Re: Security+ Advice

[Andrew Hecox <ahecox () uchicago edu>]

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003, Stephen G wrote:

> I am a System Admin of 6 years with a MCSE, CNE, and CCNA. I would
> like to begin a transition into the security side of IT, and figure that the
> Security+ certification would be a good place to start. Also I can use it
> for credit
> toward the new "MCSE +Security" which makes it extra useful. I am confident
> I have a good foundation in security, but would like to hear some
> recommendations from the list members on books they may have used for the
> Security+.

I found Mike Meyers passport book to be the most helpful; I also read
Shimonoski's book and while it was well presented the technical
information wasn't particularly accurate.

The nice part about Meyers book is it's about 700 pages shorter, meaning
if you have a good foundation you can get through it much much
quicker. The other books I looked at spent a lot of time introducing
topics that you probably don't need (what, the TCP/IP protocol
uses ports! that kind of stuff).

I supplemented Meyers book with more interesting topic-specific books
(Peikari's Wireless: Maximum Security and Smith's Authentication: From
Passwords to Public Keys). This minimized my test-prep fluff and maximized
good reading time. Both topic-specific books, incidently, were excellent
(far better quality than any of the test-prep books).

If I had to do it again, I would have read one or two more
topic-specific books instead of Shimonoski's.


-Andrew


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attend Black Hat Briefings & Training Federal, September 29-30 (Training), 
October 1-2 (Briefings) in Tysons Corner, VA; the world's premier 
technical IT security event.  Modeled after the famous Black Hat event in 
Las Vegas! 6 tracks, 12 training sessions, top speakers and sponsors.  
Symantec is the Diamond sponsor.  Early-bird registration ends September 6.Visit us: www.blackhat.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------