Cybersecurity 101, Part III: Defense, Offense, and Career Pathways
How Blue and Red Teams operate, and the practical ways you can build a career in cybersecurity.
In Part II, we outlined the fundamentals: the CIA Triad, threats, vulnerabilities, risk, and the most common attacks, such as ransomware and insider threats.
That provided us with a map of what we’re defending against.
Now let’s talk about the people who do the defending, and those who play offense to make defenses stronger. From there, we’ll dive into the most practical question for many of you reading this:
How do you build a career in this field?
⏪ Check out parts 1 & 2 if you’ve missed them!
The Blue Team: Defenders on the Frontline
When most people think of “cybersecurity jobs,” they picture the Blue Team. These are the defenders, responsible for protecting organizations from day-to-day threats.
I told the workshop: “Think of the Blue Team as operating on five verbs: Monitoring, Analysis, Detection, Response, and Prevention.”
Monitoring – Collecting logs and telemetry. Every system, every login, every file download generates a trail. At scale, this translates to billions of records per day. Monitoring gives us visibility.
Analysis – Separating signal from noise. Not every failed login is an attack, but some are. Analysts sift through the haystack to find the needle.
Detection – Writing rules and logic to catch bad activity automatically. For example: “Alert me if anyone logs in from outside Texas when all our employees are based here.”
Response – Once an alert fires, the real work begins. Investigating what happened, containing it before it spreads, eradicating the threat, and remediating the environment.
Prevention – Instead of waiting for threats, build guardrails that prevent them from occurring in the first place. Think strong identity checks, firewalls, or policies that block risky behavior.
Within the Blue Team, careers range from SOC Analyst to Detection Engineer to Incident Responder to Cloud Security Engineer. Each has its own flavor, but all share the same mission: protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The Red Team: Offense for Good
The Red Team takes a different approach. Instead of waiting for attackers, they simulate them.
I explained in the workshop: “Cybersecurity borrows heavily from the military. Blue Teams defend. Red Teams attack.”
Red Teamers, penetration testers, and adversary emulation specialists attempt to break into systems in the same manner as a malicious hacker would. The difference?
Their job is to report the weaknesses they find so that they can be addressed and fixed.
It’s offense in service of defense.
Red Team roles include:
Penetration Testers – Contracted to test apps, networks, or infrastructure.
Adversary Emulation Specialists – Simulate real-world attackers (e.g., APT groups) to see how defenders respond.
Red Team Engineers/Operators – Build the tools, exploits, and campaigns used in simulations.
Where the Blue Team thrives on logs and detections, the Red Team thrives on creativity, exploitation, and thinking like an attacker.
Audience Q&A Moment
One audience member asked:
“So which side is better — Blue or Red?”
My answer: neither. Both exist because of each other. Red Teams keep Blue Teams sharp. Blue Teams build the guardrails, Red Teams test.
For careers, it comes down to personality:
Do you love puzzles, detection logic, and digging through logs? Blue might fit.
Do you love breaking things, exploiting systems, and thinking adversarially? Red might fit.
And the truth is, you can pivot between the two. Many professionals (myself included) have worn both hats over the years.
Career Pathways Into Cybersecurity
Now to the part most people lean forward for: “How do I get in?”
I broke it down into four practical pathways, and I’ll expand on them here.
1. Certifications (Practical > Theoretical)
I emphasized in the workshop that a cert isn't a guaranteed ticket to a job. But a good cert offers structure, demonstrates knowledge, and, if practical, shows you can actually do the work.
My top recommendations:
For Blue Team (Defensive Security):
Blue Team Level 1 (BTL1) – Security Blue Team. Hands-on, 24-hour scenario-based cert.
Certified Defensive Security Analyst (CDSA) – Hack The Box. Covers monitoring + response.
Certified CyberDefender (CCD) – CyberDefenders. 48-hour, practical detection + response.
For Red Team (Offensive Security):
PNPT (Practical Network Penetration Tester) – TCM Security. Affordable, hands-on.
OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) – Industry standard. An intense 24-hour exam where you must exploit systems and write a report.
2. College (Strategic, but Choose Wisely)
Not all degrees are equal. My honest take?
Skip cybersecurity degrees unless they are practical.
Most are heavy on theory, light on skills.
Better options:
Computer Science – Builds coding + math depth, which makes you far stronger in modern security roles.
SANS Institute – Expensive, but elite. Highly practical and industry-respected.
WGU (Western Governors University) – Affordable, cert-heavy, NSA recognized. Great for career switchers.
RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) – One of the best U.S. programs in cybersecurity.
3. Projects (Proof You Can Do the Work)
I can’t stress this enough: projects differentiate you.
Build a detection for a real attack in Splunk and blog about it.
Analyze malware samples in a home lab and share your findings.
Write about how you set up a SIEM, an IDS, or a honeypot at home.
Projects show initiative, practical ability, and communication skills. Employers love seeing them on resumes, GitHub, or LinkedIn.
4. Labs & Practice Grounds
Don’t just read — practice. The best platforms:
TryHackMe – Beginner-friendly, guided labs for both Blue and Red. $14/month is worth it.
HackTheBox – More advanced, great for offensive practice.
Your Own Home Lab – The ultimate. Spin up virtual machines, simulate attacks, and practice detection. It’s how I sharpened my skills early on, and I still use mine.
Transferable Skills Count Too
If you’re already in an IT help desk, sysadmin, or networking role, you have a head start. Many of those skills are directly applicable to cybersecurity.
It’s easier to pivot from IT to security than from scratch.
The Community Advantage
Cybersecurity isn’t a solo sport. That’s why I built the Cyberwox Academy Discord: a community of over 6,800 members where students, professionals, and recruiters share jobs, resources, and guidance.
I told the workshop: “I can’t answer every question alone, but together, this community can.”
Joining spaces like this not only accelerates learning but also exposes you to opportunities. People have literally landed jobs just by networking inside.
Join a vibrant cybersecurity community of over 6,800 people who are constantly engaging in conversations and supporting one another, covering topics from cybersecurity and college to certifications, resume assistance, and various non-professional interests like fitness, finance, anime, and other exciting subjects.
Closing Reflection
By the end of the workshop, I wanted the room to walk away with this: Cybersecurity is a mission, and it needs people. Whether you lean defensive, offensive, or somewhere in between, there’s space for you here.
But breaking in requires more than memorizing definitions. It requires:
Building practical skill through certs, labs, and projects.
Learning to communicate risk in business terms.
Plugging into a community that pushes you forward.
If you do that, not only will you break in — you’ll thrive.
🎥 Watch the Full Workshop (Cyberwox Members Only)
If you’d like to watch the complete edited two-hour workshop, it’s available exclusively to my Cyberwox Squad and Syndicate members on YouTube.
👉🏽 Join here and watch the full session.
✅ That’s the conclusion of this 3-part series: Cybersecurity 101. If you’ve read this far, you’re already ahead of most people trying to understand this field. Share this with someone who needs to know this.
Great content here thanks.