Passed CSA+
This morning I passed the CSA+. I was thinking it would be a nice way to ramp up for Cohort 5 of the Cisco Cyber Ops training as well as for the newly unveiled DoD 8570 recognition.
I studied the Skillport materials a little (which I still have free access to via WGU) and found I was actually really solid on the technologies on the blueprint, so I ended up only doing a half-day review. A word of warning-- I have five years of practical security experience out of my twenty years in IT. I also have a lot of experience with software development, web technologies, etc. Having been through the CCNA Security helped a lot. The general security concepts you learn are very applicable. While it was pretty easy for me, YMMV.
The other thing I should note is that some CompTIA tests are very boring-- I think I might have actually fallen asleep during the Project+. This one was a joy to take, in comparison, and it seemed like I got to think a little more deeply about each question they asked.
Long story short, if you're already doing something in the Security/IA space at work, this will probably be a very easy cert. The new DoD 8570 recognition covers you for basically the same areas a combination of the Sec+ and CEH would:
https://iase.disa.mil/iawip/Pages/iabaseline.aspx
I studied the Skillport materials a little (which I still have free access to via WGU) and found I was actually really solid on the technologies on the blueprint, so I ended up only doing a half-day review. A word of warning-- I have five years of practical security experience out of my twenty years in IT. I also have a lot of experience with software development, web technologies, etc. Having been through the CCNA Security helped a lot. The general security concepts you learn are very applicable. While it was pretty easy for me, YMMV.
The other thing I should note is that some CompTIA tests are very boring-- I think I might have actually fallen asleep during the Project+. This one was a joy to take, in comparison, and it seemed like I got to think a little more deeply about each question they asked.
Long story short, if you're already doing something in the Security/IA space at work, this will probably be a very easy cert. The new DoD 8570 recognition covers you for basically the same areas a combination of the Sec+ and CEH would:
https://iase.disa.mil/iawip/Pages/iabaseline.aspx
2018 Goals: CCNP R/S, VCP6-NV