27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Used this book (2nd edition) and passed the test, November 12, 2004
This review is from: Security+ Study Guide, 2nd Edition (SYO-101) (Paperback)
I passed the test with a 836. This is midway between the passing cutoff (764) and the maximum score (900).
Context for this review: I have no background in InfoSec. However I have been a network engineer since 1996 and have earned the following certs: CNE, MCSE, ASE (Compaq Proliant servers), CCNA, CCDA, A+, and two from 3Com (wireless and IP Telephony). Your background is likely to be different so please read my comments with that in mind.
This book is on CompTIA's Authorized Quality Curriculum list for this test and I think it deserves to be. However, because there were several questions on the test that the book did not cover I rate this book 4 stars.
If you are new to InfoSec you may want to use the training strategy that has worked for me now, and before, to learn and certify into a field new to me: Read a good introductory hands-on book, then read a certification study guide, finally read a quick review book. This strategy gives me three points of view and heavily reinforces the learning. Remember, it's not just about passing a test. It's about being competent in the field.
If this strategy appeals to you a good intro book is Matthew Strebe's "Network Security JumpStart" published by Sybex in 2002, ISBN 0-7821-4120-X. This is not a hands-on book but Security+ does not test for hands-on abilities (it's conceptual). The quick review book I used is "Security+ FastPass" published by Sybex in 2004. ISBN 0-7821-4359-8. Caution: The FastPass book gets asymmetric cryptology and public/private keys wrong (the Study Guide gets it right; also goto rsalabs.com and click Crypto FAQ).
I hope you find these comments useful.
Dennis Duffy, MBA and Network Engineer
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-Opening, Practical and Authoritative, March 28, 2003
It is clear that Mr. Pastore has done his homework. What I liked about it was that it addressed a wide range of issues at just the right level of detail to make it compelling as well as understandable. The illustrations were straightforward and clear, the narrative tracked well with the illustrations and topics were nicely organized. Another feature I liked was that many of the chapters are readable on their own, so that the reader can pick the topics of interest without struggling throught a lot of peripheral information. Mr. Pastore's style is direct and clear - rare attributes in competing computing security books - and invites the reader to stay engaged. I highly recommend this book, not only for computing professionals, but also any computer users, at home or at work.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent well written core book., April 14, 2005
This review is from: Security+ Study Guide, 2nd Edition (SYO-101) (Paperback)
I recently passed the Security+ exam and the Sybex Security+ guide Second Edition was one of my core books. I thought overall it was an excellent read but gave it four stars because it is lacking coverage on a few areas. In particular ipsec [AH & ESP], various scan methods [half scan, etc], and it could have used a little more info on token type logons such as synchronous dynamic password. 802.1X was not covered but I did not have any questions on the exam though my other books did cover 802.1X. If the book covered those areas better with maybe ten more pages of length I would give it five stars.
Other than that the explainations were mostly excellent along with a lot of helpful illustrations for the less advanced student. The end of chapter summaries and exam essentials were helpful in that they are good for reviewing. The sample questions [150] at the end of each chapter were not unlike those on the exam and the answer pages included good explainations. The end of the book contained a 38 page glossary of all the terms you should be familiar with and a brief but helpful explaination.
The exam itself had very short one or two sentence questions. I just want to comment that there seems to be a lot of book bashing going on with certification exam books. First off I never rely on a single book for an exam and this exam assumes you have knowledge of a Network+ certification and about a year experience with networking. There were some questions on the exam that I did not see clearly answered in any book but the topics were covered and you have to understand the jist of what they were getting at. A part of the Security+ exam is on topics that do not have cut and dry answers such as operational/organizational security and rely on some common sense or experience such as policies, BCP, people issues, and security awareness. Having said that the Sybex Security+ book is well worth reading for the Security+ exam as long as you also supplement your studies to cover the few areas that it is lacking on.
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