After Security+

So I got my Sec+ on Friday, I really don't know were to go from there I'd like to go the security way but I really want to have some experience, I feel that while I am being occupied learning and advancing in my certs employers wont want to take a chance on me since I don't have any experience. Now I really want to step up my job hunting now that I got a few certs under my belt that will help me out, but I kinda feel like I'm not going to have much luck due to the lack of experience. I want to start studying for ccna (if thats a good place to head over if im interested in security)and buy some hardware and have that at least for some hands-on. What do you guys think?? thanks for any advice.

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veritas_libertas

The big question is where do you want to go? You can get into security by starting in either Network Infrastructure or System Administration. You will probably end up starting with Desktop Support or Help Desk. It's just way of the IT field.

ibcritn

Danieltheman wrote: »

So I got my Sec+ on Friday, I really don't know were to go from there I'd like to go the security way but I really want to have some experience, I feel that while I am being occupied learning and advancing in my certs employers wont want to take a chance on me since I don't have any experience. Now I really want to step up my job hunting now that I got a few certs under my belt that will help me out, but I kinda feel like I'm not going to have much luck due to the lack of experience. I want to start studying for ccna (if thats a good place to head over if im interested in security)and buy some hardware and have that at least for some hands-on. What do you guys think?? thanks for any advice.

Build a lab (VMware, various Operating systems (client/server), any networking equipment you can get your hands on ebay!---also Cisco's Packet Tracer is a good virtual solution). I can't tell you how important this is for someone at your stage. A lab is going to be your counter point to no experience. If you can say no experience, BUT look what I have done in my lab and be able to speak intelligently about it.....it will do a lot for you.

CCNA is a good certification if your plans are network security. I would also familiarize yourself with various NIST standards for various areas of security you are interested in.

Danieltheman

ibcritn wrote: »

Build a lab (VMware, various Operating systems (client/server), any networking equipment you can get your hands on ebay!---also Cisco's Packet Tracer is a good virtual solution). I can't tell you how important this is for someone at your stage. A lab is going to be your counter point to no experience. If you can say no experience, BUT look what I have done in my lab and be able to speak intelligently about it.....it will do a lot for you.

CCNA is a good certification if your plans are network security. I would also familiarize yourself with various NIST standards for various areas of security you are interested in.

Excellent!..I want to have my own lab for practicing and getting familliarized with everything but im gonna be honest im clueless on what routers, and switches or what hardware i would need..I have looked over on the ccna faq page but im still not sure what will be good for me to start of with that will help in my studies..

ibcritn

Danieltheman wrote: »

Excellent!..I want to have my own lab for practicing and getting familliarized with everything but im gonna be honest im clueless on what routers, and switches or what hardware i would need..I have looked over on the ccna faq page but im still not sure what will be good for me to start of with that will help in my studies..

Cisco 25xx series are good routers to use for a CCNA lab. A lot of times on ebay you can buy CCNA router/Switch kits. For starters I would use packet tracer which is a good tool to get familiar with Cisco IOS and the routers/switches in general. It lets you setup an entire network including hosts. Being able to design a switched network implement VLANs/inter-vlan routing would be an impressive talking point in an interview to counter your lack of experience.....this can all be done with packet tracer.

I would also get used to server OS (if you plan to go the admin route) either way in security knowledge of servers....for example what a Domain Controller is and the various roles a DC can have is important and could very well be an interview question.

I would know the OSI model, TCP 3-way handshake, various protocols and how they operate in relation to the OSI model (for example a question you might hear "What port does Ping use? and is it UDP or TCP" That is a tricky question and even if you are Network+ you may know what those do, but not how they all relate. Ping is a layer 3 protocol that operates on ICMP and doesn't work with ports. So you see tricky.

All in all take your A+, Network+, and Security+(Insecure.Org - Nmap Free Security Scanner, Tools & Hacking resources - play with the security tools you find here) and implement some of those technologies in a lab environment....all the while working towards CCNA....not a bad plan if you ask me.

badboyeee

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm gonna take Security+ in a week or two to complete the Trifecta. Trying to explore my options what to do afterwards and understand I need to build a lab as well to move on to higher-level certs. I already signed up for a CCNA course next year at my community college. Hopefully I can squeeze a MS cert as well. I thought about doing CISSP but that would have to wait, I probably need more work experience for that. Ultimately I want to find a new IT job from where I am working now, as the experience I'm getting here is pretty bland. This morning I woke up and thought about enrolling in WGU, lol. Still trying to figure out what to do... I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, thanks ibcritn for providing some CCNA info.

Danieltheman

badboyeee wrote: »

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm gonna take Security+ in a week or two to complete the Trifecta. Trying to explore my options what to do afterwards and understand I need to build a lab as well to move on to higher-level certs. I already signed up for a CCNA course next year at my community college. Hopefully I can squeeze a MS cert as well. I thought about doing CISSP but that would have to wait, I probably need more work experience for that. Ultimately I want to find a new IT job from where I am working now, as the experience I'm getting here is pretty bland. This morning I woke up and thought about enrolling in WGU, lol. Still trying to figure out what to do... I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, thanks ibcritn for providing some CCNA info.

