Security+

After several weeks of study [many more than it should’ve taken], I took the CompTIA Security+ Exam, and aced it with a score of 820/900.

I spent about three weeks longer to prepare for the exam than was really necessary, because I made the terrible mistake of purchasing the Wiley Security+ Prep Guide. This book is crap. It appears that the authors wrote an “Intro to Security” handbook, realized they couldn’t sell it, and slapped a “Security+ Prep Guide” moniker upon the cover. The book is very poorly organized, with large chunks of the material spread throughout the book and referenced by “See Chapter X”. It does cover about half of the information required for the exam, but that information only takes up a tenth of the book. The rest is filled with useless trivia that is only obliquely referenced in the exam.

After three weeks of battling the Wiley book, I finally caught on to my mistake, and picked up the Exam Cram2 Security+ guide. I highly recommend this book, if you intend to take the Security+ exam. It’s very dense and assumes you understand the concepts covered. After going through the book, I took the chapter-end quizzes several times, and then drilled on the practice tests and the included CD. After taking the exam, I’d say this book covers about 90% of the material — there were two questions that I’d not seen covered in any test prep material, anywhere.

Next up, either Checkpoint CCSE, or Cisco CCNP. Any opinions?