70-351 vs security +?

vincentnyc10

what is the difference between ms isa security 70-351 and comptia security +? what is the pro and con for those 2 tests? also which is easier to pass?

undomiel

Mind you I haven't taken the 351 but it seems to me that it would be a more product focused test that has implementation in mind. The Security+ is more of a fundamentals test that covers a breadth of security focused knowledge but not very focused on implementation much less specific implementations. I personally think that the Security+ is the hardest exam I've taken so far since it has a higher bar to cross for passing than the other tests. I liked the Security+ and I think it has a lot of knowledge that every professional should know and comprehend so that one would be my personal recommendation.

shednik

undomiel wrote:

Mind you I haven't taken the 351 but it seems to me that it would be a more product focused test that has implementation in mind. The Security+ is more of a fundamentals test that covers a breadth of security focused knowledge but not very focused on implementation much less specific implementations. I personally think that the Security+ is the hardest exam I've taken so far since it has a higher bar to cross for passing than the other tests. I liked the Security+ and I think it has a lot of knowledge that every professional should know and comprehend so that one would be my personal recommendation.

+1 even tho I haven't taken the exam yet I've read about many of the topics and overall it will better anyone to have a good foundation of security...

dynamik

70-351 is for a specific product, MS IAS 2006 in this case, while the Security+ is a vendor-neutral overview of IT security. The Security+ contains everything from physical security to biometrics to password policies to disaster recovery plans to encryption etc.

RobertKaucher

dynamik wrote:

70-351 is for a specific product, MS IAS 2006 in this case, while the Security+ is a vendor-neutral overview of IT security. The Security+ contains everything from physical security to biometrics to password policies to disaster recovery plans to encryption etc.

Just to elaborate on the ISA exam, you will find it much more network centric and a fundamental understanding of network security will be important. For security+ you will need a braoder but sometimes more detailed knowledge of security as it it pertains to IT. On Sec+ you may need to know the level of encryption used by various encrytion methods (128 bit, for example) but on the ISA exam you will only need to know that MSCHAP v 2 offers lower level encryption than L2TP/IPSec. I found the Sec+ and the 70-350 (ISA 2004) both to have relatively straight forward questions. I scored 911 out of 1000 on the ISA test and no I was able to answer a few questions I did not know the answer to because the alternatives made no sense in the context of the question. It was almost like asking a blind person what color something is and then giving them the options

a. Hard
b. Soft
c. Red
d. Slow

Not to say all the questions were that way, just some.

Slowhand

The simple answer:
Exam Details for Security+ (You need to give information in order to download the objectives.)
Exam Objectives for 70-351

Take a look at the objectives for each exam, and you'll get a better understanding of what they entail. As mentioned, 70-351 is specifically geared towards Microsoft ISA 2006, while Security+ covers a broad scope of entry-level security topics.

snadam

dynamik wrote:

70-351 is for a specific product, MS IAS 2006 in this case, while the Security+ is a vendor-neutral overview of IT security. The Security+ contains everything from physical security to biometrics to password policies to disaster recovery plans to encryption etc.

you meant to say 'ISA' right? If not, I refuse to take a whole exam based on IAS! I hate RADIUS!!!


but seriously, a lot of people go the Sec+ route because it kills 2 birds with one stone (myself included). It give you the Security+ certification AND counts towards your elective. I will end up taking both most likely if its requires for my Security Specialization (haven't looked yet).

I think if you haven't taken a security course yet, stick with security+ as it give a pretty good but general overview of the infosec world, physically and logically.

dynamik

snadam wrote:

you meant to say 'ISA' right? If not, I refuse to take a whole exam based on IAS! I hate RADIUS!!!

Yea, I noticed that when this thread was brought back to life. I was going to edit it, but it had already been quoted, so I hoped people might just overlook it. Guess not. Thanks

snadam

dynamik wrote:

snadam wrote:

you meant to say 'ISA' right? If not, I refuse to take a whole exam based on IAS! I hate RADIUS!!!

Yea, I noticed that when this thread was brought back to life. I was going to edit it, but it had already been quoted, so I hoped people might just overlook it. Guess not. Thanks

Sorry man, Couldn't resist