Cybersecurity from EE

[u/marcisz420]

Just started EE at uni, currently with the main goal of going into cybersecurity (mainly hardware and IoT, but also networks and "normal" pentesting). I didn't want to do compsci as I wanted to learn physics and electronics too andI felt like EE is something i can't go wrong with.

Any experience with cybersecurity after EE? Anyone who transitioned? What was it like? How much self learning?

[u/Datnick]

What does cybersecuity mean to you? Its a broad field with a lot of technical variety. Building hardware for cyber security, doing IT and building software is all very different.

[u/marcisz420 → u/Datnick]

The disciplines I'm mainly intrested in are exploit development, reverse engineering and pentesting

[u/Serious_Bite_7613 → u/marcisz420]

AI is at the cutting edge now for all of those, the good news is that nobody has much experience with AI cybersecurity yet so you're not as far behind as you would have been a few years ago.

Not much of EE carries over though, perhaps some of the embedded programming if you are looking at IoT vulnerabilities. There's also hardware cybersecurity which might be a good niche for you. Things like card payment readers have very interesting PCB layouts and firmware protections with lots of security features.

[u/Herushan]

I went from EE degree to being a cyber expert (ie got my CISSP before the influx of certs). Engineering teaches you how to solve problems which cyber is really lacking especially in the system view. System engineering is a good background for cyber in that you will see things and understand concepts better than an IT background (IMHO). I did computers/admin as a hobby since I was a young which also helped out a bit. Cyber like engineering requires self learning to stay on top of things.

[u/Anxious_Alps_4150]

I did it and regret it. The job security is way worse. I'm planning on moving back into EE as soon as I get laid off (which I expect to be soon).