Software Engineering or Cybersecurity
Posted by Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 19 comments
Next year I will be starting college, I wanted to do software engineering, however due to advances in AI I am worried that when I graduate I won't be able to work in the area, so I was thinking if it's worth doing Cybersecurity instead of engineering, so I wanted your opinion and why
bravopapa99@reddit
First off, forget AI, it's going away soon.
Secondly, cybersecurity requires "software engineering", or at least the ability to understand and decompose a problem then write code to solve that problem, wether it's finding open ports or unregistered domain paths.
I'd pick whatever interest you the most, the cross-over isn't that hard BUT cybersecurity might be the "better" choice as the skills and tools are very interesting and need time to understand e.g. kismet, hydra (not that hard), metasploit and burpsuite to name a few.
dajiru@reddit
Cyber security. High demand.
NoSeaworthiness8310@reddit
You can get the best of both worlds by doing some cybersecurity-related modules during your SWE degree. If you can take a networking course, an OS course, and perhaps a basic security module, you’ll have a lot of the fundamentals while still getting a good development background.
Writing secure software is more important than ever, so you could use your dev skills to do that entry level for a few years before pivoting to security
iam_batman27@reddit
Cybersecurity... generally I think cybersecurity won't be automated by AI as much as SE
Dappster98@reddit
AI still has a long way to go when it comes to programming. It's okay for solving simple stuff, but when your project becomes much larger, and more complex, then AI will struggle. It's good for giving overviews of stuff like "How do I make X?" or "What are the steps for designing Y?" Rather than using it do write your code for you, it's more of an assistant towards explaining in simple terms how/what to do when you're wanting to make something. And even then, you still need to "fact check" the bot to make sure it's not hallucinating or giving incorrectly trained information.
I'd say, if your passion is truly programming, then go down that path. AI won't be replacing programmers full time for the forseeable future.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
My fear is, the course is 4 years, assuming I can work for about 3 years, but then I start to be replaced
Dappster98@reddit
Get good enough to the point where you won't be replaced.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
OLOKO, but if you were to have a plan B, what would you suggest?
Dappster98@reddit
If I had to have a plan B, it'd be either math or cyber security. I've done a bit of pentesting on HackTheBox, but ultimately I found that I have more of a passion for programming.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
Graduating in software engineering, do you think I can get a good job paying in dollars where anxiety about AI won't drive me crazy, what would that area be, I plan on Back-end but I'm on the back foot
Dappster98@reddit
With just a degree? No. You need to also have projects to show and talk about.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
But among the many areas that I can pursue within this training, which do you think is most promising in the long term?
EntrepreneurHuge5008@reddit
If Software engineering is replaced by AI so will Cybersecurity.
Go with whatever is your first choice.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
Why do you say?
EntrepreneurHuge5008@reddit
I'm not entirely sure you're looking at "the whole picture" when it comes to AI.
AI's performance doesn't just improve in "software engineering," it improves across the board. If it gets to a point where it makes SWEs obsolete (of course, excluding areas where Human Intervention is still needed), then it would most likely also have improved to a point where it makes the majority of Human CyberSec Engineers obsolete as well. Not to mention all other areas within tech + virtually all other industries.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
It's not easy, I hope to get a good dollar job to lead a good life
EntrepreneurHuge5008@reddit
Hope the next round of world leaders will improve the economy and regulate AI such that it protects Human labor to an extent, or get going with a viable universal basic income plan.
Aggravating_Sign8964@reddit (OP)
I personally find it very difficult, especially here in Brazil...
Sad-Sympathy-2804@reddit
Here's my two cents... even with how the market is right now, there are still plenty of entry-level SWE roles out there. But when it comes to “entry-level” cybersecurity jobs… they don’t really exist. Most of what’s considered “entry level” is just IT help desk or some god-awful support/admin role. Usually you have to grind that out for 2–3 years before you can transition into an actual cybersecurity role. So yeah, something to keep in mind, cyber roles usually aren’t entry level.