 |
||
|
HOME | EXAM DETAILS | FREE TESTS | STUDY GUIDES | GLOSSARY | ARTICLES | BOOKS & TRAINING | FORUMS | CAREER & JOBS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The VTC Online University offers you unlimited access to over 55,794 video tutorials covering over 407 subject areas including certifications by CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft, Java, Oracle, and LPI. Over 10,000 videos are available for free so check out VTC today.
New Glossary Terms: We have added 9 new terms to our Glossary making a total of 295 definitions. The new terms are ATX, BTX, CompactFlash, DMA, DSSS, Flash Drives, FHSS, OFDM, Secure Digital Cards. What We Are Working On: We are still working hard on the new A+ materials, but have discovered that it is going to take some time to complete. Our goal is to have them all done by the time the current objectives expire on 6/30/07. We are also working on bringing a new certification to mcmcse.com and that should be in place in a few weeks.
Microsoft has announced the new Microsoft Business Certification which will replace the MOS certification program. The new program will have 2 tracks as follows: Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Series: The core Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Program credential has been upgraded to validate skills with the 2007 Microsoft Office system as well as the new Windows Vista operating system. The Application Specialist certification targets Information Workers and covers the most popular Microsoft Office applications such as Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Excel 2007, and Outlook 2007. Microsoft Certified Application Professional Series: The new Application Professional certification is designed to meet the needs of workers who use the 2007 Microsoft Office system to deliver on specific projects and tasks. This credential demonstrates advanced, cross-industry skills and collaboration capabilities. The focus areas include managing budgets, managing presentations, and managing team collaboration. Exams for the Microsoft Business Certification will be released throughout the year. As with previous Microsoft Office certifications, this program will be administered by CertiPort. For more information, click here.
Cisco has announced that they have updated the CCSP certification and also introduced two new specialist certifications. Changes to the security CCSP professional certification include updates to two of the five recommended training courses as well as, introducing two new exams and courses added as curriculum electives that can be used to satisfy the exam requirements for CCSP. These new elective exams and courses will cover Implementing Cisco NAC Appliances and Implementing Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response Systems. The Cisco Network Admission Control Specialist and the Cisco IOS Security Specialist certifications are the newest of the security specialist certifications now available. These certifications are designed for the security technologist and will validate their skills in implementing and supporting these technologies. In addition, Cisco is updating the security specialization requirements for channel partners. Specifically the Field Engineer requirements are changing. Exam 642-567 ASFE will be retired, as well as the Cisco Advanced Security Field Specialization. Partner engineers pursuing CCSP, which is a requirement for the Field Engineer role, must now take two additional CCSP elective exams in place of 642-567 ASFE. For those currently studying, the last day to test 642-567 ASFE will be July 30, 2007. The channel requirements for Account Manager and System Engineer remain unchanged.
Planet3 Wireless announced that their Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) certification has now been passed by individuals in over 100 countries (106 to be exact). Read the full press release here.
Below are the latest additions and reviews added to our Training Directory. Be sure to add reviews for the books and training products you have used. New Reviews: A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Sixth Edition - By jsprague For many years, the All In One CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide by Mike Meyers has been at the top of the game. Staying on top has likely been pretty easy as the exams haven't changed much over the years. With the scope of the latest revision, I am sure that Mike Meyers was presented with a big challenge in that the 220-602 and 220-603 exams essentially cover the same materials at different depths. As you begin checking out the book, it will become clear that the materials for the 2 exams are combined. There are some places where a special section exists for the 220-603 exam, but not nearly to the point that one can easily study for one exam at a time. I don't fault the author for this. When we started working on the study guide for mcmcse.com, we tried to write separate study guides. It turned out to be impossible, not only because the 2 exams are so similar, but because as usual the exam objectives look like they were written by a person with ADD. My guess is that other authors will also have a very difficult time separating the exams and will choose to combine them. This obviously presents a challenge to the A+ candidate in determining what to study for which exam. The CDROM that comes with the book offers practice test software by Total Seminars which appears to include at least 100 free questions per exam. The interface is a little clunky at first, but once you figure it out, it is a nice extra. It also comes with a LearnKey demo video that actually covers quite a few topics for a free version. The videos are fun to watch as Mike's energy and movements make it look like he is dancing. The CDROM also includes handy freeware/shareware utilities and the entire text in e-book format. In summary, the content and readability of the book are every bit as good as past versions and if you know the material in this book, you will pass the exams. I anticipate that this book will continue to lead the way for A+ certification preparation. SANS GIAC Certification: Security Essentials Toolkit (GSEC) - By Cormac Doyle The Security Essentials Toolkit is a book that is very easy to pick up and read, and concentrates on the practical elements of the GIAC SANS GSEC exam that differentiate it from the other major vendor neutral certifications (such as the SSCP and Security+). While the Security+ exam may discuss the fact that "Viruses are bad" and review the different types of malware, the GSEC also looks at HOW to detect, avoid, block and/or remove such exploits. This text was originally published in 2002, and recently celebrated its 5th birthday. However, I would argue that this is not as critical as it may first appear to be. The entire thrust of this book is to encourage you to download, install and experiment with these tools - this is not so much a Textbook, but rather a Lab Guide / Workbook. Although this book includes the vast majority of the tools that you require to sit this exam, it should be noted that the GSEC curriculum is revised regularly, and consequently, this text should be considered an effective starting point – not an all-inclusive text. Because some of these labs entail installing and running applications that would often breach company policies (port scans, root kits, trojan horses, key loggers and the like), warning are scattered liberally throughout the book to ensure that you have the written permission of the appropriate department before performing any of these steps on your company network - and it's a warning that really must be heeded ... if you're studying for this sort of certification, you must start to understand the requirement for creating such policies, because in the long run, you'll probably be creating the policies for your minions colleagues! In some environments, setting up these labs may be difficult, as many companies will have web filters that could well block some of these things from being downloaded; a CD with these tools would be a welcome addition to the toolkit. I would consider this title to be essential reading for anyone considering studying not only the GSEC certification, but for any practical introduction to Information Security / Computer Security (such as the Security+ and SSCP certifications, to name just a selection). However, this should be one of several study texts – it is not a complete exam preparation guide (but doesn’t claim to be either).
Our forums currently have 99,792 members and 69,091 posts. Here are some of the most popular posts since our last newsletter.
|
|
|