Well I just started Darril Gibson book, and have been reading Mike Meyer's Passport Security +. But I am a little worried that I may be pushing to hard. I have about 28 days to get ready for the Security + test. I just took the Network + and passed it with a 818. I am more worried that I will under estimate this test and fail it. I have planned on taking it on the 20th of Dec, that way if I fail I still have a week to give it another try. I have a game plan, but I know that I may not get it all. I wanted to know what most of you that have passed the Security +, feel is the hardest thing to get or understand. That way I can focus on some of those topics and not forget to cover them. Man I am really wishing that the Professor had video's for Security+.

Thanks

IMO...cryptology.


How is Myer's Passport book?

honda has taken the test recently as well so maybe he can give you some advice - but the reason im glad i read the gibson book twice is that in my opinion what makes the sec+ more difficult is the way they'll ask the questions. You'll have to think about the question for a bit, whereas the A+ and Net+ were kind of straightforward. Understanding and not memorizing the material is crucial. It's a quick book to read so even if you have a secondary source - (which is almost always a good idea) i would still read the Gibson book twice and if you have the time read the trouble chapters are many times as you need to. Looking forward to seeing a pass.

I read the first Chapter of Mikes book, and was having a hard time paying attention to it. It reads like a dictionary, and very dry. So I ordered Darrel's Book last week, after Amazon delivered it yesterday i am half way through the first chapter. It's way better from my opinion. The only thing I don't like about Darrel's book is the Fonts are pretty plan. And it's hard to tell when it changes from sub topic to the next topic. But I know that both will help me to pass the test. So I plan on reading both and testing while doing so. I will hit cryptology up and make sure it is clear. Thanks for the input, I need all the help I can get. I am doing a cram job on this one.

I scored a 818 also on the network+ test and took the Security+ test exactly 2 weeks later and scored a 797. Put all your focus on the Darril Gibson book and you will be fine. Make sure you are scoring in the high 90's on the practice tests and that should be enough of a buffer. I heard there where only a few versions of the real Security+ test but all of them seemed to be trouble shooting style questions. I did all three (A+,NET+,Sec+)in a 7 week stretch and feeling burned out at the moment. I started the Cisco CCNA and feel like I'm relearning everything over again. Dam Cisco and there own way of describing everything. I see why everyone says its hard. I took the A+,NET+,Sec+ courses at New Horizons and the ILT books are of no help. Make sure you Know the Difference between all of your Asymetric and Symetric encryption. Symetric being, DES, 3DES, RC-, CAST, IDEA, AES, AES256, Kerberos. Asymetric being, SSL,TLS, RSA, Diffie-Helman, ECC, Elgamal, PKI, PGP and if they ask a question regarding what encryption does PGP used to encrypt the data, there is no second guessing. Gota know the MAC/DAC/RBAC and all of your tools (Nmap, Nessus, Wireshark..etc..) I would rather take 400 questions of Darril Gibson style questions to test your knowledge then have to do 100 of Comptia questions. I was fried when I was done with the Security+ test. 797=88% and I feel like Comptia punched me in the face.

@hondab,

Thanks for the reply, I am getting ready to start Chapter 8 Understanding Cryptography. I am planning on a long night, so I can nail it down. I will more then likely make flash cards to review. Thanks again for the info.

@bub9001

I think there is no wait period between the first failed attempt and the second failed attempt, so you might be able to take it twice on the same day (but it probably depends on the testing center, cause some of them won't allow to take it twice on the same day if you don't book twice in advance). After the second failed attempt there is a mandatory wait period of 14 days between each consecutive failed attempt. Just copying some housekeeping stuff from CompTIA. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply, I passed first time so retake isn't a worry now.

Thanks