TacAck – My security journey!

Hello!

Today we’re at interview #2. We’ve got a great interview lined up with another awesome ccie-sec candidate. He’s Ryan Schuett!

I’ve known Ryan for about a year now and it’s been an absolute pleasure interacting with him. He’s very knowledgeable , helpful  and also a good friend of mine . I look up to him for advice, help on topics that i don’t understand and we form a good study-team. So , i asked Ryan a couple of questions ( some personal one’s as well ) and here they are!

I am doing great Vybhav, I am excited the sun is shining (finally) in this neck of the woods and I am able to start studies outside…

I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada where I live with my wife Milan and son Kasin. I work in Calgary and consult for several companies part time and have a full time role as a security and infrastructure specialist.

I was first exposed to Cisco networking technologies years ago when I went to school for computer engineering. After schooling, I started my first job in a very large Cisco VPN network. The job also encompassed a lot of Microsoft and Linux servers. I pursued my CCNA and followed it up with MSCE 2003 and CCSP. I have fallen off the server track slightly and have gone more towards the networking side. I believe you have to know all aspects of the network including servers, users, bots, etc.. to be able to secure the infrastructure in its entirety.

Well, during my first job interview I was handed a generic cisco configuration and was asked what device it was from. I had never worked on a PIX firewall yet and that is what the configuration was from. Good thing the first line of the config said PIX 515 or I would have never gotten it correct…. After that I began working a lot with the PIX (version 6 code). When the ASA came out, I really felt that it was a great product and still is. With my passion for security coupled with experience and knowledge of the ASA and VPN technologies, I felt that it made the most sense to pursue the security field. So here I am….

I currently have INE materials. This includes the CCIE Security bundle, as well as the CCNP and CCIE Route/Switch bundles. I purchased route/switch to give me a good understanding of how routing and switching works so that I can secure them that much better. I don’t currently own it, but your website is on my list as well!

Also , I recently purchased  IPExpert Vol 1 & 2 labs , along with their Audio Bootcamp. I am very happy with this purchase ‘coz the IPExpert guys definitely know a thing or two about challening scenarios and i’m totally loving every lab that i do!

I study roughly 4 hours every night (7:30-11:30) during the week. I also try and study at work during my lunch hour. My commute to work is roughly 45 minutes each way so I listen to audio bootcamps – both INE security for the ASA and the route/switch bootcamp done by Scott Morris (great series by the way).

Well, my son isn’t quite 2 yet so he goes to bed pretty early. This allows me the chance to hit the books early and get some work in. My wife likes to read her books so it is a win/win scenario at the moment. It is hardest on the weekends as I do 8 hour labs every Sunday as well as every second Friday.

My weak areas are flexible packet and IPS. I think a lot of people have problems with flexible packet matching as it doesn’t work as expected all the time, at least, that is what I have experienced. I also have to brush up on layer 2 security technologies. There are other areas as well but these are the major ones at this time.

TacACK :Which hockey team do you cheer for? Did they do well this season?

Well, I cheer for Calgary and my wife cheers for Edmonton (both Alberta teams) Calgary did better than Edmonton this year so that makes me happy, except when it comes time for dinners that my wife makes for me….

Well, to be honest, it is you and Paul Stewart that are my role-models. I started to blog, help out on the cisco learning network, and tweet all because of you two. I would also give a cheers out to Brandon Carroll, Scott Morris, and Keith Barker.

On the same day as you – August 31st –  only you will get your CCIE number before me as you are 12 hours ahead.

1) Breathe, eat, drink every technology on the security blueprint.

2) Have fun

3) Don’t try to do it all in one day.

4) Go to tacack.com and packetu.com for some great study material

5) Never give up and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something..

Well, as you probably already know, I will be heading out to Bangalore with Real Canadian Maple Syrup and beer as requested by yourself and we will have some good times …. That is the day I can’t wait for….

Whoa! Now that was an awesome interview! To all those who don’t know, ryan and i scheduled our labs on the same-day, to push/spot each other when we were studying. I’m 100% confident that Ryan’s going to nail the lab very soon and it’s been an absolute privelege knowing such a driven, focused and knowledge-hungry person. So Ryan, here’s wishing you the best for you CCIE-Voice lab ( ‘coz you’re going to nail CCIE-security soon, so that’s a non-issue  )

Ryan can be reached through his TWITTER account , or through his website. He is also very active on CLND.

Cheers!

TacACK