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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Only book to use to pass Security+, August 4, 2003
This review is from: Security+ Study Guide and DVD Training System (Hardcover)
This was the third and final book I bought and used to pass the Security+ exam. I failed the exam the first time after studying Mike Meyers book, it was way to easy. The second book I purchased was the Exam Cram2 book, even easier than Mike Meyers book and I could tell that by the time I had read seven chapters. I simply put the book down and asked around. This is the book that was recommended to me as the ONLY book to use to pass the Security+ exam. It doesn not candy coat how hard the exam is. It tells you in detail what you need to know to pass the exam. It will tell you you don't need to know this to pass the exam...BUT you should know this for the real world. Pay attention to the exam alerts and warnings. Trust me they will give you a great idea of what to expect. In my opinion the DVD that comes with this book is worthless, its the book you want!! I can't say enough about this exam. While it could use a little editing in my opinion. Some of the paragraphs where a little long winded, it does cover unlike other books in extream detail what you need to know. Non of the other 2 books I read covered what this book takes forgranted as the "normal" information you need to know! CompTIA's Security+ exam is not a easy exam like the A+ and Net+ which in my opinion are used to grade first year IT persons. This exam expects you to know in detail and to be able to figure out situations and how to fix them. This book provides the book knowledge and also points you in the direction you need to go to figure out the situational questions. This book is definately worth the read IF you want to pass!! This is the only book I recommend as one that will provide you with the tools to pass the exam at all! Erik; A+, Net+, Security+, soon to be MCSA.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but problems, December 22, 2005
This review is from: Security+ Study Guide and DVD Training System (Hardcover)
First of all, I passed the test with a 784 first try using only this book as study material and nothing else, so I have to recommend it. Although, it helped that I already had A+, MCSE, and CCNA certifications under my belt. The book is an excellent source of information and should be central to your Security+ study plan.
That said, there are a number of problems with it. First, about 10% of the exam questions simply were not covered anywhere in the book. I was pretty scared when the first question on the actual test was not even covered.
Second, the book is full of typo's and related problems to the point where you actually think that you are the first person to read the book all the way through (they spell explaination as epxlaination 12 times in the same place before each practice test at the end of the chapters, not even a freaking spell check!!!), ESPECIALLY with the end of chapter test questions. The included test questions are absolutely terrible. At least one out of every ten questions is flat out wrong, which makes it difficult to study using these questions. Getting the questions right in the book is more of guessing what the IQ score of the writer is more than knowing the material. A typical example: You are asked to select which "3" items fit a certain question. Answers (A) and (B) have 4 items, (C) has 3 items, and (D) is none of the above. Using common sense you would have already ruled out answers (A) and (B) as being possibilities, and selected either (C) or (D) without even seeing the actual question. But, of course you were wrong and the answer is (A). ???? The practice test questions are riddled with them.
The free online web testing is a joke. There is only one online test, so it is pretty much useless after you take it once. Also, the actual test seemed to test a lot of subject matter that is not on the practice test. I spent a few days reviewing the practice test questions and the subject matter that they covered, but much of that was a waste of time.
Some of the exam tips are wrong. Such as that you are not going to have to know specifics about ACL lists. I got one question that listed a router ACL list with multiple users and groups. The user had no access, but was part of the sales group that did have access. What access level does the user have? The book not only skipped that part, it specifically says that this is NOT tested on. WRONG! Other questions such as the unix command to change permissions and the name of the user password file on a unix machine were also not covered, were told that it was not on the test, and actually was.
Lastly, The training DVD is absolutely useless. First, it looks and sounds like it was made one afternoon with a home video camera in the meeting room at the office. Almost none of the information on the training DVD is on the actual test, because it only gives you very very general information. The Security+ test mostly tests on the specifics, such as what encryption does IPSec use. There is more information in the book chapter summeries than in the entire training DVD.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Right on the mark!, January 19, 2003
This review is from: Security+ Study Guide and DVD Training System (Hardcover)
Security+ is CompTIA's newest exam, it covers a wide variety of security concepts. Having taken the beta, help tech edit a coupe of books, I thought I had certainly seen about everything relating to the exam. The author(s) and editor(s) of this book have put together some of the best reading on the subject I have seen. In just over 800 pages, the exam, which covers a vast amount of information, is taken apart and pieced together in a logical and well written format. What I found is that the book is written to the level of the intermediate skill set and this make the learning process a bit better. The section on attacks, as well as the wireless section goes beyond the exam objectives; in fact the wireless section could be used for other exams such as CWNA. There is a good flow of information and it is well documented and well organized, each section building on the previous. There are a few well thought out add-ons, such as the exercises, which seem to draw from real life, rather than simulation. Also the exam tips and warnings are very helpful; anyone preparing for the exam should take a close look at these. At the end of each chapter you find a review test of the material, the question are well explained and I was impressed with the FAQ section in each chapter, no other book I have seen has this. Finally there is a DVD with over 2 hours of instructional material. While this could be used as a stand alone tool I found it to be more helpful working with the book. Overall I think this book gives you a very good shot at passing - well done.
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