is CCNA Security in demand? how well do the skills transfer to non-Cisco products?

shihku7

I never see CCNA Security posted on any network security job ads. They're always asking for CISSP.

But CCNA Security are the only network security classes I see offered at the local community college

thedudeabides

CISSP is a security cert. CCNA Security is actually more of a networking cert. In any case, whether you should go after it or not depends on a number of things. Your first CCNA is worth a good bit in getting past HR filters. Subsequent CCNA's not so much. So if you don't have any CCNA yet, you could do CCENT -> CCNA Security, provided the material interests you more. Most people will probably tell you that CCNA R&S is easier, and also a lot of people feel that it's best to complete CCNA R&S before doing CCNA Security (even though Cisco no longer requires this).

To more directly answer your question, you probably won't find that CCNA Security helps you get a job any more than CCNA R&S. In most situations, the CCNA letters get you past an HR filter and then just being a competent and enthusiastic person in an interview will help you land the job. Also, it's cheaper to get a CCNA R&S than CCNA Security.

Some of the skills from CCNA Security will be universal, such as basic firewall concepts, private vlans, DHCP snooping, and basic cryptography in regards to ipsec, ssl/tls, but its focus is on Cisco equipment, so it's hard to fully separate how much the material will help outside of Cisco gear.

If you've already got your CCNA R&S, then probably the most useful aspect of CCNA Security is renewing your R&S. But you could also accomplish that going straight to the CCNP R&S, which is most likely going to help your career more. The Cisco security track is for a more specialized role in networking, so it's going to have more value to a person who has been in networking for a few years. A company who actually needs someone that knows the material in CCNA Security will probably be looking for someone at the CCNP level or higher.

So to sum up, IMHO, the best uses of CCNA Security are:

1) Get the CCNA letters for HR filters if you don't want to go the R&S path
2) Renew your CCNA R&S
3) Necessary prerequisite for CCNP Security

LonerVamp

Well, that basically answers this thread.

shihku7

thanks a lot for the reply, the dude definitely abides!

I got my CCNA a few weeks ago and I've been trying to figure out what to do next. I have about a 1 year of help desk experience, I guess I need to keep at help desk for a while.

it also sounds like i should go for CCNP R&S, try and get a networking job, and then think about network security roles then

Thisguy131

Yo,
I recently took the CCNA - Security and I found it very difficult. I took the test when it first came out and it SUCKED!!! I used the Omar Santos book and watched the CBT Nuggets videos both didn't help... One of the main issues I think I had was I was reading the forum for the exam. People were failing all over the place. I think the exam is now fixed and it is a solid certification.
Thanks,
ThisGuy

yoba222

I see 137 hits nationwide for "CCNA security" on a popular job search website. On that same website, there are 1142 hits for just "CCNA" and 1898 for "CISSP". So there are jobs asking for it, but not that many. With the CCNA cyber ops out, I can see the CCNA security becoming less and less popular. I'm going to skip it.

thesecuritybro

You have to look at it this way.

CCNA Security is a network engineering certification and most positions ask for a (CCNA) regardless of which one it is. But someone with R&S is not really going to be well educated on ASA's and other network security specific things. And the same would go for something like CCNA Cyber Ops. You ask half the people who have that certification to configure a site to site VPN and most will go "uh....."

That's why I always advise people to strategically get certifications. Get the eye candy like Security+ so you can make it past HR and then get something that actually shows you can do the job.

mbarrett

Most HR departments don't know the difference between "Security" and "R&S" as long as it says "CCNA" - look at it this way, the letters CCNA on your resume will get you past some initial screenings, if you want to do the work involving topics from the Security track you will probably need to substantiate that (spell it out) in other areas of your resume, such as experience or a quick :elevator pitch" overview of your skill set. Hiring managers will probably have a better understanding of the different CCNA tracks than HR will.

