Security Work

I wasn't aware of this course. Looking at the module content it seems quite good - but a bit light on the forensics side given that it's an "MSc in Security and Forensic Computing"
I've read/used several of the recommended books as part of my job - they're the classics that every security person should have on their bookshelf.

On the negative side, I'd question how well recognised this qualification is - there are lots of internationally recognised security certs covering from beginner (CompTIA security+ http://www.comptia.com) to advanced (CISSP www.cissp.com).
To find out more about the industry standard security certs I'd recommend going to www.informit.com (free registration required) and search for "security certification" to get several good/comprehensive articles on the subject.

>"how easy or hard is it to break into the security job market"
The security area is huge - covering everything from eCommerce to crypto research but that doesn't mean there are lots of security jobs.
Given that you mention sysadmin I guess you're interested in network security in particular. If so, then one career path is to work as a sys admin while getting your basic Cisco and Microsoft certs and then doing the security specific certs from these guys. And while your at it you could do the vendor-neutral certs also.

In the early stages of a security career there are very few "purely security" jobs - it's more a case of you do something like sys admin or programming or whatever and as a result you have to be aware of security and its implications. You might find the security side interesting enough to get into it more and more.
As you gain experience you can get into security consultancy where you will focus more on the security side of things but having the benefit of awareness of the sys admin/programming side.

So it's more a case of "easing" into security rather than "breaking" into it.


In summary, guessing that you're still in college then it might be no harm to go
on and do this Masters - it's very difficult to go back to college once you've
started working. At least you'll get an intro to security and can then decide
if that's what you want to do.

If you decide security is for you (it seems it will be a fairly hot area for a while to come), then go on and do the industry standard vendor specific and vendor neutral certs.

Good luck