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Information Security - Learning Resources

These resources, presentations, blogs, and training have been instrumental in my journey to continually become a better security practitioner - @aaronzollman. If you or your content has been mentioned in this resource list, thank you for being awesome and to the invaluable contributions you have made to advance the industry! Additionally, I have had a handful of mentors not mentioned directly in here who have taken a chance on me through investment of your time, knowledge, and wisdom. I am forever grateful!

Follow me on twitter @ryanelkins

Video Content

I spend a lot of time listening to pre-recorded conference videos, Twitch streams, and creator uploaded content. These talks help me stay current with relevant security topics, lead me down trails of knowledge, or help me become more well-rounded in areas that I do not primarily focus.

The primary mechanism that I utilize for video consumption is Youtube. Although these are videos, keep in mind that there are many great presentations where the audio is just as valid. This permits me to listen at times when doing household chores, driving (just the audio), or doing yard work. Upgrading to YouTube Premium for me personally has been one of my best self-learning investments because it enables background play (audio while phone is locked), it is ad-free, and supports video downloads (convenient for listening on flights). This is also nice for listening to live concerts in the background if you enjoy music so there is added benefit.

My current list of subscriptions includes:

Some of my favorite presentations

Must Subscribe Newsletters

Application/Software Security Resources

I want to specifically highlight the OWASP Cheat Sheet Series as an excellent resource to bookmark. As security practitioners, there is no possible way for us to have depth and breadth in everything. Prior to meetings on a specific topic, I leverage these cheat sheets extensively to do a quick recap of the important components, threats, and security around a topic and when I read these right before a discussion, I always can bring value from a security lens.

Cloud Security Resources

Additionally, there are a handful of talks, tools, and blogs that I continually revisit for ongoing learning.

Additional cloud experts to follow:

Standards, Baselines, and Controls

Conferences

Data Science and Analytics

Security Architecture

Threat Intel/Detect/Respond/Forensics/Reverse Engineering/Mobile

Training

General Security Topics and News

Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner (CISSP) - ISC2 - @ISC2
SANS Certifications and Training - @SANSInstitute

Social Media

Social media is an important role in real-time news and direct collaboration. I have included the Twitter accounts for the previously mentioned resources and recommend following all of them.