Wrapping up 2012

I've been really busy lately so I haven't blogged much.  Things are coming together pretty well here at the end of 2012.  Here's what's happening with me.

This summer, I won a free trip to Fishnet Security's iSWAT training event in Las Vegas through The Ethical Hacker Network.  I decided to take the CISSP review course.  I've been meaning to take the CISSP exam for a while, but it's been hard to find time to study since I'm working and in school full-time.  There were only three of us in class, but it worked out really well.  Instead of sitting in rows and listening to the instructor drone on for hours, we sat around a conference table and actually discussed things as we went over them.  Many of the discussions went well past what we needed for the exam, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.  It's not often that I get to spend an entire day talking about security.

My only complaint is that Fishnet was supposed to reimburse me for the CISSP exam (it was part of the package).  I was told a month ago that my reimbursement was being processed, but I haven't heard back and I haven't received anything.
In October, a few weeks after the class, I took the CISSP exam and passed.  About a week ago I received notification that I was officially certified.  Box checked.

About a month ago, Mark Russinovich posted a security quiz that tied in to a short story of his.  Then, he put the names of all the people who got perfect scores into a hat (I assume) and drew five names.  I won!  So, I'll be receiving an autographed set of all of his books.  I'm very happy.  I love the Inside Windows/Windows Internals series and I enjoyed his (realistic) hacker novel Zero Day.  I was already planning to buy his new novel Trojan Horse.

In December, I'll graduate with a BS in Information Technology with a specialization in Information Assurance.  It's long overdue.  I started working full-time after I finished my AA degree ten years ago.  I always meant to go back, but it's hard to do while working and even harder when you have kids.  Box almost checked.

I'm not sure what's next.  I've been in my current role for six years and I'm ready for the next challenge.  I'd like to stay in management and am looking for either a security management position or a general IT director type role.  I work in higher ed right now, but I'm not set on that.  My wife and I are willing to relocate if I find a good position, but we want to live someplace warm where we can afford to buy a house with a yard.  We'd prefer to stay in California, but we're open to Texas or a few other places. 

Once I get settled into a new position, I'd like to write a security book.  I have some material already, but that's all I'm going to say for now. 

After that, I might pursue a master's degree.  I think it would be useful to have, but I learn a lot more on my own that I do in class.  I go a hell of a lot faster too.  Once I get some other things taken care of, perhaps I'll check that box too.