Cybersecurity Pros Name Their Price as Hacker Attacks Swell

Re:Cybersecurity Pros Name Their Price as Hacker Attacks Swell by jcims on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @07:03PM (#20640117)

Do the folks you know that are doing this full time actually depend on that income for their livelihood? I was on the receiving end of a large program for a short stint and have been watching it casually over the past few years. It's very much a feast and famine way to live, and you need to not only be very skilled, you also need to be dedicated to the effort and be very disciplined with your money. A $20K chained RCE looks great on paper until you're trying to live on a constant diet of clickjacking and IDOR bugs for two months straight.

I would caution anyone thinking about this to do it as a side hustle for at least six months if not a year to test the waters, understand the subculture a bit, and take a few rounds on the roller coaster.

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Re:Cybersecurity Pros Name Their Price as Hacker Attacks Swell by CyberBank on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @07:08PM (#20640162)

Yes the ones I know do it full time as their only income AFAIK. Most do live in low cost of living areas, none of them that I know are living in places like San Fran :)

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Re:Cybersecurity Pros Name Their Price as Hacker Attacks Swell by jcims on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @07:17PM (#20640231)

Ah, indeed low CoL helps a ton.

I would say only 10-15% of our reports were from folks in the USA and I don't recall any being full time. The dedicated folks were mostly from eastern europe and middle east...i'm guessing that has changed a bit over the past few years.

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Re:Cybersecurity Pros Name Their Price as Hacker Attacks Swell by CyberBank on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @07:19PM (#20640250)

Precisely :) definitely nailed the locations of the people I know

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