How does this exam compare?

Megadeth4168

I have my A+ and Network+ how difficult is the security+ in comparrison?
I picked up 2 books last night and when I finish with those I will pick up 1 or 2 more....

RussS

Sec+ has had many saying it is difficult and many saying it is easy. Personally I think it is a screwball exam that is badly written, but it is also a mixture of easy and difficult

I can **** - it's the only exam/test I have ever attempted and failed. ummm, well besides a paternaty test beck when I was a wild teen

As nextacy posted - look out for those double negatives

Megadeth4168

I guess I will just have to make sure I am as prepared as possible for anything they might throw at me then

I have the Sybex second edition book and Mike Meyers book right now... They were the only 2 at the book store the other night so it made my choices easy.

I will be ordering at least one more book online....

Should I go with Syngress or Microsofts Security+ book?

Matt_Smi

I am wondering the same thing. After I take Net+, which should be soon I was thinking of going for security+ or 70-270 for my MCP. But one thing that worries me about Sec+ is that I have little background with security. Where as A+ and Net+ deals with a lot of things that I am familiar with, Sec+ is mostly all new to me. Plus the high passing score is a bit scary. Also I think it is a bit harder to have a chance to do hands on practice with the material on this test, unless you have a lab setup. I am still on the fence about going for this test, but I think if I decide to do so it will be rewarding in the end.

crap I forgot my old pwd

Yup, watch out for Security+...its a bear. You need to make sure you know your stuff! Because you have to still pick the right answer even in a poorly worded question. Security+ = nice benefits though!

Megadeth4168

I'm a little worried about it now but I think by the time I get 3 books read and a bunch of practice tests out of the way I should be feeling more confident about the whole thing.

Is there any extra hardware that would be helpful for me to have for handson experience for this exam? SHould I pick up a router or 2 ect....?

mvastarelli

Megadeth4168 wrote:

I'm a little worried about it now but I think by the time I get 3 books read and a bunch of practice tests out of the way I should be feeling more confident about the whole thing.

Is there any extra hardware that would be helpful for me to have for handson experience for this exam? SHould I pick up a router or 2 ect....?

I was a train wreck at the end of my security+ test. I hit the "end exam" button with 7 seconds left on the clock. Like others have pointed out, it's a very enjoyable subject to learn, and it touches on a lot of theory that's good to know; not just for a security specialist, but for anyone in any dept of IT.

Like Russ said, your responses on how hard this test is will vary dramatically depending on who you ask. I personally found it to be a relatively difficult certification to get, but I'm basing this opinion on the fact that there is a very large subject base you're tested on, and the margin of error is much smaller as opposed to the A+/Network+ test.

Difficult? Yes
Impossible? No
Rewarding? Very

Edit: as for your hardware question. If you've never played with a wireless network before, you might want to invest in some equipment to play with. Also, a PC or two running an OS like 2k/XP Pro is very handy for playing around with file permissions and network security.

Megadeth4168

mvastarelli wrote:

Megadeth4168 wrote:

I'm a little worried about it now but I think by the time I get 3 books read and a bunch of practice tests out of the way I should be feeling more confident about the whole thing.

Is there any extra hardware that would be helpful for me to have for handson experience for this exam? SHould I pick up a router or 2 ect....?

I was a train wreck at the end of my security+ test. I hit the "end exam" button with 7 seconds left on the clock. Like others have pointed out, it's a very enjoyable subject to learn, and it touches on a lot of theory that's good to know; not just for a security specialist, but for anyone in any dept of IT.

Like Russ said, your responses on how hard this test is will vary dramatically depending on who you ask. I personally found it to be a relatively difficult certification to get, but I'm basing this opinion on the fact that there is a very large subject base you're tested on, and the margin of error is much smaller as opposed to the A+/Network+ test.

Difficult? Yes
Impossible? No
Rewarding? Very

Edit: as for your hardware question. If you've never played with a wireless network before, you might want to invest in some equipment to play with. Also, a PC or two running an OS like 2k/XP Pro is very handy for playing around with file permissions and network security.

As far as wireless, I've only played with some wireless home routers...
I do have a bit of experience from work with PIX firewalls and Cisco Switches/Routers.

As for Win2k/XP I work on them everyday at work as well as 2000 server/advanced server with Active Directory....

I'm hoping that 6 years of experience at this job will help me with the security+ exam. I think my biggest problem will be memorizing acronyms and things like that.

mvastarelli

Megadeth4168 wrote:

I'm hoping that 6 years of experience at this job will help me with the security+ exam. I think my biggest problem will be memorizing acronyms and things like that.

Learn the acronymns, don't memorize them. One nice thing about CompTIA tests is they will always spell out what an acronym stands for whenever they use it. You won't get any questions such as "What does WEP stand for?"