CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead SY0-301

Let me start by saying I've used the Element K Security+ books for years in Security+ classes as a trainer. I did some research when I was preparing to take the latest version of the exam (SY0-301) and found positive reviews of Darril Gibson's book. I purchased it and discovered it is easy to read and understand with clear explanations for even the most difficult Security+ topics. In addition there are great practice questions for review at the end of each chapter along with a full test at the beginning of the book to assess your starting skill set and another full test at the end to show your progress. The answers sections do a great job of explaining why the correct answer is correct as well as a review of what the incorrect answers mean. I took the exam this morning and passed with 867/900 (96.3%). The book was invaluable as an exam preparation tool. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking to not only pass the exam on the first try, but also to get a strong grasp of basic security concepts. This is both a prep tool and an easy to use reference. On a personal note I had a few questions when I was looking over the book and went to the author's website ([...]) and then contacted him via email. He was quick to respond, very personable and took time to give detailed answers to my questions. Thanks for everything Darril!

The author (Darril Gibson) teaches Security training courses to students, and it has definitely paid dividends in his writing style. You can tell by reading the material that he knows which concepts give students more difficulty, and he has creatively came up with ways to make those concepts easy to comprehend. I've read many technical books, and this author is one of the best in the way he presents the material and how the book flows from one topic to the next. He provides a skeleton in the beginning and expands it more and more the further you get into the book - which makes the material very easy to understand and gives you time to digest the basic concepts before moving into more complex ones. For example, I've read many books discussing PKI and even took a class, and they all left me with more questions than answers. He comprehensively explained PKI in a way that I completely understood in one read. I highly recommend this book. However, when studying for a certification exam, I recommend at least using two books, but definitely make this one of them. Also, most technical books seem loaded with errors these days. This one has a few, but they were minor and easy to determine from the context. Oh, and I passed the test at 96%.

To repeat what has already been said, this is a fantastic book. I've been an IT professional since 2005 and have obtained other certs, mainly just to pad my resume, but this was the first one that made the difference of keeping or losing my job. Because of that, I took obtaining it seriously and decided to ditch the test dumps (which actually do teach you SOME things) and absorb the knowledge needed to not only pass the Security+ exam, but to perform my duties with confidence. While this book, and Security+ in general, isn't focused on the how-to, it does give you the concepts to at least halfway know what you're talking about when setting up and securing networks and gives you almost everything you need to know in order to pass the exam. Despite being in IT for several years, most of my expertise was focused on proprietary scanning equipment and their accompanying SQL databases. I had very little server experience before landing a new position as a server engineer and security administrator (how does that even happen?). I read through this book twice, took all the practice exams at the end of each chapter as well as each 100 question exam at the beginning and end of the book. The week leading up to the test, I went to CompTIA's website and took the practice/example exam and only once did I achieve a passing score, and even then, it was barely (82/100 where 80 is required). This made me nervous. I had no problem nailing the questions in Darril's book, but didn't understand why I struggled so much with CompTIA's questions. It was a confidence killer and definitely made me worry about the actual exam. I took the exam earlier this week on the morning of the 9th. Many of the concepts taught in the book were on the test. Even still, I couldn't shake the fact that CompTIA's practice questions really beat me up and I was nervous throughout the entire exam. I flagged questions I wasn't 100% positive on and went through all 100 questions 3 times. I wanted to make sure I passed. With 8 minutes left, I decided to bite the bullet and finish the exam. Much to my surprise, I passed with a score of 848, with 900 being the highest. While this score doesn't win me the affection of all the babes, it was much higher than I assumed I would get, but most importantly, it was over the passing score of 750. So, not only was my time and money not wasted, but I get to stay employed. I was hesitant to create a review since there's not much I can add to what's already been said, but I wanted to treat this review as a positive product review and most importantly, use it to give a sincere thanks to Mr. Darril Gibson. There is plenty of training material out there that covers the same information found in this book, but you will be hard-pressed to find any that's written in such a manner as this book. With real world examples and analogies, this book teaches in a way that most people are receptive to. You're not just memorizing terms and acronyms with this book, you're actually learning them by seeing how certain concepts and ideals apply to real world situations. I am now interested in picking up more of his training books and have since subscribed to his Twitter and blog. Bottom line: Want to pass the Security+ exam while actually learning something? Buy this book.

