Taking CASP tomorrow

spiderjericho

Using the $100 discount, I purchased a voucher and plan on taking the CASP exam tomorrow morning. Obviously, there aren't any materials (books, videos, boot camps, etc). So I'm pretty much going on in without any prior info except for the objectives in the sticky thread. I've taken the 10 question practice test. I took the Security+ earlier this year and scored an 8 something without studying, CISSP two weeks before that and the CEH in June). So wish me luck. I did Darril's practice test and looked at his experience. I used Google to look at unfamiliar terms and accronyms. And finally used the Preplogic SCCP and CISSP guides.

Darril

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

Darril Gibson
Security+ blog

jts1234

Good luck!

Sounds to me like you'll do fine.

Tom

spiderjericho

I posted in the main CASP thread about my experience and results.

spiderjericho

So I'm bumping this thread as I let my CompTIA CE certifications expire in September.

As a DoD employee, I know I probably shouldn't have since it meets 8570 requirements.

So, now I'm on a quest to regain my Network+, Security+ and CASP CE.

I took the Network+ two weeks ago and score in the mid 800s. I didn't study at all.

I took the Security+ last Monday. I scored in the mid 800s. I watched the Keith Barker CBT Nuggets and looked over the Security+ notes posted in that sub forum.

Now I'm going to gear up for the CASP. I'll probably take the exam at the end of the month. I'm temporarily on night shift for the next two weeks.

I really didn't study the first time except for looking at the exam objectives. This time I'm going to use the FedVTE CASP course. It's mainly A LOT of videos and a practice exam.

You can tell the exam really hasn't gotten a lot of traction as there are only two books (one just had an update).

spiderjericho

So I've been slogging through the Fed VTE CASP CBTs.

The instructor seems to know his stuff. But I don't have the exam objectives in front of me to know if he's covering everything. He provides a lot of military and civilian examples. I'm about 79% through.

I'll probably open the Sybex book to take a look at the labs and probably go over Encryption and ALE, SLE, etc.

AverageJoe

Good luck with the CASP. I'm thinking about taking that too, and will probably use Fed VTE to prepare as well... let us know how it goes.

spiderjericho

So, I just completed the FedVTE course. I would say the course is okay. My only "issue" is if the instructor completely aligned the presentation to the CASP exam objectives and if he appropriately covered topics.

I didn't feel that way when I got to the last 20%. There is a practice examination at the end but it's only 25 questions. I passed with an 84%. There were a couple of terms and concepts I was unfamiliar with.

But I can't complain for Free 99.

Last Night during my night shift, I took a Measureup exam. I guess The company offers free CompTIA practice tests. I failed with a score of 76. Again, just a case of unfamiliarity with A LOT of terms/concepts like Google Dork, SDLC, EAL levels, etc.

I'm probably just going to print out the objectives so I can go over the missing pieces.

I li want to take CISM next year. Hopefully, the FedVTE course is competent.

spiderjericho

So I took the exam today and unfortunately failed.

I simply wasn't prepared. I was completely unprepared. I was stumped on one of the sims (don't want to break NDA and be specific). And there were some terms and concepts I wasn't familiar with.

My poor preparation consisted of FedVTE CASP course and taking the short Measureup test provided by CompTIA. Unfortunately, the best preparation would have been to read the Sybex book.

abnmi

Spider which book the 2nd edition sybex or the Mcgraw Hill.

spiderjericho

I know the Sybex book (1st and 2nd edition) have labs. I have access to the 1st Edition Sybex and McGraw books. I might opt to get the 2nd Edition book physical copy.

lelei

Are you going to give it another go? If so, I have an extra voucher you can have. I wasn't expecting to pass this one on my first try.

bigdogz

spider,

As you have guessed if you perform the labs and learn the tools you will ace this exam. The questions may be tricky, so you may want to look at them a little closely.

Good Luck!!!

spiderjericho

So I lamented the loss of this certification (I didn’t complete the CE and maintenance fees by the deadline days) and requested my job pay for a boot camp and voucher.

I won’t name the DMV vendor I attended. I was disappointed with the five day course. The instructor’s approach to teaching wasn’t my cup of ☕️ . He’s a big technologist and Linux enthusiast, so he noticed the students were lacking in their Linux skills. We ended up spending 65% of the time doing Linux exercises through overthewire.org.

Instead of focusing on hitting all the exam objectives, it seemed like Linux and no rhyme or reason.

Anyways, I opted to take the exam the last day. The boot camp vendor was pushing for me not to take the exam. Their statistics showed students did better after a week or so after studying.

I sat down and felt like I had no clue what test I was taking lol. I ended up taking up all the examination time. And was not confident in hitting the submit button but I passed.

I have to say the exam has changed a lot since the first time I took it. It’s too bad the reputation of the exam hasn’t really grown. But there is a lot of competition in the Security certification sector, e.g. ISC, Sans, ISACA, Offensive Security, EC Council, Cisco, CompTIA, etc.

Someone mentioned they were developing a penetration testing certification. Tough competition with SAN and Offensive Security.

Definitely going to make sure I maintain the CE and maintenance fees.

Info_Sec_Wannabe

moonaqueen - I don't mean to burst your bubble, but brain **** are a no-no on this forum..

scaredoftests

There seems to be a few of these brain **** people on this forum lately..