I figured I'd put this up because I decided to take the new Cyberops exam but could find near-zero information about the exam, so I'm hoping someone else looking for info might find it useful. Some common questions I had:
- What's different from this one compared to the last?
A: I took the first of the two for the old one (but never finished it) so I can't say with certainty how similar or not they are, but it reminded me of the CCNA R/S exam in that you can only be tested on so much and everything at the same time.
- What did you use to study?
A: Not a whole lot since I Have over a decade in IT and my list of active certifications looks like a Scrabble board. Since there is so, so little official study info though I signed up for the CBTNuggets free week trial and focused on the second half material. Note: this is for the old exam and not the new one, but was still VERY relevant.
How long did you study?
A: One week with two days off. Combines, maybe 8-10 hours.
- What was on the exam?
A: I'm certainly not going to violate the NDA, but check out the exam outline provided by Cisco. It was vague, but actually very representative of what was on the exam. I did get some questions I thought were unreasonable (the wording was terrible and I left feedback for the same) and some where you have to interpret the output from an application you may or may not have used, but if you have broad knowledge on the subject you should be able to muddle through it.
- How does it compare to the other CCNA exams?
A: When I took the R/S I studied for weeks, took a bootcamp, and still failed the first time. This one was not nearly as hard, but if you're new to the security space it can be a lot of information. IF you've recently taken the ISC^2 SSCP though, you'll probably be alright.
- Should I take it?
A: It depends on what you want to get out of it. For me, I needed to renew my other Cisco certs and, surprisingly, this one renews the traditional ones as well. If you check your certification track on Cisco's site it doesn't list it as one which will renew them, but I opened a TAC case and they confirmed. If you want to gain additional security knowledge, you might, but remember it's a Cisco exam and therefore weighted toward their technology in some respects whereas others are vendor agnostic.
What was the format like?
A: Standard stuff (single answer, multiple choice, D&D). This was my first time taking a Cisco exam from home though and it was bit strange. I had to take pictures of my ID, my office, my face, etc., submit it all to the proctor, sit in "PearsonVue Purgatory," and after a few minutes the faceless proctor started my exam and watched me to be sure I didn't break any rules. Note, covering your face is one of those rules. It makes sense, but I tend to rest my hand over my mouth out of habit. This was more of an annoyance than anything, but I get it.
If anyone has any questions about something I did not cover let me know. Good luck with whichever certification you're going after next!
