Cisco's $10 Million in Scholarships for Cyber

whoknew wrote: »

USED & ABUSED BY THE 210-255 SECOPS EXAM

The bad news: The exam left me bruised & bloodied as Rocky Balboa. I was about to ask Mick to cut me when the final bell rang. I wouldda bet a paycheck that I failed it.

The good news: I passed the exam (despite the beating) with a 948/100 & I wouldda bet ANOTHER freaking paycheck that I was having a stroke when I read those results. Alas, the PearsonVUE proctor assured me that the score was, indeed, 948/1000 & that I probably wasn't having a stroke.

The rest of the story: its just like everyone else who's taken the 210-255 SECOPS exam has testified:

1. Some of the exam questions are very poorly worded or the question construct is shoddily designed ... just like 95% of the 25 some-odd other certification exams I've taken.

2. The on-line course material alone will NOT get you there. Don't rely solely on that resource to pass.

3. You gotta know regular expressions. Course mentors will provide a URL to visit to help you with that.

4. You gotta know NIST SP.800-61r...COLD. Just give it up & go download the PDF now & start reading.

5. You gotta know NIST SP.800-86...COLD. Just give it up & go download the PDF now & start reading.

6. You gotta know wireshark/tcpdump PCAP & LIBCAP filters. So you gotta play with wireshark.

7. YOU GOTTA ATTEND THE LAST 2 WEBINARS FOR THE SECOPS COURSE!!! Mentors will give you guidance doc on Exam Blueprint / Training Material gap coverage.

8. YOU GOTTA know the exam blueprint & the gap doc mentioned above...COLD!!!

9 I have the aforementioned docs if anyone wants them via e-mail. Just provide your e-mail address to me privately.

NOTE: the mentor's doc does NOT have any 210-255 exam questions or answers or any other information that violates Cisco's exam policies. If they did, I would never post such material on this site or any other site. Ya just gotta study your butt off to pass this beast.

As I've said in previous posts, I'm an idiot (and probably starting to go senile) & I managed to stumble over the finish line. I just had to work my ass off for 4 months to get there (the strokes didn't help). And if I can do it, anyone can do it.

And of course, I wish nothing but the best of luck to the 2nd cohort & those cohorts to come after with their journey to the CCNA Cyber Ops certification.

A special message to ERATZ: "Tonight I will drink & I will know less than nothing"

You sir, ARE THE MAN! Congrats!

p@r0tuXus

Congrats! Great write-up and as always, thanks for giving back! Message is waiting in your inbox.

What's next?

whoknew

p@r0tuXus wrote: »

Congrats! Great write-up and as always, thanks for giving back! Message is waiting in your inbox.

What's next?

Remember at the end of 1st Rocky when the bell rings & they almost collapse onto each other & Apollo Creed says:

"Ain't gonna be no rematch..ain't gonna be no rematch"

and Rocky says:

"Don't want one."

.....and yet, there they are in Rocky II ....beating the crap outta each other....again.

Well, as I limped outta the testing center today muttering: "Ain't gonna be no rematch..ain't gonna be no rematch", I was also answering myself: "Don't want one."

Then 3 or 4 hours later, I find myself at the websites of CompTIA, OSCP & Cisco looking at the CSA+ the OSCP & the CCNP Security.
I'm not sure who of the three of us are the bigger idiots...at least they can claim it was just a movie.

I'll get to your request in my inbox this evening. Thanks...and good luck.

whoknew wrote: »

Then 3 or 4 hours later, I find myself at the websites of CompTIA, OSCP & Cisco looking at the CSA+ the OSCP & the CCNP Security.
I'm not sure who of the three of us are the bigger idiots...at least they can claim it was just a movie.

I'll get to your request in my inbox this evening. Thanks...and good luck.

After reviewing the SECFND course, (on Chapter 13) myself, it's much more in-depth than the CSA+ is. You could walk in and pass that exam today. This class has a LOT of overlap for the CSA+ exam.

whoknew

Ertaz wrote: »

After reviewing the SECFND course, (on Chapter 13) myself, it's much more in

Rocky in Rocky II about climbing right back in the ring: "Yeah, well, was ya ever punched in the face 500 times a night?"

I appreciate the confidence but I'm still a little sore and VERY tired & in need of a beer...or 8....and a giant plate of wings.