Im glad I'm not alone in this, I'm gonna go ahead and pick up some books to start reading and get familiarized and go from there and take the advice and pick up some hardware from ebay and play around with packet tracer..

Hypntick

Danieltheman wrote: »

Im glad I'm not alone in this, I'm gonna go ahead and pick up some books to start reading and get familiarized and go from there and take the advice and pick up some hardware from ebay and play around with packet tracer..

I'm in the exact same boat as well. However I have decided I want to go the admin route. Unfortunately i'm limited at the moment with what I can do. Really need to invest in some more RAM for my system as I can only run 2 VMs of 08 on top of my Win 7 install. Spent 6 hours the other night setting up domain controllers but can't run all of them at once due to my limitations.

As far as Cisco gear goes, some of those pre-built labs are a waste of money. If you want to know what should go into a good Cisco lab check out Wendell Odom's site - http://www.certskills.com/ he has a ton of good info on there and is the author of the Cisco press CCNA books.

badboyeee

Hypntick wrote: »

I'm in the exact same boat as well. However I have decided I want to go the admin route. Unfortunately i'm limited at the moment with what I can do. Really need to invest in some more RAM for my system as I can only run 2 VMs of 08 on top of my Win 7 install. Spent 6 hours the other night setting up domain controllers but can't run all of them at once due to my limitations.

As far as Cisco gear goes, some of those pre-built labs are a waste of money. If you want to know what should go into a good Cisco lab check out Wendell Odom's site - CertSkills, LLC > Home he has a ton of good info on there and is the author of the Cisco press CCNA books.

Thanks for the link. How much RAM are you using on that system??

Hypntick

badboyeee wrote: »

Thanks for the link. How much RAM are you using on that system??

I currently only have 2 GB.

Following the trainsignal vids for 70-646 the guy mentioned i'll need to be running at least 3 DCs at all times. So i'm going to invest in another 4 GB when I can manage it. That should at least cover 90-95% of what I need to do. Although the goal is to build a 6 core AMD system with 16 GB

As for the link, his build costs are a little skewed it seems. He mentions how much the 1721 is - 100 bucks, I found them for as little as 30. So if you just do your homework on ebay you can find great deals.

TheSuperRuski

I am going through this as well. By the way, server 2003 actually has a simulator thats pretty decent. I think its included with the Sybex book. Nothing for windows 2008 which sucks i know(Besides VMW on your own). But like the packet tracer for cisco, it is a good alternative until you can actually get a lab going. I have a switch and a router but I want to buy 1 more of each. I dont know what i will need for the CCNA;security maybe a pix firewall or something. Anyway, always good to know your not the only one going through something.

Hypntick

TheSuperRuski wrote: »

I am going through this as well. By the way, server 2003 actually has a simulator thats pretty decent. I think its included with the Sybex book. Nothing for windows 2008 which sucks i know(Besides VMW on your own). But like the packet tracer for cisco, it is a good alternative until you can actually get a lab going. I have a switch and a router but I want to buy 1 more of each. I dont know what i will need for the CCNA;security maybe a pix firewall or something. Anyway, always good to know your not the only one going through something.

If you check out that link I posted and click the blog section it's got a lab build for CCNA: Security on there. That thing is invaluable for setting up a Cisco lab, or so it seems to me. My main issue was when I was looking into building a lab I could get the switches and routers on the cheap but the WIC cards were just way to expensive for me at the time. I seem to recall seeing WIC card prices comparable to a full 2950 switch which is just nuts to me.

TheSuperRuski

Hypntick wrote: »

If you check out that link I posted and click the blog section it's got a lab build for CCNA: Security on there. That thing is invaluable for setting up a Cisco lab, or so it seems to me. My main issue was when I was looking into building a lab I could get the switches and routers on the cheap but the WIC cards were just way to expensive for me at the time. I seem to recall seeing WIC card prices comparable to a full 2950 switch which is just nuts to me.

Wow, just for the WIC card, that does seem excessive. And good link. I didnt even think about which topology my home lab would be. I will have to do a lot more research on that.
You guys have any idea about a rack? I saw this one on amazon. Amazon.com: Startech 12U 19-Inch Desktop Open Frame 2 Post Rack: Electronics

Any ideas where i can get something like that for about the same price or cheaper? I dont remember where, but i saw a guy make his ikea table into a rack. Ah, here it is.. Build a Network Rack with an IKEA Table

Hypntick

TheSuperRuski wrote: »

You guys have any idea about a rack?

Was thinking about that myself. Honestly I may just use my desk as the rack. It's got a section up top over the monitor area that I could stack at least 4 high if I needed to.

Other than what you've found, home depot would be my first stop if I were going to try and build something. That seems the cheapest route to me at least.

Danieltheman

Yea I'm going to spend some time looking around and really getting familiarized with the hardware side of this, I would really like my own lab to help me with my studies..I'm going to do some homework on what study books and guides to get along with some hardware, hopefully they arent too expensive, money is kind of an issue but im going to check out the web sites on the faq page of the ccna and the ones you guys put up on this thread and look around on ebay and really try to get something going...