New guy questions about CySA+

yesterdaysthought

First post, be gentle 

Been in IT for over 20yrs but moved into dedicated security side in the last 3, very familiar with typical CSA tools like Nessus, nmap, SEIMs, etc.

I'm mostly done with my studies for CySA+ and will probably take the exam in the next week or 10 days. Any advice is appreciated.

Question for anyone that has taken both CySA+ and CISSP: the CySA+ seems like it's a CISSP "lite" or the CySA+ is more tech focused vs CISSP broader, less tech depth. Is this a fair assessment? I ask because I'm planning on taking CISSP after CySA+ and wondered how long I'll need to prep for it.

Thanks all

JDMurray

CySA+ is a cybersecurity operations (SOC) cert that is technical and detailed and is comparable to the Cisco CyberOps Associate cert. The CISSP is a very broad, general InfoSec cert that is not very technical and requires a better understanding of business needs. Having passed both, I can say they are very different certs and exams.

How long you will need to prep for any cert depends on how much of the material you already know (i.e., your starting baseline of knowledge) and how well you understand how you best learn. No one can give you a formula like, "study the XYZ cert material two hours a day, five days a week for one month and you will pass."

yesterdaysthought

Thanks JDM. I get what you're saying re the study habits for each etc. My thought was there seemed to be some amount of overlap between the CISSP and CySA+ based on my studies of CySA+ and just taking a few practice questions for CISSP for fun. Perhaps not as much as I thought.

I've been lurking on this and other forums for a while taking in everyone's experiences, particularly around which resources seem to help prep the most, and I've made some good progress in that regard. Figuring out that Sybex CySA+ practice tests can be used online with their quiz builder engine has been helpful for example; I had some questionable experiences using other practice tests from other vendors.

Thanks again

JDMurray

There is some overlap in objectives, yes, but I would not study the material for one exam as prep for the other. CyberOps Assoc would be good cross-study material for CySA+; Security+ material is good supplemental information for the CISSP.

yesterdaysthought

Good points all JDM.

Hopefully I'll be reporting in soon on my test experience with CySA+.

Thanks!

yesterdaysthought

FYI, just passed the CySA+ exam.

It wasn't clear whether it was v1 or v2 but I assume v2 since it had cloud-specific questions on it which v1 isn't supposed to have from what I read.

That exam was no joke, definitely the hardest computer exam I've ever taken. 

I'll start in on the CISSP prob beginning next week with Sybex ebooks and test bank then Boson practice tests I suspect.