I WILL get back in the ring again this year....just need some time to go get stupid & forget about getting punched in the face 500 times a night.

Perhaps I'll get lucky with the OSCP & it'll be 1 swift boot to the groin....and right over I go....there's always that to look forward to.

chopsticks

Reading some of the posts here have made me feel a little bit anxious. My turn is in Sep this year, just about 4 months away. So I decide to start a little bit early to study the SECFND first. Just bought the study guide from Cisco Press, hopefully it helps.

GeekyChick

@whoknew, you're the man! Nicely played and with a whopping 948! Congratulations and thanks for all of your advice.

Smilymarco

I just got the mail that i can start early with cohort 3!!! Wohooo

April 2018 was my date before, now its next month!!! Can't wait

I attest that the online material does not cover everything that is on the test. I am still trying to get through the first exam (though this time I went up 100 points and got a 813 (825 is passing). I hate it that some of the questions are so vague that half the time I am like 'wtf'. I also am annoyed you can not go back to a question, unlike other exams. <sigh>

whoknew

GeekyChick wrote: »

@whoknew, you're the man! Nicely played and with a whopping 948! Congratulations and thanks for all of your advise.

Thanks for the kudos but honestly, I take zero credit for that score & have to give props to the mentors of my sub-cohort, Bill, Alan, Ray & Jason. They were the ones who spotted the large gap between the on-line training material, the exam objectives & the actual exam & created the gap coverage document. I just worked hard to cover that extra mile to pwn the exam topics.

BTW for everyone: there are NOT just 1 set of mentors per cohort. There are 3 or 4 different sets of mentors for each cohort & the other mentors are NOT providing an exam gap coverage doc to help students study. So if you're not with Bill, Alan, Ray & Jason every Thursday, get those 210-255 docs & put in the extra study time to be able to pass the 1st go 'round.

Now come on, guys....let's start kicking ass, taking names & producing some CCNA Cyber Ops people outta this thread. We've been going on about it since last June on this thread. Time for talk is over. You know what I'm gonna say next, right???

JUST DO IT!!!

tmurphy3100

My program starts June 20th, do you suggest buying the Cisco Press book for 210-250 and starting my studies from that?

YES!!! Plus the pearson test prep is pretty good as well..

scaredoftests wrote: »

YES!!! Plus the pearson test prep is pretty good as well..

I am having issues with the offline app installing. I did get it activated for my online account, however.

run as admin, try that. if you get an error, let me know.

I purchased the Kindle version of the CCNA Cyber Ops SECFND 210-250 Official Cert Guide a couple of weeks ago and now Amazon doesn't show it as an option. Weird.

p@r0tuXus

Just got my CCNA Cyber Ops SECFND 210-250 Official Cert Guide in the mail yesterday.

scaredoftests wrote: »

run as admin, try that. if you get an error, let me know.

Was the first thing I tried. Tried directly tethered to my phone. Hangs on updating database. Will look at eventvwr next.

Wow, I got the kindle version last week..

scaredoftests wrote: »

Wow, I got the kindle version last week..

I wasn't able to activate the practice exams. Just sent a ticket to address the problem. Were you able to access the question bank after purchasing the Kindle version, scaredoftests?

Yes I was, the activation code is in the follow up email. Actually, the exam I downloaded to my laptop, not my kindle.

scaredoftests wrote: »

Yes I was, the activation code is in the follow up email. Actually, the exam I downloaded to my laptop, not my kindle.

I never received a follow up email. Now I am confused...

Well, I got my 'book/prep exam' from Cisco Press. Didn't you say you got yours from Amazon?

shimasensei

Congrats! Kinda nervous now after what you went through lol...our cohort doesn't start until April / May 2018.

GeekyChick

@whoknew - I'm happy to say I have the same mentors you had. Even with the help of your mentors you still did all the work. I hope I can do as well. Which, by the way, makes me wonder when the industry will recognize these certs or have they already?

scaredoftests wrote: »

Well, I got my 'book/prep exam' from Cisco Press. Didn't you say you got yours from Amazon?

I did get my ebook from Amazon. Hopefully they will answer my support question today.

Hope they answer quickly!!

scaredoftests wrote: »

Hope they answer quickly!!

That would be nice but I am not holding my breath.

ekoplex

Do they give you any re-takes If you fail one of the exams?