I'm lost

I'm currently going to WGU and I'm in my first term still. But with looming date of 12/31/10 as the last date to get lifetime certs from Comptia I figured I'd take on the Security+ certification. I got the books from WGU and bought the All in One Security+ book. I've only been able to make it about 75 pages in and I'm completely lost. I've never worked with security nor networks very much. The whole cryptography thing scares me. Are there any resources out there that make it a lost simpler to understand? Right now I'm reading on CA/RA and using PKI. But I have no idea what it's talking about. Why am I digital signing something with a MD encryption only to re encrypt the whole thing THEN sharing my public key with someone only to have now worry about getting a CA and sharing that?

Am I over my head in this?

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Comments

Nobylspoon

I would suggest starting with Network+ which I believe is another cert required for your degree at WGU, this is another cert that will be effected by the new certification renewal policy that goes into effect next year.

However, if you are dead set on doing Security+ before Network+ (I did, but I have a firm understanding of the topics covered in Network+) then I would suggest picking up Darril Gibson's book on Amazon. He does a fantastic job of explaining things in a way that is easy to read.

themagicone

My program only has CCNA as the networking portion. I am planning on getting my N+ but not till I'm done with the 40cu this term.

demonfurbie

i go to wgu as well and i understand where you are coming from

the net+ info really helps with this class so you may want to do both asap

earweed

I'd definitely recommend getting some network knowledge first before attempting Sec+. It helped me a lot.

Plantwiz

phoeneous wrote: »

Without any prior security or networking experience I would say yes.

I agree.

The object to learning/studying is to have a better understand on the topic. If your objective is to merely pass exams, then why bother enrolling in a school?

If you are not ready, you are not. No big deal.
Some times in life we miss out on things. There will be other opportunites that present later on to you, and others will miss those...there is balance.

Stay on track and stay focused.
The Net+ and Sec+ whether it expires or not for you, I hope, won't be your last certifications. So, if they are certifications you need, you'll likely be forced at some point to take a bridge exam that makes you now renew. If not, you'll pursue higher level certs that carry much more credibitily then vendor neutral certs.

If it works for you...great, but if not, so be it. I recommend focusing on your career goals and not 1-2 one time certifications.

Subby808

I also felt over my head with Security +. I have no prior certs and tried tackling it by just reading Exam Cram Security plus book. I got frustrated just as you did. That being said, I managed to pass the test with about 3 solid weeks of studying. I'm now working on my network + cert( I know I should have done it the other way around).

For me, I had to get this cert as quickly as possible. I ended up buying another book to help me tackle the subjects that stumped me. Also did tons of online reading(thank god for this site). There are a few Youtube videos that tackle some of the elements of this cert.

Good luck

themagicone

You know I made it through a few more pages and it somewhat clicked finally. I was trying to wrap my head around this whole encryption thing, along with digital signatures, PKI, etc. Then one line made it more clear - "All of this happens behind the scenes, all automated and controlled by software". Which to me means, yes I need to know how it works but I won't need to know to manually verify a digital signature with a CA that has to verify with another CA, which is then verified by a Root CA (which won't need to be verified if you have that CA root in your trusted domain). I might just be able to pull this off.

earweed

It's not really that hard. Like others have said before, Darril's book does a much better job of explaining it. The book WGU sent you for this class is useless. The labsim is very good and quite a few people have used it as their only source for this exam. I personally used the Sybex Security+ Study Guide nand thought it was a very good book.

themagicone

I got 70% on the measureup pretest. Lowest area was encryption. 3 weeks and I think I'll be fine.

Devilsbane

phoeneous wrote: »

Without any prior security or networking experience I would say yes.

I think there would still be plenty of time for him to get net+ and sec+. We still have 4 full months plus most of this one.