Notices by Lesley Carhart :unverified: (hacks4pancakes@infosec.exchange)

I’m
EXHAUSTED
but I’ll still throw down over young people being mislead and exploited.

Who are these absolute numbskulls still shilling Comptia Security+ boot camps as an avenue into entry level cybersecurity jobs? I wish everyone a very nice Sunday except for them in specific.

You had better take a shot, and then read this. Absolutely sobering. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/charles-spitzer-stadtlander-jd-mpa-9b018b25_urgent-national-security-threat-i-work-activity-7296973991716499456-31eV

@morebento RFK’s plan is to outlaw them and then send bad cases to “rehabilitation camps”

@nechesh in this worst timeline we are seeing if Trumps cabinet, the MIC, or big pharma wins the scrabble.

No lie I planned for massive drug price increases and loss of access to all vaccines and birth control but millions of people suddenly cold turkey off psych meds is going to be a thing.

Ummm, so even my pretty conservative risk model that has me FLEEING AMERICA didn’t account for every person on SSRIs being pulled off them abruptly simultaneously without proper planning or care.

I wrote your cybersecurity mentorship guide as requested: https://tisiphone.net/2025/02/16/on-cybersecurity-mentorship/

@SecureInStyle I keep pleading with people outside the US to store things and not just count solely on the Internet Archive to do this for them. They're amazing, but a huge target right now.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like many non-Americans understand how bad it has gotten in one month and that this is really happening, right now. I will buy all the hard drives I can myself when I move.

The digital book burning and minimization of trans/black/gay/women's history is very well underway here. And because the US hosts much of the internet architecture, it has been very effective. They are doing everything from blowing away digital backups, to wiping file repos, to painting over walls and murals, to forcing changes in school curriculum. Now. It is happening now.

Women are being -erased- in America #resist https://www.reddit.com/r/optimistsunitenonazis/s/FvYzm4erhn

I think some folks still don’t get this. It’s why it’s so easy for foreign states to compromise them, too.

One final plea to senior folks to please mentor at least one young person in a structured, formal way. Please, don’t pull the ladder up behind us.

I had a very personal interview with @SecurityWeek magazine on my career and hopes for the future. https://www.securityweek.com/rising-tides-lesley-carhart-on-bridging-enterprise-security-and-ot-and-improving-the-human-condition/ thank you for giving me a voice.

I yell because of despair, because I’m booked out for mentees and seeing so many very scared job hunters who got promised the moon by skeevy universities and boot camps. Cybersecurity is a great job but you have to be proactive!

For us as seniors it makes mentoring and community development that much more vital. We need to be out there helping genuinely engaged newcomers, because it’s incredibly scary out there for them right now.

This isn’t doom and gloom outside the market suck, I just need young people to know this isn’t a golden ticket you can just get a degree and walk into anymore. You are competing with people who network as a default. Have credentials or experience as a default. Clearances. Volunteer. Have home labs.

@masek the world needs plumbers and janitors. Literally and figuratively. The jobs that will stay in demand in IT and cyber are less flashy and more practical.

You can’t be lazy and get a red team or blue team role anymore. I’m not being a LinkedIn asshole, and I definitely don’t think people should have to have degrees or experience. I’m just telling it like it is. You can’t skate into cybersecurity anymore. Don’t imply that to your kids or mentees.

Everyone who decided to get in four or five years ago is graduating now and the market is saturated. Candidates that would have been unbelievably perfect then are now struggling because they are in the wrong location or need visa sponsors. I mean ones with certs, masters degrees, and volunteer work.

I mentor a lot of junior people and something y’all need to be cognizant of in the crummy job market is that SOC analyst jobs have gotten way more competitive. It used to be a pretty direct path into cybersecurity (and it’s still way better than SWE) but it’s not an in demand job anymore.