Last Updated on November 24, 2018 by Dave Farquhar
Several months ago, I started listening to security podcasts in the car during my commute. I probably have my annual CPE requirement tripled by now–I’ll go submit my 30 in a week or two, and I don’t see much point in tracking it beyond that–but, more importantly, I’ve increased my professional awareness.
One thing I’ve noticed: When I first started doing this, I found if I listened to a podcast two or three times I missed stuff the first time around. I don’t miss a whole lot anymore. That’s a good thing. You can never be too conversant in security. Even if it means replacing your car radio, it’s worth it.
But mainly, I’ve recovered an hour of my day that was otherwise unproductive. When I listen in the car, I’m not distracted, so I retain the information well. In 7-10 hours a week (running errands counts too), I can cover a ton of ground. And there’s a positive side effect, too. When traffic is bad, I’m less uptight about it. I’m stuck in traffic, yes, but I’m learning whether the car is moving at 2 MPH or 60 MPH. So on those days when it takes 15 extra minutes to get to work, I find I don’t mind it much. That’s probably good for my heart health.
I was telling a coworker who’s trying to get into security about doing this. Another coworker chimed in that he knows someone who listens to Italian lessons in the car, has been doing so for about a year, and is moderately conversant in Italian now.
I don’t especially need to pick up Italian, but that sounds to me like a more productive way to spend the drive time than listening to Gwar.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
Hello Dave,
What podcasts do you listen to? I mean, where do you get them from? I’m not commuting by car, but by bus (even more time spent) and useful information would be better than music. Even if I could improve my German :-P.
Thanks!
Hi Daniel, I listen to computer security podcasts: Risky Business, Pauldotcom, Tenable Network Security, Liquidmatrix Security Digest, and Southern Fried Security. The main way I discover new ones are from podcasts I listen to mentioning others. But you can get a podcast manager for a smartphone (I’m still trying them out–right now I’m using Doggcatcher), search by category, download a couple and try them out. I didn’t like the first Liquidmatrix episode I listened to but it did seem promising, and, indeed, I’ve liked the others just fine. I listen to the current episode of each, then download one or more older episodes to fill out my drive time for the week.