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Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp
Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp
From a Malware Incident to Cybersecurity Career with Danny Z
Have you ever wondered how a construction worker would transition into a career in cybersecurity? Our friend Danny, who did just that, offers a riveting account of his unique tech journey.
A Microsoft scam was a pivotal moment that sparked his curiosity and propelled him to explore the complex world of cybersecurity. His story is a testament to the idea that traditional educational background need not always dictate your career path. Danny generously shares several resources for those intrigued by the tech field, especially the realm of cybersecurity.
Shifting gears, career transitions become the focus of our conversation. Those mulling over a career change will find Danny's advice immensely valuable - he stresses the importance of thoroughly researching roles, networking, continuous learning, and the art of asking the right questions.
Personal cybersecurity is another crucial topic we delve into. With insights drawn from Danny's own experience, we discuss the necessity of maintaining digital hygiene and implementing protective measures to safeguard your data.
This episode is a compelling mix of inspiring stories, practical tips, and valuable resources designed to guide you on your path to a successful tech career. So, tune in, get inspired, and get ready to embark on your tech journey.
Danny's Substack
https://zendannyy.substack.com/
Danny's Free Course
https://www.udemy.com/course/intro-to-linux/
Danny's Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/@zendanny
I was like 19 or so. I fell for one of those like Microsoft scams, like if somebody's claiming to be support, saying that they'll they'll help you clean your, your, your computer. And yeah, it's just malware.
Lucas Casarez:This is techy personal finance bootcamp, where I help tech professionals in their 20s and 30s balance a great life today without sacrificing their future possibilities. I'm your host, lucas Casaris, certified financial planner and founder of level up financial planning, where I help educate, coach and build strategies with my clients to help them take their financial competence to the next level.
Lucas Casarez:Did it, did it, did it, did it. Disclaimer alert this information's for education.
Lucas Casarez:So don't just go use it, first consult with your financial advisor, because that's way more legit. That's it. That was a Orlando Gomez, and you can catch him in season three, episode four, on how he broken a tech by writing a jingle.
Lucas Casarez:Hello, thank you for joining techy personal finance bootcamp. I'm excited. I have a good friend, danny, on today. He went from working in construction to learning electrical on the job. He convinced himself that he should pursue tech as a career despite not having a formal background, and I'm excited for you to kind of hear his path and the unique transition that he took. He's now worked in information security, also known as cyber security, for six years now and he enjoys helping those that want to learn about the field in any way that he can.
Lucas Casarez:He has a couple of resources that I will drop in his episode that you can easily navigate to you and as well as he's going to drop a few gems about cyber security, navigating your career as an early, non-traditional person, and so hopefully that will help you if you're in a similar situation or need a couple of ideas that, if you're in a rut right now, just kind of push through to get to that next level and break into tech. Hey, danny, thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, lucas. I hinted a little bit at your journey during the introduction, but tell me what initially led you to kind of jump into construction, because that's definitely different than what you're doing. That.
Danny Z:Yeah, yeah, it's pretty, pretty different. So what ended up happening there is I had family that that was in that line of work, so uncles and my dad doing that line of work, so some summers I would go with them and just then do some summer job there, and then eventually I did that for a little bit longer, do for a few years after school and doing community college at the same time. So I was just doing that line of work, working my way through school and learning about the trade as well, so it kind of just fell into it that way.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah and super come. I know I used to take along with my dad when he'd do like different landscaping jobs and he'd still plow and yeah, it's cool because those things are active, it's fun and like when you're younger you have to be able to be like, oh yeah, like I'm doing this hard, super hard, manly work and get a 4G right. You're not used to getting paid and then you get to earn that extra money, so that's an awesome experience. So where along that process did it kind of dawn on you that you could do something else, that you actually could take a different path? Was it because of some of the classes you were taking or what kind of led you down finding cybersecurity as an alternative career path there?
Danny Z:Yeah, so I did take a couple of computer classes but I think that I peaked my interest. But I think one of the bigger things was just getting my own laptop for school. I actually didn't have a computer laptop during high school or middle school.
Danny Z:It wasn't until after that and then just learning more about how to configure different things and basically being responsible for your own security configuration and all of that. Right, I just started learning a little bit about that. And then one big thing I would say that happened is I think I was like 19 or so I fell for one of those like Microsoft scams, like somebody's claiming to be support, saying that they'll help you clean your computer.
