm convinced it'll be a good one.

Thanks again.