Hey all--
After achieving my CCNA, I decided to specialize with the CCNA Sec track. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm going to post daily to this thread to keep a running log of my experiences; good and bad. I don't have much to offer now in terms of security, just my security+. So as you'll see in my later posts I'm quite green to IT security besides basic terminology and concepts.
So here is my plan of attack: I'm probably going to read the book the first time without taking many notes or lab'ing much at all. I strictly want to gain a high-level understanding of the concepts. Hopefully by the time I complete the book the first time (~3 weeks) there will be more resources available for the new exam such as CBT Nuggets and/or Train Signal. Once those video tutorials are released, I will then re-read the book in conjunction with the video tutorials, to gain a more granular understanding of the topics. Hopefully by this time I will also have my ASA 5505 in-hand for some serious lab study.
All in all, I'd like to do this in under three months - For someone with just a CCNA and no practical experience in security and no paid experience in networking, I think this is an aggressive goal. I'm currently going to school full time and working full time + on call, so I can't spend 6 hours a night on this like I want to
After the enormous amount of time I spent on the CCNA, I promised my wife I'd back off a little as well.
I also hope this thread can serve as a hub for others to post their experiences to during their CCNA Sec journey. Good luck to all!
Edit: The book I'm reading is: 640-554 CCNA Security, Official Cert Guide. Authors are Keith Barker and Scott Morris.
