Maximize Quarantine

Never waste a crisis. Seriously.

With all of the doom and gloom, it’s all too easy to get sucked into the understandable negativity and drama going on.

The worst thing you can do, and I mean – the worst, is to sit around reading article after article after article, which basically are all saying the same thing, i.e. that:

Yes, we’re (temporarily) screwed;
Yes, there is no (current) cure;
Unemployment will be through the Ying Yang

Just take a look at the headline above.

I took that screenshot on April 6th, 2020 and I really hope that that is the worst that I’ll ever see during this COVID-19 Nightmare.

There Is Another Way. Let’ Be Positive!

However – let’s use our time constructively.

Here’s the awesome news – staying constructive and going on the offensive means that we are distracted in a very healthy way to everything that going on.

Aside from staying indoors (as of April 2020) and being as positive as you can, here are five tips to get you to maximize your time to improve yourself!

Learn New Skills;
Attend Cybersecurity Online Conferences & Webinars;
Efficiently Network With Your Peers;
Reach Out To See Volunteer On Projects;
Read, read, and read some more…

Let’s take each in turn.

#1 Learn New Hacking or Cyber Skills

Bit of a no-brainer this one.

Cybersecurity is all about applying your l33t skills and there is no better time than now to improve your skills.

I interviewed a bunch of Penetration Testers and one of their predominant answers and gems of advice was to upskill and constantly improve your skills.

Here’s a resource I put together for very affordable hacking courses you can take from Udemy.

#2 Attend Online InfoSec Conferences & Webinars

Obviously a large percentage of all conferences have been cancelled, postponed or converted to online – which the latter being a good thing because it means that you can attend!

It’s also likely that you weren’t able to attend the physical iteration of the conference so now you can! Here’s a list of online Cybersecurity Conferences you can take a look at.

#3 Efficiently Network With Your Peers

LinkedIn is your friend. There are over 260 million users on LinedIn and they’re all using it more than ever, especially during this pandemic.

Growth hack your way into LinkedIn and strike up a bunch of awesome friendships and networks which will be remembered.

LinkedIn is all about value. If all you do is push your agenda then you’ll be buried with all the other content, instead, offer value and you’ll get noticed with the net result being that your reach and network will increase thereby also increasing your opportunites.

#4 Reach Out To See Volunteer On Projects

This is a great time to work on a project that you admire from GitHub. Perhaps there’s a hacking tool that you’re interested in, or maybe there’s even a developer seeking assistance with a pentest tool or similar.

If forking a project isn’t your thing then why not get into Bug Hunting? Get good at it and when the economy picks up you’ll be in a great place to get more work.

#5 Reading Is Key

“I’d buy a book if I could buy some time” said one wise person.

Well, dear friends, that time is now and you have the time.

There is an unlimited amount of content you can read on your kindle or order from Amazon free or otherwise.

In Summary

Like you, I really hope that this crisis ends soon and that we are back to Life 2.0 asap.

I feel like what we will experience is rather like the current yearly calendar, i.e. BC and AD. Maybe we will be in BCV (Before Corona Virus) and ACV (After Corona Virus).

Whilst things may be difficult for most people, and my heart goes out to anyone that has lost someone, what I do know is that the human spirit is very, very, strong and we will not overcome this but we will bounce back.

Just stay strong – be positive – and make sure you maximize this “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

Let’s beat Coronavirus!