I found this book excellent training material, the way that it is written is makes it easier to take things in, but that's not to say that the material covered is easy to understand. You will need to have have the Network + certification or have read the Network + all in one book 5th edition at least 3 times to fully understand the concepts in this book, you could in theory pick this book up without having read the Network + book or having the Network + certification, and understand certain sections of it for example, security polices in a company. But to fully understand everything that is in the book you will need some level of Networking knowledge otherwise you will find yourself scratching your head, and spending more time on google finding out what was meant in the book. I had no such trouble myself as I have the A+ certification and I will be sitting the Network + exam soon, but for those new, beware. The material in the book is very interesting if you like computer security and cryptography and learning about types of attacks and security procedures and polices, securing data, identifying attacks, securing networks, or standalone computers from attacks, forensics etc. I really liked it a lot, there is tons of questions at the end of each section explaining the correct answer and explaining why its not the incorrect answer you may have chosen. I think this book is very strong foundation for more advanced security certifications such as CASP and CEH as it does include around 40 to 50% of written material that the higher certifications do, also lets not forget this certification is intermediate level not beginners level, as I stated earlier it would really benefit people to have some Networking knowledge even if its not up the standards of the CompTIA Network + certification level. Final note, I took one star off what would have been five because of the way the book was printed the text on at least 20 to 30 goes diagonal across the pages, meaning at the bottom of those 30 pages you can't see the first two to three letters of each sentence, you can still make out the words but still it should not have been allowed to go on sale like this.

You don't need to pay thousands for in class test prep to pass the Security+ exam. Follow these three steps and you can pass your test and pay only $55ish in test prep. If you are in an IT field, or you went to school for IT, you've already got a great head start. The Security+ exam assumes you've taken the Network+ exam. You don't need to take the Network+ exam to be prepared for Security+, just as long as you have a background in IT which includes how servers, firewalls, routers and switches work. CompTIA isn't know for advanced certifications, but there tests do show that you have a very good understanding of the subject and that it will be easy for you to learn as your career moves forward. How to pass the Security+ exam in 3 easy steps, should only take you a month. 1. Go to YouTube. Search for "Professor Messer", head to his YouTube page and watch all 185 videos for the Security+ exam. each video is only 5 to 8 min long and gives you a very good head start to the exam. He is easy to listen to, and covers everything. 2. Read this book. Take the practice exams. The pre test in the beginning of the book will show you what you know from the videos. I got a 75% when I took it. Read each chapter, and take the chapter tests. The book is easy to read, just like watching the videos. It covers a lot of the same stuff but goes into more detail. You already have an idea of everything, this just takes it one step further. It will also help you study to remember all the important port numbers along with all the acronyms you'll need to know. This test is FULL of acronyms. 3. Take practice tests. (Update 4/14/14) Check out quizlet.com, search Security+. Good exams to test your knowledge and see how far along you are. All free! Now go pass your test! You will be more then well prepared. UPDATE 9/14 As a reference point, I have a bachelors degree IT Networking which included a lot of security classes. I currently work for a large company in governance and compliance. With that background, I studied for 3 weeks before taking the test. The test will feel harder then you expected, it did for me, but I still passed just fine. I had 7 simulations questions, I know I got at least one wrong because I couldn't remember the port numbers. Other than that they are pretty easy. Take extra time to memorize port numbers and acronyms, I wish I had, but I got threw it just fine.

I am in a position where Comptia Security + is a requirement and my boss gave us all a dead line on when we need to have it by. During this time I only had my A+ certification and was going to go up the chain steadily at my own pace (A+ then Net+ then Sec+). My supervisor (who has his CCNA, CCENT, and SEC+) recommended this book for me. He said it was the best he has ever read. So I ordered this book... Content: The content of this book is EXTREMELY well written. It is written by Darril Gibson and you will find out shortly that when you read this book it is like one friend talking to another friend. I am new to IT and didn't know jack about Sec+ but as I started going through this book it just made sense. At the end of each chapter Darril has a section on things you should know that will be on the test and writes them out which makes a quick review/study cheat sheet and also practice questions. Gibson makes it extremely easy to reference any content that you might want to work on because he will put exactly where it is on the book at the beginning of the chapter overview. Difficulty: I would recommend this to anyone who is studying Sec+ whether you have an idea or even know a lot and would like to brush on Sec+, it is one of the easiest reads I have had since I started IT. Content related to Test: This books sole purpose is to HELP you with the test! It GIVES you the knowledge to know what you are talking about. On my actual test I remember having many questions that I have not seen or heard of before but solely because of this book, I absorbed this content so well I was able to slowly narrow down the question and delivered the correct answer. If I acn absorb the content that well I know anyone else can too! Overall: I have a VCE program on my computer which gives huge test banks of questions and yes you do see some of those questions on the real test but keep in mind SOME! I solely passed my test because of this book, not only do I feel like Darril and I are friends now (like mentioned earlier it reads as if a friend is talking to you), but the information that I absorbed in this book will help me in my IT career. There are many books on the market for Sec+ but this one was by far the best one that I have read. I passed my SYO-301 test with this book and you can too with this book!

