Learning Methods

I hope in about two years to go into IT Security and maybe Pen Testing at some stage if I'm qualified enough.

I've just started reading the CEHv9 book as I hope to do the exam this summer as a starting point to go on to do the GPEN course + exam.

How do you find it's best to learn? I know people have different methods, but if it's a book of say 500 pages then it's a lot to get through.

Do you just read it?
Do you read it but highlight the pages as you're going along?
Do you read it... stop and try some things out and then go back to reading

I do like to try out things I'm reading but the issue I have is that it's very time-consuming and easy to get distracted. I do try out some things such as the nmap options, some of the hping2/3 things, but quickly I've found you can become really caught up in playing around that you end up not getting through the reading material.

Thanks everyone

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jamesleecoleman

Depends on what I'm learning.

For the CISSP, I'm going to read the AIO once and then get the Sybex CISSP book and read that multiple times until I can tell myself all of the main topics in each domain.
For the eCPPT, I'm going to lab my butt of as I did for the CCENT (expired) and the eJPT.

I'll do things until I can either explain it to myself in a way that someone else can understand it or lab it up until I can just go into the lab and do what is needed for that lab or chain what I've learned in multiple labs together without looking anything up. If I have to look something up then that means that I don't know it enough.

There's nothing wrong with playing around with different options in labs to see what does what but just try not to lose track of what the objectives are.

UncleB

CyberCop123 wrote: »

How do you find it's best to learn? I know people have different methods, but if it's a book of say 500 pages...

I prefer to get the ebook, print just the parts I think hold the key information (ie skip the intro, questions, summaries, appendices etc) and staple it into chapter sized chunks to read and highlight the bits that are new to me, plus scribble notes in the margins which are relevant (especially with the likes of Azure that is constantly evolving).

These are very portable and easy to work on during a commute so I tend to get through them quickly. Spare time at home allows me to pick them up and do some more rather than watch some soap opera that the wife just can't miss...

When I finish one or more chapters I will re-read, make a few notes on bits I'm unsure about and need to look up online - these are squeezed into my working day and I'll copy/past notes and print to staple to the chapter notes.

In a week I can comfortably get through 250 pages, or 500 with some weekend focus, so in 1 or 2 weeks I can cover all the ground work for any Microsoft exam and that gives me time to work on practice exams for a few days before deciding to book the exam.

It really helps to do it on paper if you are in a hurry as using the computer just leads to distractions. However, if you need to keep the material to recap again, then highlighting the PDF of the file is the way to go.

Just my technique, I hope it helps.

tunerX

If there is hands on then I read and experiment with the technology.

For the CCDP, CCDA, Sec+, and CISSP I just read the material several times and watched some videos. Those don't really require hands on with equipment. I may pull out some scratch paper and run through calculations if required.

I never highlight anything.

CyberCop123

UncleB wrote: »

I prefer to get the ebook, print just the parts I think hold the key information (ie skip the intro, questions, summaries, appendices etc) and staple it into chapter sized chunks to read and highlight the bits that are new to me, plus scribble notes in the margins which are relevant (especially with the likes of Azure that is constantly evolving).

I quite like that idea as I've bought the physical CEHv9 book. As with many IT type books there's so much in there that can be ignored.

The chapters appear quite nice sizes, so I will just try to tackle a couple of chapters per week and go from there.

In the future I will probably stick to your method of printing relevant chapters and material. Also I will continue watching some Cybrary videos.