Danny Z:And yeah, it's just malware. So I fell for one of those and then, after I realized that, I was like I need to figure out how to get rid of this and basically wipe my laptop and learn how that worked. So after that I told myself first I would never let that happen to me again, and then how? To figure out why this happens.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, that's crazy. I think we've all had some type of similar experiences like that right, where you're talking to someone and you realize, like what's going on here, like this doesn't seem right. All of a sudden I've any. Yeah, you freak out Like, well, what does that mean? All that kind of chaos, that doesn't feel good. Right, you felt violated and that's crazy. That made such a big impact on you that you really dove into and actually turned that into a career, so probably like one of your worst kind of experiences, almost at that point to something that's you're a few years into your career now and kind of excellent. So what was the next step? So what would you rank in that? And you're like, well, this stuff is, were you just like super interested by that once? You just kind of put it in the wormhole.
Danny Z:Yeah, exactly, so it was just something that really picked my interest. And then the more I started learning about it, the more I recognized, like some of those other threats or scams like the PayPal one is a big is a common one where you'll it's basically a fake landing page and they want you to enter your login information. So I started recognizing those things. And then I started playing around with what's called virtual machines. So it's like just something that you download onto your laptop and then you could play around with that system versus testing on your actual computer or laptop. So it just separates it more and it's better for testing that way. So I just started learning that way through YouTube tutorials and other things like that. And then eventually it is when I found a program that I did called Year Up that just does some training as well as an internship. So once I had some of that curiosity very piqued is when I did that program and I was just able to learn even more.
Lucas Casarez:That's crazy. So Year Up was what it was called, yeah, yeah. And so you said you were doing community college before that. How far did you make it in that? The college part before you decided what cybersecurity? And then there's this cool on ramp called Year Up, in addition to all the other stuff that you were probably diving into.
Danny Z:Yeah, so I did do my AA community college. It took me about three or so years, since I was working at the Rway at the same time, but I was doing business, and once I finished is when I realized that you can only apply that if you're either starting a business or doing some other high level roles in business. And I was still trying to figure out what that next move was going to be. And that's when I just kept diving more into technical things and discovered that cybersecurity could be an actual career path and not necessarily require like a four year degree or something like that.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah. And so what was that decision part? Because, yeah, you could have just kept on with the score, right. And they're like, yeah, I don't think it would have taken up four years, because some of that stuff would have transitioned, like they still record and take English and math and stuff like that for business, which I'm sure would have carried over, but like, was there something was Year Up? Sounds like it's a year long, right? So that answer is that kind of what was the enticing part? Like, yeah, let's get the same pick started.
Danny Z:Yeah, I think that was definitely a big factor for me that it was a year long and going the route of like a four year school was going to put me into some debt and I didn't really want to do that. And then also the more research I did, I was thinking like, even if I learned the technical skills, I still need afterwards I still need to get a job, and at the time I didn't know many people in the field, and something that this program will do is connect you with people already in the field through either informational interviews or just other relationship building. And that piece is something that really attracted me because I was thinking, once I learned these skills, I still need to know some people to potentially get my foot in the door. So that's something that really stood out to me as well.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah and super important, right, you could be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but you don't have some of those connections that kind of help get those things going. And how many people did you know in the field when you were younger, like in high school and things like that, because I know that representation is a huge issue with any high earning type career and salary. Like I didn't know, I've never heard of financial planning until I started working at a bank and I was like, oh, what person in that office do? But yeah, there was no people that looked like me when I was younger during financial planning. I knew one engineer. Actually he was one of my football coaches when I was younger, so that's the only person I knew that did any type of engineer. And did you know people that were kind of in these types of careers when you were younger?
Danny Z:I only knew I only had one friend that was in the field, and then, throughout time is when I realized another family friend was also in tech, but it wasn't like I knew a whole lot of people in the field and, like you said a lot of times, representation is a big issue and only after time is when you'll see more people in the field.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, and so doing the year out was a pretty easy just because of a lot of those connections and connections that you wouldn't have had Otherwise. It was a pretty easy for you to kind of get it launched as soon as Europe was wrapped up.
Danny Z:Thankfully, it worked out. So, like what happened was the internship was six months long, which is something I really liked, because you get to ask your questions, you get to learn from everything you're doing and talk to people in other teams as well, not just the direct team that I was working on and then, towards the end of my internship, when my manager said that they wanted to convert me, and then, thankfully, it worked out and I ended up being hired on at the end of that internship.