Hawk321

Well, the cert itself is not highly in demand IF the potential employer does not use ASA Firewalls.
BUT, CISCO invented a lot and is known for the highest quality regarding to learning material, expertise of the pros and equipment. I've been in contact with some firewalls, trainers from other vendors, books etc. NOTHING...really NOTHING can even touch the learning material of CISCO.
Are there other great firewall out there ??? YES
Do sell other vendors great network hardware ??? YES
Do other vendors maintain great learning material and do know a lot about their stuff ??? NO

Sound ignorant from me, but real CISCO guys who don't cheated their career through do know their stuff. If you go with other vendors...most trainers know their stuff from CISCO. If you use a CLI from another vendor...their copy it from CISCO
So if you want to know IPSec and co for real...go cisco, even if you play with Firewalls made of Chinesium.

Hawk321

thesecuritybro said:

You have to look at it this way.

CCNA Security is a network engineering certification and most positions ask for a (CCNA) regardless of which one it is. But someone with R&S is not really going to be well educated on ASA's and other network security specific things. And the same would go for something like CCNA Cyber Ops. You ask half the people who have that certification to configure a site to site VPN and most will go "uh....."

Absolutely True !
I got my CyperOps this year and it hardened my knowledge from college which was IT-Security centric...but without VPN's. IT Security does not mean that you can configure all the VPN's available...no, it means you know the difference and where to look to differentiate between the various encryptions etc. also
the CyberOps is great to look at security at whole. CISCO demonstrated in their labs how easy it is to play man in the middle without any hacker-tools. Really great...it is the foundation.

The CCNA Security covers some topics from the CyberOps but is focused on using the ASA and establish your VPN's. On the other side, a ASA is worthless if you don't have at minimum the CCNA R+S Cert (or something similar to prove your basic network skills).

What I often see here on the board and in on board in my country, people do serious believe to get a job just with a single Cert....NO, you will not. The higher Certs like CCNP or LPIC 3 are also worthless without experience in the field.
A CCNP is for medium to big networks and the CCNA is for small to medium networks. In my case, most companies I know of (small to medium) do not even use a routing protocol, what they need are switching skills (aside of skills in other fields...once a switch run you are done with your work). That said, a granular approach to a cert can give you the needed advantage like CCNA R+S, CCNA CyberOps, CCNA Security and CCNP SWITCH (but not CCNP Route if you don't need that).

Oh, before I forget:
Hardware....go and get hardware either real one or the emulated one from VIRSH (you need power this beast).

Hawk321

thesecuritybro said:

You have to look at it this way.

CCNA Security is a network engineering certification and most positions ask for a (CCNA) regardless of which one it is. But someone with R&S is not really going to be well educated on ASA's and other network security specific things. And the same would go for something like CCNA Cyber Ops. You ask half the people who have that certification to configure a site to site VPN and most will go "uh....."

Absolutely True !
I got my CyperOps this year and it hardened my knowledge from college which was IT-Security centric...but without VPN's. IT Security does not mean that you can configure all the VPN's available...no, it means you know the difference and where to look to differentiate between the various encryptions etc. also
the CyberOps is great to look at security at whole. CISCO demonstrated in their labs how easy it is to play man in the middle without any hacker-tools. Really great...it is the foundation.

The CCNA Security covers some topics from the CyberOps but is focused on using the ASA and establish your VPN's. On the other side, a ASA is worthless if you don't have at minimum the CCNA R+S Cert (or something similar to prove your basic network skills).

What I often see here on the board and in on board in my country, people do serious believe to get a job just with a single Cert....NO, you will not. The higher Certs like CCNP or LPIC 3 are also worthless without experience in the field.
A CCNP is for medium to big networks and the CCNA is for small to medium networks. In my case, most companies I know of (small to medium) do not even use a routing protocol, what they need are switching skills (aside of skills in other fields...once a switch run you are done with your work). That said, a granular approach to a cert can give you the needed advantage like CCNA R+S, CCNA CyberOps, CCNA Security and CCNP SWITCH (but not CCNP Route if you don't need that).

Oh, before I forget:
Hardware....go and get hardware either real one or the emulated one from VIRSH (you need power this beast).