Hello and Help

dbobrosky

Hi guys! I recently signed up to techexams.net and I have to say-- Im impressed by the place. Informative-- and the forums have activity

I currently have an A+ and a Net+, with my last CompTIA going to be a Security+. I have read all of the All-In-One Security+ Certification Book (Learnkey) over a month ago and have been doing study questions since then. I'd estimate I've gone over 200 questions with 80-90% accuracy.

Getting to the point-- can anyone offer any advice for additional study material? Any hints for taking the test? When I passed the A+ Core Hardware/Software and Net+ I didnt hit 700s+, I ended up with high-mid 600s, which wont cut a passing grade on the Sec+.

janmike

Welcome to the forums!

I enjoyed the CBT Nuggets series for Security+ while I was studying for it. It is somewhat pricey, but probably worth the money.

Also, I leaned on the Sybex Guide by Shimonski & Shinder. Evidently, I did not lean hard enough, but I came close. Several others recommend this study guide quite highly.

Don't ignore the TechNotes here at TechExams and the Practice Exams too.

Good luck!

Webmaster

Hi and welcome on board!

Following is a page with all our Security+ stuff you may want to go over:
www.techexams.net/co_securityplus.shtml

Any hints for taking the test? When I passed the A+ Core Hardware/Software and Net+ I didnt hit 700s+, I ended up with high-mid 600s, which wont cut a passing grade on the Sec+.

I suggest going over some of the many 'I passed' topics in this forum to get and idea how others passed this exam.

dbobrosky

janmike wrote:

Welcome to the forums!

I enjoyed the CBT Nuggets series for Security+ while I was studying for it. It is somewhat pricey, but probably worth the money.

Also, I leaned on the Sybex Guide by Shimonski & Shinder. Evidently, I did not lean hard enough, but I came close. Several others recommend this study guide quite highly.

Don't ignore the TechNotes here at TechExams and the Practice Exams too.

Good luck!

Sybex, thats what the book is called! Same one I own, it was very informative and worked well for a foundation.

sprkymrk

I have to agree with the above comments on the CBT Nuggets and Tech Notes here. The test really does cover a LOT of ground, so be sure to use multiple sources. I found that the number one killer on this exam is encryption and cryptography. The reason is that the test consists of several topics that apply to encryption and cryptography, such as:

Remote Access - This includes questions on VPNs, PPTP, L2TP, IPSec, etc.
Wireless Security - WAP, 802.11
Concepts of using Cryptography
Algorithyms - Know the different types and their characteristics. RSA, ECC, El Gamiel, Diffie-Hellman, Symmetric, Asymmetric, Hashing, MD5, SHA, digital signatures, etc.
PKI - Digital certificates, CAs, CRLs
Key Management

So as you can see there are many different ares on the exam where a question on cryptography could show up. You really need to know it inside/out.

Slowhand

Yup, all the things recommended in this thread are good. The CBT Nuggets, the Sybex book, (and a lot of other books, for that matter). I tend to go to the bookstore and find a stack of books on what I'm studying, then sit down with a cup of coffee and browse through them all until I find the one that I, personally, can get the most out of. I also found that the TestOut course is excellent. Seeing as how it's been almost a year since I passed my Security+, and I'm getting a little rusty, I'm going to go through that course one more time. (Especially since I'm going to be heading towards the MCSE: Security exams, within the next six months, or so.)

RussS

welcome aboard. sprkymrk says it good enough for me

jimi444

I have not seen the CBT nuggets, but I would HIGHLY recommend the Sybex book for the exam. Most of the material is right on target (as far as wording goes) and they highlight areas to concentrate on for the exam.
I have access (through my job) to an online ebook collection of almost every tech book that is on the market today and after looking over certain subjects for the exam, I have to say Sybex is the best. It's almost like the test was written from this book! I made flash cards for myself and kept it with me to study by.
I used Testout for my microsoft exams, but I have not seen them for Security+.

dbobrosky

Wow. Thanks for all the feedback guys. I've already gone through Sybex, I'm reinforcing that with the tech notes here-- and going through as many practice questions as I can fine.

The Sybex book has over 10 questions a chapter, over 20 chapters-- and this site alone has over 100. The ports seem to be the biggests snag-- namely the ones that I havent seen on a daily or even monthly basis-- RADIUS, Kerebros, and LINUX radmin commands.

Thank god for the common port quiz here.

dbobrosky

Took the test and didnt pass it. Got a 663, just like my previous tests.

I'll have to add some additional study material-- or maybe take a class. I went through a ton of practice questions after reading the tech notes and Sybex, but it seemed like only half of the questions on the test reflected what I studied-- or had ambigious questions.

seuss_ssues

Dont take the practice exams often, you will start to just memorize the questions and answers and not the theory behind it all.


I can probably memorize all the tests on this site in a single day, but that wont help me pass any exam.

Spend another week or 2 learning and trying to understand the topics you were having problems with then come back and take the practice tests again.