Booked my Exam for May 27th. Cryptography help.

Saber123316

Hey all,

Long time lurker with 0 certs. I decided to take my friends advice and book the exam before I study. To force me to study.

ANYWHO, I put down the cash and ordered Darril Gibson's book. I took the pre-assessment and got 32 questions of the 75 wrong.

For someone that has not kept up to date with Security+ I think I did well however.

I have issues learning from a book. I have a hard time being unable to visualize the material. I like to work on labs. break and fix that is how I learn. I failed every cryptography based question was not even close. This is very hard for me to study.

Is there anyone that has had this same issue and looked for ulterior learning materials for this section?

ITStudent1

Hey Saber123316,

I'm also trying to get my SEC+ right now. (Hope to take the exam in early April)
The Gibson book and the videos from Professor Messer (free) are my resources. (https://www.professormesser.com/security-plus/sy0-501/sy0-501-training-course/)

I am actually on the chapter 10 of the Gibson book right now and it will probably require the most amount of time. Gibson even says so at the start of the chapter.
I also you-tubed more videos on encryption. Different explanations helps me to understand the concept. Youtube is great for this.

Hope this helps.
Best of luck on the exam.

tedjames

You did just fine on the pre-assessment quiz. Use that score as a baseline and take it again after you've studied all of the domains.

I had similar trouble in getting cryptography at first. I had to use several study sources before it finally started to sink in. The above-mentioned Professor Messer is great. There's also some great, free instruction at Cybrary. Several certifications include a cryptography component. Start with the Security+ training. If you feel you need more info, take the cryptography-related training in other certifications, especially Kelly Handerhan's CISSP training. She covers it really well.

Also, remember that YouTube is your friend. You might have to sift through a lot of not-so-helpful discussions to find something that will help.

Rom1984

I highly recommend Cryptography Engineering: Principals and practical applications. The first 5-6 chapters really lay out the foundations of cryptography. It doesn't go into the math it's more the practical application of what security people who aren't cryptographic designers need to know. 

They give little tasks at the end of the chapter so whilst it is still a book it does give you little projects to complete yourself.