Passed with a 822

I won't lie, the test was hard. The practice questions on Darril Gibson's book is NOTHING like the ones on the test. The ones on the actual exam are a LOT more obscure and I'm sure some of the questions had multiple right choices for a single answer. I thought i had failed the test and was dreading the period between survey and results. Maybe I got an unusually hard test, but it is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be using Gibson's book.

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Bellman80

Congratulations on the pass!

Did you have any experience in the field before taking Security+?

I'm also going to use Darril's book but I'm afraid it won't be enough for me because I have next to zero experience with security.

cyberguypr

Sounds Good wrote: »

Maybe I got an unusually hard test, but it is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be using Gibson's book.

I am also curious about your experience. Do you have Network+?

Sounds Good

cyberguypr wrote: »

I am also curious about your experience. Do you have Network+?

i have no experience with security as far as professionally. personally, i've tampered with firewalls/port scanners/etc. I do have the Network+. i've only studied for 1 week reading gibson's book in 3 days and reviewing over material im not comfortable with for the remaining 4 or so days. more studying on my part from gibson's book would NOT have helped much as the questions on the test are left fieldish and are not as straight forward as gibson's book would have you believe.

Mike-Mike

i spent 2 weeks studying after passing Net+ and got an 835 on Sec+, and I agree, I thought it was pretty tough

TrystanQuinn

Just passed it myself with an 822 as well...I found that there were a few questions that none of the answers seemed correct for and a few that had two possibilities. The questions overall weren't necessarily as direct as Darril Gibson's book implied, but I took enough practice tests from enough different providers (proprofs, here, LabSim course from the college class I took, etc) to understand the EXTREME necessity of carefully reading the questions to glean the implied meaning. The answers were very tricky and like I said...some just seemed flat out wrong...I can't mention specifics...but let's just say that one asked about one of the tunneling protocols and what it is commonly used for and the answers all had the word encryption or hashing in them...I stared at that one for a good minute...

erpadmin

(Doing the deepest sigh ever.......)

First of all, Sounds Good, congratulations, welcome to the club, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Second, no one ever said that Darril Gibson's book had the answers to the Security+ exam. That would imply that his book was nothing but a glorified braindump, and no good member here (and I'd like to include myself) would ever want you to use one of those.

What TE members who used his book had stated was if you read and understood the book, you would feel very comfortable in taking the exam and passing (on the first try, too.) And let's face it, when you have 90 people viewing this particular sub-forum daily (until I suspect 1/1/2011), that's really what people (yourselves included and even me) wanted. From my own passed thread, you'll see that I did use multiple sources. I also have some experience in what was being tested. But when I tell you that I only needed Darril's book to pass...I 100% mean that! You got guys who are reading his book in 5 days, passing it, and then wondering why they got a passing score less than 800. You kidding me?

I took my time reading his book...I didn't rush it (unlike Project+) because I wanted to absorb the material. I felt that I did an excellent job in that endeavor. I'm just saying that Darril's book wasn't meant to be a magical book to answer every question on the exam. What it does do, however, is to get specific enough for you to know the objectives fairly well and pass the exam.

That's it.

headshot

For tougher question on the exam in most cases you can limit it down to two answers that seem pretty good and usually one will have a better fit. Just keep an eye out for key words. Flag for review liberally, keep a cool head, and take your time.

Also, congrats to the OP.

Psoasman

Congrats!

Sounds Good

TrystanQuinn wrote: »

Just passed it myself with an 822 as well...I found that there were a few questions that none of the answers seemed correct for and a few that had two possibilities. The questions overall weren't necessarily as direct as Darril Gibson's book implied, but I took enough practice tests from enough different providers (proprofs, here, LabSim course from the college class I took, etc) to understand the EXTREME necessity of carefully reading the questions to glean the implied meaning. The answers were very tricky and like I said...some just seemed flat out wrong...I can't mention specifics...but let's just say that one asked about one of the tunneling protocols and what it is commonly used for and the answers all had the word encryption or hashing in them...I stared at that one for a good minute...

this was my exact thought as well. maybe today's exams were screwy.

and to erpadmin, im only posting this because many people are praising gibson's book as if it is the only source of material you need. whether i studied 1 week or 4 weeks would not have made a difference. i would have the same studying habits in both cases.

read the book once > go over each practice test at end of each chapter > brush up on questions i got wrong > if i still didn't understand, look it up online > go over practice exam at beginning of book > brush up on questions i got wrong > if i still didn't understand, look it up online > final test > brush up on questions i got wrong > if i still didn't understand, look it up online.

so believe me when i say i understood the concepts of the book fully and thoroughly.

twodogs62

I took the test on wednesday and found the test extremely easy.
Many questions I was able to spot correct answer and knew the other choices were wrong.
I do have experience and have been planning on taking this test for several years.
So, I have been trying to apply the concepts instead of just memorizing.
I also have a GSEC so a lot of material is covered under GSEC. GSEC is much more detailed having a book on windows and one on Linux.

In regards to Darril's book it is outstanding. Very interesting read.

I did think a few questions may have had a couple correct choices, but on a couple I read closer and there was a key word which made one answer better than another.

Any congrats!!!!

Armor149

I have to say that I used both the Sybex and Darill's book to study with. The Sybex book was really a waste of time compared to using Darill's book.

I would say that Darill's book is the reason I passed. The clear and simple manner in which the book is written and not the wording of the practice questions is what did it.

I will admit, the way some of the questions were written was just horrible. My understanding though is that the SYO-101 questions were written even worse.

Just my 2 cents.

Congrats on the pass!

erpadmin

Sounds Good wrote: »

and to erpadmin, im only posting this because many people are praising gibson's book as if it is the only source of material you need.

It is though...lol. You having 20 sources to potentially get 900, or having one source to just pass.....not for nothing, I'll take the latter.

badboyeee

Sounds Good wrote: »

I won't lie, the test was hard. The practice questions on Darril Gibson's book is NOTHING like the ones on the test. The ones on the actual exam are a LOT more obscure and I'm sure some of the questions had multiple right choices for a single answer. I thought i had failed the test and was dreading the period between survey and results. Maybe I got an unusually hard test, but it is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be using Gibson's book.

I felt the same way. But at least you got a pretty good score! Congrats

badboyeee

TrystanQuinn wrote: »

The answers were very tricky and like I said...some just seemed flat out wrong...I can't mention specifics...but let's just say that one asked about one of the tunneling protocols and what it is commonly used for and the answers all had the word encryption or hashing in them...I stared at that one for a good minute...

Dude I think I know what question you are talking about.. hehe..

Sounds Good

conspiracy hat=on

comptia is making the test trickier towards the end so that people are less likely to pass therefore not granting them lifetime certs.

conspiracy hat=off

michaelcox

Sounds Good wrote: »

conspiracy hat=on

comptia is making the test trickier towards the end so that people are less likely to pass therefore not granting them lifetime certs.

conspiracy hat=off

if so, it didn't work for me. My last Comptia test (before Security+ last week) was in 2000. I spent less time studying for this one and got a better score. Granted, I have a decade more work in IT at this point than I did then, but still.