Cryptography

Megadeth4168

Cryptography is my weakest point so far....

I knew after I finished reading the 2 chapters on Cryptography in my book that I was going to have a hard time with it and sure enough all practice tests I've taken so far have reflected taht.

I am doing great in the other objectives it seems like though....

Any hints or tips dealing with Cryptography?

wastedtime

Well I don't know what works for you but I found the Microsoft Security+ book pretty easy to understand. An I just grouped the different types Asymmetric and symmetric algorithms and what they were used in. Although I haven't took the test yet I feel like I'll be fairly confident in that area.

Megadeth4168

By grouping I don't know if you meant that you went through and created a table but that is a great idea.

I will probably learn the stuff a lot better if I hand write a table and put each item with the type of encryption it uses. This will give me visual aid; repetition and I will probably process the information better.

I'm buying the Syngress book once I'm done with Sybex and Mike Meyers... I don't know yet if I plan on buying a fourth book or not, I was planning on using the technotes here as a fourth reading source.

Thanks.

Webmaster

Megadeth4168 wrote:

I was planning on using the technotes here as a fourth reading source.

I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but I would suggest using my TechNotes as the second or even first source. Although I still need to cover a couple of section, which will be done over the next several weeks, for the parts I did cover, it's more complete and more accurate than the ones you mentioned. Also, when using a multiple books etc, which is a good thing of course, I suggest switching between them per chapter/topic. I.e. read about a single topic in all 3 or 4 guides/products.

Good luck!

Megadeth4168

I didnt mean that by using this site as a fourth resource that it was lowest in quality or anything... I just ment that it would be one of my four source as far as reading goes... I suppose I should have phrased that better

I know that the Sybex practice questions have all been very easy, then I come here and decide to see where I stand on your practice tests and get 70% on the first one and 60 something percent on the second one.... There were things on the practice tests that were not covered in 8 chapters of the sybex book....

With 2 chapters left to go (and noting the names of the chapters) I don't suspect some of these will still be covered in teh Sybex book.

I do put a great deal of faith on teh content in the tech notes on this site. I definitly appreciate the time and effort that must have gone into making the tech notes... I didnt mean to make my last post look offending in any way, for that I do apologize.

I actually felt pretty good at first when I tried the 10 question sample on Comptias site... Seemed easy but I have a feeling that it is not really anything like the real exam.

Webmaster

I guess I should have phrased it better, I surely didn't take any offense. I didn't think you were putting it in terms of quality, but in the order of reading. We always recommend more than one book, and for this exam in particular, it's a necessity. Normally with 'notes' I would suggest reading them last (or as a quick intro to the topics/exam), but I kinda got carried away with most of the topics and even though I didn't cover all the topics yet, and I don't include 'fluff', the 'word count' is already about the same or more than the commercial books available. So rather than using it as notes to cram, I suggest including it in your study from the start. Sorry for causing any confusion.

I actually felt pretty good at first when I tried the 10 question sample on Comptias site... Seemed easy but I have a feeling that it is not really anything like the real exam.

They actually represent the format quite well. But 100 of them will make things a bit harder. I think it's a reasonably fair exam, but a bit weird now and then.

Megadeth4168

Actually I knidn of wish I would ahve started reading the notes here before starting on my first book. I've been printing off notes from here over the past couple days and honestly I think the notes here are easier to understand than the Sybex book.

That still doesnt mean that I am 100% grasping public keys, private keys, asymetric ect....

I still have a ways to go.

Thanks for making all of these notes available to us, they do help a lot

What would be the best way to make a table....

Maybe have 3 catagories like Symetric, Asymetric and Hashing?

keatron

Megadeth, and also remember, if all else fails, post a question on the forums. The guys hanging around here are second to no other forum.

Good luck.

Webmaster

Maybe have 3 catagories like Symetric, Asymetric and Hashing?

Those are the main categories in which I am dividing the Cryptography TechNotes, so yeah I would agree that would work for a table. In addition to reading about it, it helps remembering the details if you get some hands-on with it. I.e. by downloading PGP, installing it for your email client etc, and see what different encryption systems are available. Just working with it, will help you remember them, but also see their purpose, and helps with choosing as well as excluding answers on the exams.

I like Sybex books in general, a lot actually, but for the Security+ exam they just didn't do a good job. They sent me a copy of the first edition a couple of years ago and ask for a review. It took me over a year to even get through it. Apart from the flat out incorrect info (which happens to everyone who writes, inlcuding me, but they even managed to make some of the same mistakes in the second edition, while they were on the errata of the first...) I didn't find it a pleasant read (apart from the Physical Security chapter). Never received IT certification books from Sybex again after that. But since you already have it, it's certainly worth reading.

Webmaster

keatron wrote:

Megadeth, and also remember, if all else fails, post a question on the forums. The guys hanging around here are second to no other forum.

Indeed. Even though you already have set of different study material, discussing the actual technical information with others can clarify more than any book or notes.

Megadeth4168

keatron wrote:

Megadeth, and also remember, if all else fails, post a question on the forums. The guys hanging around here are second to no other forum.

Good luck.

I definitely plan on taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge that the members of this forum have.

Thanks also for the suggestion on downloading PGP. I will check it out tonight