The next class for our newest IT members

Continuing on with the saga of our new IT members – what should they take after the CCNA? I would ask my class – but I am at a disadvantage right now as they are out at lunch (in the positive sense) right now, so I can’t ask for their advice. But before the new members they jump into a series of Microsoft classes, we need to further their education a little – namely with a good grounding in security. Not understanding the implications of security will bring nothing nut unpleasant circumstances to the new members. So – let us send them off to get their Security+ certification. Why, might you ask, would I encourage them to take the Security+ class? Provided that the instructor has a lot of hands-on experience in the security field, then it will be a great first-exposure to the security field. I can just hear the howls of displeasure from the security gurus out there – but remember, this is supposed to be a first exposure to security – not turning them into CISSPs or CEHers. It is the real-world experience that will make this class beneficial to them. What will the Security+ teach the new members of the IT field? Well – given that this is NOT going to train them to be security experts, it does an excellent job. There are simply too many areas of security to expose all of them to the new IT personnel without overloading their brains. Just imagine the mental gymnastics required to jump from social-engineering to physical security to cryptography and finally to stegangraphy! So, what is it that these budding IT Pros will master? According to the listing of Objective Domains from CompTIA, they will learn: General Security concepts, Communication Security, Infrastructure Security, Basics of Cryptography and Operational/Organizational security. Will this be enough training and exposure? Yes – it will make them more aware of how important security is to any network – and maybe, just maybe, they will learn to be slightly paranoid (as a student told me last week after a security class – that I taught them to be a little paranoid about security – a dubious compliment – or maybe not?) about the security of their network. Well – time to sign off – students are coming back from lunch – stay tuned to more postings on other certification exams.