Lucas Casarez:And that's what internships should really be like. Right, like, hey, you contribute a little bit, you're more valuable to the employer now, they know a lot more about you and they're willing to take those risks on you. And I know it doesn't always work out like that for internships, but I think that's what most people's hopes are. Well, it's from the employer and the employer said that's awesome, it yeah. So right now, knock on wood. I know from everything I know from our conversations you're safe with your position and role right now, but there's a lot of transitionary stuff going on in tech in general. If we're going to just use it here umbrella tech. Do you feel like that's the same for your field, your nature being in cybersecurity? Is it just as scary as some of my software engineer clients, people that have been getting laid off, headcount reductions, things like that?
Danny Z:Yeah, I would say it is a tough kind of environment right now. Thankfully, from what I've seen at my company and other companies, cybersecurity, security, engineer roles have been less impacted. There has been some that I've heard from, but thankfully it hasn't been as widespread. So yeah, that's what I'm seeing right now. Better day is a little bit of a tough environment.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, and that's kind of what my guess would be too, because you guys are playing important, vital roles, right, lots of stuff can happen. You see about stuff in the news all the time, right, data breaches, even companies that are supposed to be like less pass, and all these different companies. So I'm sure your job's not the easiest. There's always new things coming out new. The tricky thing for you it's not just your personal stuff that you're worried about, it's one single weak link, right, employee that drops the ball. That just kind of makes a huge vulnerability for the company. So, yeah, I'm sure the demand for cybersecurity experts and even retaining them too, right, you don't want someone that knows where everything is and how to fix everything to walk out the door. So good to hear that. Yeah, not kind of what that thing's seem pretty solid in your industry? I think it would be. Is the outlook for growth still pretty high for cybersecurity professionals? What do you think?
Danny Z:Oh yeah, yeah, I think it's only going to continue to grow. The more companies become internet dependent and more connected, I think it's going to continue, and then it always evolves as well, so it's like the learning, continuous learning is always going to be there. So, yeah, I think the growth definitely is there.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, perfect, and yeah, I think I think most people with ambition are like I like to continuously grow. We're kind of new people and I like that. They hope that everything stays the same, they never have to learn anything new. But I think most of the people I know that are kind of aggressively getting after your life like enjoy those slight changes and kind of those opportunities for growth there. So you've come from a non-traditional background to break into cybersecurity. What tips would you give to someone that's like thinking, whether it's cybersecurity or just trying to make a huge career shift or transition, that you're going from construction to cybersecurity is definitely a big change. What tips do you have?
Danny Z:Yeah, some things for people to do, I would say, is find some kind of roadmap that outlines the career paths they're interested. So let's say they're interested in like and they have like three or four main interests. Find a roadmap for those to see what it would look like, but the path, the skills necessary and what closely aligns with what they like. And then after that I would say, talk to people in those respective fields so that they know what their day-to-day can look like and also like what did they learn to get in those roles right? And then if they could see themselves doing that kind of work, because I think anything in tech it's their great careers but it's also a lot of work to get there and so I think once people know what some of that is involved, then they could see oh yeah, this is definitely something that I could see myself doing.
Lucas Casarez:Those are awesome tips. As far as creating a roadmap, that's kind of how I think about financial stuff. Right, let's you know financial roadmap, let's figure this stuff out. But talking to people is super valuable because, like you wanna know if that's not for you, because you were able to take this quick ramp year up with that internship and all that. But that's not easy, right, I'm sure most people don't want from like college, thinking, oh, I'll just be like college, it'll be easy, not a big deal. I'm sure things get ramped up in any year up, trying to squeeze you between what you don't know, which is a lot of things to figuring out enough to contribute to a company and, yeah, you know I'm putting a lot of hard work for sure and to ultimately end up disliking a position that would sink. And so definitely putting the time to talk to people in your six years into your career now Is that right?
Danny Z:Yeah, yeah, just six years.
Lucas Casarez:So someone that's early career, what would you kind of give them if they were like in their first year or two? Like holy smokes, like I'd go, but it feels rough. What tips would you give someone probably a year or two into it?
