A Lesson About my Profession || by @lebey1 || 25% to @null

My Name is Abiodun Adeosun and I am from Nigeria. I reside in Lagos state and I work as an Information Security Consultant at a firm in Ikeja, Lagos state. I started off in a very different field, but I’m pretty sure I can say I’ve been lucky enough to get out of it. I’ve been able to travel from one field to the next, and I’ve been able to do so without having to worry about the day-to-day management of the business. This has allowed me to take advantage of all the opportunities that have come my way.

Picture was taken from my Iphone 11
There are a lot of misconceptions about working as a consultant. People think you get to work from home, that it's easier than being in an office, or that consultants are just glorified interns with fancy titles. There is also the perception that because of the "consulting" part, you don't actually have to put in much work. After all, isn't your job just to consult?

Working as a consultant requires a very different type of work ethic than what most people are used to. The hours and days can be unpredictable and oftentimes grueling. Leaving behind an office environment is not for everyone. But if you thrive on challenges and new experiences, it could be the perfect career for you.

Information security consultants often get asked the same questions by different people. What exactly do you do? How did you get into that? Is there a lot of demand for what you're doing? As a consultant, how much variety do you have in your work? Do companies know what they're doing when it comes to information security, or are they completely clueless?

These are just some of the questions we keep getting from friends and acquaintances who find out we're information security consultants. As an introvert, it can be challenging to jot down all these things when you first meet someone. However, as their frequency increases with time, I realized that these are also great learning opportunities for me. So here's a post about my profession as an infosec consultant.

What I will like to teach based on my profession as an Information Security Consultant

The funny fact remains that the world is changing and most people have failed to realize the dangers those changes bring. As the world technologically advances, that's how cybercriminals continue to exploit the shortcomings of this advancement. On that note, I will be teaching us here Five ways to keep our information secured, they are listed below:

• Sharing little information on social media: The world has changed and the world's Privacy seems to be almost non-existent as this has not been aided by the activities of people on social media. People disclose lots of information on social media and this informations can be used by hackers or social engineers to defraud them. Little information like the names of pets could be weaponized by hackers and that can lead to information security breaches.

• Using Strong Passwords on our accounts: using simple guessable passwords makes it easy for hackers to hack into your account or system and do away with your personal information. Using complex passwords that contain Numeric, alphabets, and symbols are advised.

• Browsing safely on the internet: The world is growing digital and that has led to lots of people literally living their lives online. They are many sites that are not safe and are just present to steal personal details of people. such sites should be avoided and the simplest way to know a site that is not safe is to check for the padlock symbol beside the URL of the website.

• Be wary of phishing and malicious codes/links: Hackers and Cybercriminals send malicious codes to one system by sending phishing emails to your emails. Once the link is clicked, the hackers would have access to all data on your system. The best way to avoid this is by only opening emails from contacts you recognised and also, not downloading any attachments from contacts you don't trust.

• Be cautious when downloading apps on your phone or laptop: They are some apps that are likely to take over one's phone if downloaded. This app contains malicious codes that silently export people's information and data to a hacker. The best one has to do is to avoid downloading apps from unknown sites.

All these highlighted points will assist you to become more security conscious. they are many more but I believe these are the basis and are easily practicable.

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Why do we need to acquire this knowledge that you have passed?

Well, since the world is digital and more advancement is been achieved technologically, their is a need for one to stay on top of what one needs to make private. Privacy is becoming harder as the day goes on and in the era of cryptocurrency and bank transfer, any hacker or social engineer can exploit this tools to commit fraud without the victim even knowing until the deed as been done. So it is only right that we are all equipped with this basic knowledge to avoid being defrauded or scammed. That makes information security knowledge important.

As from individuals, for corporations, it is even more gravious and it comes with lots of fines if their customer data are leaked. That will lead to sanctions and probably suspension of their certificates of operating in that line. Imagine that a card producing company got hacked and the hackers have access to numbers and passwords of a credit or debit card, the outcome will be catsrprohic and that goes for any financial institution too including BANKS.

Talk about how technological advances have affected your field. This can be positive or negative.

The technological advances are what have made the need for information security more urgent. As just one BVN could be linked to lots of other entities and bank accounts and ATM cards. The exposure of these details will be cataphoric and as these improvements are ongoing, so is more ways of ensuring their security too.

For example, individuals or organizations now have access to Vuneralbility tools which can be used to check the security integrity of thereof information assets. Tools like Anti-virus are now more accessible to prevent malicious code or links from taking over someone's system.

The truth remains that even if no technological advancement is in progress, Hackers will continue to look for ways to exploit individuals' and organizations' personal information. So I like to think that the advancement of technology has given us more tools to ensure that we are secure.