Before I begin I just wanted anyone reading this to know, I have ZERO background in IT. My experience with computer terminology and processes, networking, and cyber-security was virtually non-existent. I never even heard of CompTIA until about a month ago when I got hired for a job that required the Security+ certification. Given I have a master's degree (in Government) the only background I had to help me prepare for the Security+ exam was my ability to study - and study hard! With that said, I picked up this book about 3 weeks ago and took my exam this morning. The exam was a bit different from what I was expecting after having read this book entirely. Nonetheless, I passed! I supplemented this study guide with Professor Messer's videos. Things that I didn't quite understand in print were made more clear with audio and video explanation. I would not have been able to pass this exam without this study guide. It is very thorough. Mr. Gibson does an incredible job at explaining things and, with the more difficult concepts, he has easy-to-understand metaphors (e.g. Rayburn's Box). He covers pretty much everything there is to need to know. Though this book is two years old, everything is still relevant. If you need to prepare for the Security+ exam I highly recommend this study guide. Do not short yourself though. I read every single page and did every single practice question and made my own study guide for review. It is a lot of material but it can be done. Three weeks ago I knew absolutely nothing about this topic but I promised I'd write a review following the exam. This guide helped me get certified and now I can start my job and get ahead... Ha... Good luck to everyone and thank you Mr. Gibson!

If you are looking for one source of study material to pass your SY0-301, this is it! Everything is explained in a very straightforward easy to follow manner, with just enough detail provided to help comprehend the material and ultimately ace the test. The author obviously knows his stuff, and was straight to the point without any unnecessary rambling or sidetracked storytelling. I wanted to study as little as possible, as quickly as possible, and just get this thing over with. This book, the included practice exams, and the glossary at the end (seriously, study the glossary! There are so many acronyms on this test, you need to know them ALL, and this book's glossary is the perfect study guide for them), were my only study materials. After just one read-through, and almost just as much time spent hammering the acronyms and definitions into my brain, I passed the test with an 830 out of 900 on Oct. 24, 2012. As for the e-book format, I purchased the downloadable kindle version of this book, and shared my time reading it between my computer, Galaxy Nexus phone, and Nexus 7 Tablet. The Whisper Sync (I think that's what it's called) worked great, and no matter which device I opened the book on, it picked up right where I left off. There were a few quirks here and there when turning pages (sometimes a sentence was missing on the next page, but flipping back then forward again straightened it out), but nothing that severely annoyed or took away from the overall convenience. Highly recommended!

Very good book.

Muy buen material de estudio para superar la certificación CompTIA Security+, además de buen precio. El contenido es de calidad, bien redactado (en inglés, único idioma en el que está disponible la certificación) y bien maquetado. De toda la bibliografía que he consultado, éste libro me ha parecido el mejor. Si no he puesto 5 estrellas es porque hay ciertas preguntas (muy pocas) del examen que el libro no cubre. Aún así me parece una gran obra, altamente recomendable.

Darril does a great job of making the technical jargon simple. Using the book along with his on-line tests is all you need.

Just Excellent! Very easy read and to the point, I passed with the score 896 out of 900! just follow the author's guideline. I highly recommend this book.

Superb book. It's so good, that you'll become excited to read it. Excellent use of questions, and its memory reinforcing.. so that you come away having learnt a lot. The point is this - he makes you learn and remember the topics, which is worth it's weight in gold. I'm delighted with it - a hard thing to say for a "Certification" book. **Update June 2014. Still regularly read this book. It's great for interviews, and technical tests. The explanations are still legendary.