Danny Z:Yeah, I would say it's at first like that feeling of like trying to catch up and like the Compostor Syndrome. It's super normal. I think that's something to acknowledge. And then from there, I would say that that like learning, that curiosity, continuous learning, that got you there, that's what's going to keep you advancing, keep you going. So, whether it's, you know, whether it could be once or twice a week, just some additional learning that you're doing and then asking good questions on the job, because, ultimately, a unique thing about this field is that a lot of what you learn is on the job and you're kind of learning as you're going. So that's going to be key on like seeing what's working and then asking questions for where to go from there.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, figuring it out, you know of all the educational knowledge, but, yeah, the actual application of it is always going to be critical, perfect, and people could stay stagnant right in their careers and some people are happy with that. But I think a lot of times you'll see those people that have always had the same title, always doing the same thing. They don't take those additional opportunities to learn, well, what's next? What's the thing that will keep me curious and excited a little bit about, like, because a lot of stuff will just be repetitive that you do on the day to day. So if you're not getting that through your work automatically, you can search that out. So that's an awesome tip, danny.
Lucas Casarez:Well, we already talked a little bit about cybersecurity and scammers and things like that, and it's everywhere. Like it was probably two weeks ago, by the way, I thought Amazon had called her about some expensive thing and like I heard from downstairs here like talking about stuff. She's like no, I don't want to give you my bank account or anything. And I ran upstairs like what's going on? And I was like no, that's not Amazon. Yeah, but I was like what did you say? What's going on? What passwords are you setting? Stuff like that.
Lucas Casarez:So, again, huge, huge importance what you do, and it's not just from as an employee. Right, you have to still be vigilant on your personal standpoint, and that's a lot. Our computers, our phones have all of our critical stuff most of the time. Now, what tips would you give people to kind of protect themselves personally, and probably even like a lot of us are working from home and things like that? So maybe first let's start with the personal standpoint, but then, yeah, there might be some additional tips that would be slightly different from being an employee and having your work computer at home.
Danny Z:Yeah, so yeah, like you said, a lot of what we have like our data areas on either our laptops or phones. So I would say, definitely having some digital hygiene. So it could be like strong passwords, 2fa, and then two factor authentication, and then nowadays it's kind of a new thing, but both Google and Apple have something called pass keys to where you'll register it once. It could be like your face or your thumb print or something else, and then that will be your login for, let's say, your Gmail account or other account, and then it kind of makes you that you don't have to remember a password anymore, so somebody with your password won't be able to log in at that point, and then it's a second factor as well. So things like that, I think, can make a really big difference.
Lucas Casarez:And so I love those things because I don't need to remember the password. It just scans my face. Not everything has it, and so those things the face scan or fingerprint those are pretty safe. There's no way for someone to kind of replicate those things then.
Danny Z:Well, there has been things that have come up in, researchers that have replicated, either like an iris scan from like a picture, like a 3D picture, and they can replicate it. So it has happened before. From what I've read, it's been like security researchers that have done it and I would say it's still going to be at this moment it's still going to be safer than a password. And then at the moment the strongest form of two-factor authentication would be like a physical security key, so either like a UB key or something like that, where you plug it into your laptop or your phone and then that serves as your second factor. The key is registered to that website. So let's say it's gmailcom and then it's registered to that real gmailcom and only that. So it's kind of a phishing proof way of logging in. So I would say that above everything but at the moment face ID, touch ID, it will still be safe compared to like a password.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, better than just the password and yeah, perfect. Yup, and when I think about that stuff it makes me think of like, the movies right when you're like someone cuts off the like puts it on. So it sounds like for the most part, people would have to have pretty deep pod, get some resources to be able to replicate the iris and all that. Yeah, perfect. So would there be anything different as an employee working from home, as far as kind of protecting work stuff?
Danny Z:I would say the delineation of, like your personal data and work data. So what happens a lot with the remote workforce can be once the accounts are commingled. Let's say they're somebody's in their work laptop but then they want to log into their personal email or some other personal account and their other their personal laptop might be in the same room, but for convenience purpose they just stay on their work laptop. So things like that, or vice versa, trying to log in from a personal laptop onto their work accounts. So I would say things like that, when it comes to somebody, someone's data is important to be mindful about. And then, yeah, when it comes to home networks, just having your router properly configured, no, not to keep the default password. Like when somebody buys a router, they'll have a default password, but it tells you to change it. So simple things like that will go a long way when it comes to home networks. And then, on the work side, usually employers will have like a VPN or something else that will protect that side.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, and that's the last thing you want to do is like, hey, I logged into work stuff on my personal computer and this happened, and you get stuff reset and then like all of a sudden, your work has to know that you messed up on your first side of things. So yeah, you can separate it. There'd be one way to have these avoid some of that.
