Life of a SOC Lead (w/ Alberto Rodriguez)

Ever wonder what SOC analysts do day-to-day in their work? When people think of a security operations center, the mental image is often giant screens around a command center. But in our remote work world, SOCS are more distributed than you think!

In this episode, we learn about the world of SOC analysts from Alberto Rodriguez. Alberto works both as a SOC lead and offensive security lead and shares his valuable insights from years of experience. In this interview, we talk about technical leadership, building home labs, modern offensive and defensive toolkits.

Join Alberto as he shares his career progression from being an IT help desk guy at a small shop to becoming a SOC lead at a security company.

===== HOME LAB SPECS =====

CPU - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz

MOTHERBOARD - B360M-ITX/ac

RAM - G.SKILL Aegis 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4 21300) Desktop Memory Model F4-2666C19D-32GIS

STORAGE -
Samsung - 860 EVO 500GB Internal SATA Solid State Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM008 2 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - SATA

CASE - APEX MI Series MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply

FAN - Noctua NH-L9i, Premium Low-profile CPU Cooler for Intel LGA115x (Brown)

EXTRA - Ethernet to USB3 (For physical port mirroring)

00:00 Introduction - Alberto Rodriguez
01:44 Working as a SOC Lead and Offensive Lead
02:52 What is a SOC Lead?
03:36 How do security operations centers work?
05:12 Day in the life of a security analyst
08:35 The offensive security client engagement process
10:26 Mindset differences between cyber attackers and defenders?
12:25 Tools of the trade for offensive and defensive security
15:51 Tips for keeping track of cyber tools and resources
17:23 Common cyber security pitfalls for organizations
19:58 What does a security operations team look like?
21:48 What are the skills and salaries of security analysts?
23:04 Salary ranges for tier 1, 2, and 3
24:07 What are people in the SOC like?
24:47 How to lead technical people
26:21 Words of advice for non-technical leaders?
27:24 What’s the job interview process for a cyber security lead?
29:13 Tips for the technical interview
31:03 Starting off in cyber security
32:45 The hardest part of learning cyber security
33:32 How long it takes to feel confident learning?
34:00 What resources are useful for learning cyber security?
35:30 Useful Capture-the-flag and practical cyber labs?
36:36 Cyber security training as a beginner
37:29 Building a home lab
41:22 How much does a home lab cost?
42:20 How important are certifications really?
45:45 Hobbies and interests
46:45 Cyber security advice for family members
48:18 Main interview closer
48:39 Get in touch with Alberto

FOLLOW and SUBSCRIBE!

#CyberSecurity #SOC #Cyberspatial

[Cyberspatial]

Which one are you more interested in, offense or defense?

[RodDop-usex]

Something tells me this channel will become really famous fast....

[brianb]

Hey Ricky, I know you’re new but PLEASE continue pumping out content, you’re a great narrator and presenter and have very well thought out videos! Thank you!

[MisterK-YT]

This host is awesome. He asks the guest to clarify and explain certain topics, which are the _exact_ topics that I didn’t understand or know about.

[josuefrancois]

Most informative cybersecurity video I've seen on youtube in a very long time. No fluff or gimmicks, just raw educating information that holds our attention... boy! you are rare!..

[kennyfabian]

Great interview from top to bottom, i sent this video to some colleagues that are involved in building SOCs right now, it’ll definitely be of value!!!!

[Real_SacredSpace]

This is the best interview I have seen in cybersecurity. A lot of questions I had were honestly answered. Thanks guys. You all have a golden heart.

[ibrahimnadir]

I bet you, this channel will become the holy grail of security pretty soon. I want to congratulate the owner already. They really know what they are doing. Plus sharing it with the world, I am so happy Internet exists and we have people like these who actually are paying all the respect to the Internet by uploading such content. I can write more but the content is so good so shifting back to the video. Thanks!

[AnActualWolf]

Ricky, thank you for asking the question re: "What does your team look like?" As someone who is interested in migrating into tech, I am often anxious about the lack of diversity and what the culture is like. It's not a question a lot of people are comfortable taking on, so I'm also grateful for Alberto for being open about "who" makes up his team. <3

[ryanstevenson]

This interview was a goldmine of info for people new to the industry. Great stuff

[Mr_IT.]

This is good. This has a lot of value. If you pay attention. You can tell this guys is very intelligent.

[dracoable]

I see KNOWLEDGE, I ABSORB! Keep it up @Cyberspatial.

[mohammadarifkhan]

Simply put...just great content you can expect for cybersecurity. thank you very much.

[nloudaros]

This is one of the best interviews I have seen for cybersecurity industry. Your questions were to the point and Mr Rodriquez answered in detailed, he is a great professional in this industry. This was the most informative cybersecurity video I've seen on youtube in a very long time i've been searching. You deserve RESPECT. Thank you for the 49:42 minutes of educational informations. Subscribe, like and bookmark are the right movements. Greetings from GREECE.

[breakpointacademy]

This channel is pure awesomeness, thanks for the great content!

[pawbard]

Simply superb content, thank you both. Thoughtful questions and really insightful answers.

[castercs]

seeing this guy Alberto and his approach towards his employees I want him to be my boss. also I have zero technical skill, but that's besides the point :)

[alessandroloprete]

Thank you for this amazing content!
I would definitely appreciate a podcast from you :)

[A_Changed_Heart_Ministries]

Awesome interview, thanks for the great guests, and the great wealth of information your channel always provides 🙏🏼

[putridgrinder]

Awesome content, this is becoming one of the best channels in cyber security. It would be awesome to see a video or a series about kinda building a home lab for beginners and/or testing and recommending tools, I don't know, just a thought. Keep up the good work!!!