Danny Z:Yeah, that will definitely help. And then companies are going in the direction of like making that, putting security controls to where that can't happen, but it has happened before where they get co-mingled.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, yeah and that's. I've had an employee at an intern a year ago. But my biggest fear with hiring someone I'm totally virtual, 100% workable, and like I deal with people so security numbers, bank account, financial stuff, and like I don't really trust other people to take care of stuff or be as like freaked out and paranoid about system hacks and stuff and so eventually when I start hiring people out, I'm going to have to either hire you as a consultant or see who you'd recommend where I can make sure that other computer gets lied down as best as I can. So allow them to work, but yeah, don't let them do personal stuff. I want to limit the risk as much as possible.
Danny Z:Yeah, definitely, especially with that kind of information.
Lucas Casarez:All right, so I appreciate you coming on, Danny, I know one of the things that's important to you is just encouraging people and helping people kind of figure out how to break into cybersecurity or tech, whatever it is. You have some resources that you shared with me that I'm going to put in the show notes that we can share. But yeah, anything else you want to say before we sign off today?
Danny Z:Just for everybody that's interested in the cybersecurity path and even tech in general, like I would definitely recommend to keep going and, yeah, they can reach out as well for any additional help.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, perfect, and so the keep going aspects. I think it's important and this might not have been the case for you, but was there a point in this process where, like, oh man, this does not seem like it's worth it or I'm not going to make it? Did you ever kind of have that imposter syndrome or like, yeah, maybe they say for me. Did that happen to you kind of along the course of your journey?
Danny Z:Oh yeah, that happened to win, like one of the projects that I was working on during the schooling and then during internship as well. There's a moment where, like I said, internally, you just don't think that you, that you can do it, and or that the task is too, too large. So that's definitely, it definitely happened. And having to like sit down and think it through to know, like, how far you've made it and that you just have to keep going.
Lucas Casarez:You know, yeah, exactly, and so that's what praying that I thought is. When you said keep going, I was like man, that's people like Danny's coming from somewhere, get a tome something at some point. So, yeah, I really appreciate you sharing that, because I think a lot of people don't share those things. Right, like I almost quit, almost tapped out. And what we don't realize is and I've been open about this with my business it was like almost tapped out with my business, just went and joined another person made.
Lucas Casarez:It would have been so easy and I definitely thought about it long and hard but I chose not to and all of a sudden, like everything's got really good, really easy compared to what it was before. And so I feel like for a lot of us, these moments of like about to tap out, about to give up, is Like right before he hit, like another breakthrough, and it's like, oh, dang, this, this is nice. I'm glad I didn't give up. You're six years into it, right? So you've had a lot of moments where it's like You're, you're pretty happy with what's taking with it and not giving up.
Danny Z:Yeah, yeah, definitely. And thinking back in those moments like for sure, it's, it's crazy to think like the the feelings at that time, and then like just we were able to get through.
Lucas Casarez:Yeah, I've been. You mentioned kind of reaching out to people. Another benefit of that is like hey, you can lean on them, they can kind of talk you off the ledge. Talking to these, you don't always have to just be like the only only person in your head. Reach out, reach out to Danny, start to build your community, especially if you're early in your career, because even if things are going good for you right now, the things change constantly. The economy is always changing, businesses are changing. Strong companies are always doing funky things and doing things that maybe don't reflect, like, hey, this, why is this strong company? You, you're laying off people and you want people like Danny and other people on your side to be like, hey, I know who you are, I know what your work ethic is and and, yeah, let's, let's help you find that next opportunity, because we know that you'll be awesome wherever you go. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, well, thanks for coming out today, danny. Thank you, thank you Lucas.
Lucas Casarez:Thank you so much for listening to techy personal finance bootcamp. You can find show notes by visiting a level up financial planning calm and finding the podcast page. You'll also be able to find strategy guides, videos and cheap seats to help you take your financial confidence the next level. If you feel this episode is added a ton of value for you, please rate and share this with friends and colleagues. Catch you next time on techie personal finance bootcamp.