<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhere should you start in Cybersecurity?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Certifications 101:<\/span> Why A+, Network+, and Security+ are Game Changers | Infosec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Why study for each certification <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">(i.e., CompTIA A+, Network+, & Security+)<\/span> and take their exams?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Preparing for and taking these exams is hard. Still, they are also useful and applicable to real-world roles and situations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They each provide valuable insight into the components and operations of computers (i.e., A+, hardware, and software), how they communicate with one another (i.e., Network+), and how to properly secure them through managerial, operational, and technical methods in the real-world with established companies (i.e., Security+).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some professionals or experts may suggest that you only need to take the Security+ exam. However, would you like to gain valuable knowledge about the above subjects, \u201cstand out\u201d from the crowd of other cybersecurity applicants\/professionals, and better prepare for the Security+ exam? Then, start with and work through A+ and Network+ before moving on to Security+. It\u2019s not easy mode, but it\u2019s definitely not apocalyptic mode.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">What study resources do I recommend for all three tests?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-vivid-red-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-9d222dae6ad2c21f3377f59c01e72926\"><strong>FIRST, I am <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><em>NOT<\/em><\/span> sponsored or receive any kickbacks from the following vendors\/sources. These are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><em>MY PERSONAL<\/em><\/span> recommendations based on <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><em>MY <\/em><\/strong><\/span><strong>studying and testing experiences after <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><em>SUCCESFULLY <\/em><\/span>passing each exam on my <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><em>FIRST <\/em><\/span>try.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">Dion Training<\/mark><\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Hands down, it is the best study material. Video lectures, labs, notes, and exams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>People complain that the course and test questions are overly lengthy and overly focused on real-world preparation rather than concentrating on the actual exam. I disagree with them because Boson\u2019s exams (see below) are actually 100x \u2018worse\u2019 (more on them later).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The notes are solid (can be cleaned up and trimmed due to a lot of repetition). The Labs are 100% on point for practicing real-life tasks and learning how to navigate complex situations and problems that you will find in the real world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The test questions were always long and wordy, but the purpose is to over-prepare you for the real exams. People forget about this primary goal and complain a lot about it on Reddit (I\u2019d rather be overprepared than underprepared when preparing for any exam).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lastly, if you\u2019re proficient in English or it\u2019s your first native language, bump up the Playback Speed to 2x. Dion and the other lecturers speak pretty slowly and clearly (at least for me); plus, you cut your study time in half. You can have the notes on the side, and the Closed Captions turned \u2018ON\u2019 to keep track and follow along with them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">Professor Messer<\/mark><\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Plenty of free videos, but the <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">real treasure trove<\/span><\/strong> is his <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Class Notes<\/strong> <\/span>and <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Practice Exams.<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You\u2019ll have to pay for them, but they are worth the price because the Notes summarize everything aesthetically and pragmatically (better than Dion Training). At the same time, the Exams mirrored the actual exams very well (a little harder, and the questions were lengthier, but it\u2019s a good thing to be overprepared like the Dion Training material).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I occasionally used his videos to better understand more difficult\/complex topics, but I\u2019ve heard they are good overall. The videos are structured and provided similarly to Dion Training, so apply the above recommendations to Professor Messer\u2019s videos as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Total Seminars (Mike Meyers)<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I only used the PBQ exercises: they were informative and helpful study tools. The website markets them as actual Labs, but when I think of Labs, I\u2019m interacting with a terminal and VM like in the Dion Training courses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Alternatives<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">CompTIA’s self-paced course and labs:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>More expensive than many other sources like the above two.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I\u2019ve used the labs for Network+ and found them helpful when preparing for the exam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The labs I studied felt more like small PBQ exercises (i.e., Total Seminars). Still, they were invaluable in memorizing terms (critical for Network+ certification, including Port numbers) and I recommend the material directly from CompTIA’s website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Boson:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>For learning more about real-world information and mastering extremely technical details, you can use this as a valuable alternative to \u201ctest your metal.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>About 50% of Boson\u2019s test questions mirror the real exams. The other 50% is super technical real-life information (also, things you wouldn\u2019t necessarily memorize and would always double-check to ensure you don\u2019t make a costly mistake or destroy a network\/computer hardware).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, Boson\u2019s exams are not required for the exam preparation. I believe they are unnecessary when the above resources are available and are more focused on learning and passing the exams (I only purchased the exams, never their courses or labs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Cengage\/Mindtap:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>AVOID<\/em><\/strong> Cengage like the plague: do <strong><em>NOT <\/em><\/strong>pay for or use this company\u2019s material for ANY\/ALL exams!!!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Their testing material isn\u2019t focused, many of their answer choices to questions are factually incorrect, and the Labs to this day (after many moons of using their learning platform for university classes) STILL don\u2019t function or operate correctly (in contrast to Dion Training\u2019s labs, which are BUTTERY-SMOOTH and ON-POINT).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Combine the worst of Boson\u2019s off-subject and unrelated exam test questions, throw them into a baking dish and oven, and then take the dish out too early (like at the halfway point). You\u2019d get the lukewarm, half-hearted piece of malarky that Cengage\/Mindtap \u201ccooked up.\u201d\n<ul>\n<li>For example, there were many times when I\u2019d attempt to complete a Lab with a 1.5-hour ETA completion only to be kicked out of the lab when 3\/4 complete. Then, I\u2019d find out that the lab resets itself and deletes all of my progress, forcing me to restart over and over again (regardless of whether I had a strong or weak, wired or wireless connection to my home Internet; the servers are utter trash).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For the price point per dollar and to save your time and sanity, do NOT use their material. If you are hurt or strapped for cash, use Professor Messer\u2019s videos and his Class Notes and Practice Exams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Again, do NOT use Cengage\/Mindtap<\/em><\/strong> when looking for study material to prepare for ANY\/ALL professional certification exams.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Obtaining Exam Vouchers<\/span><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">For Students:<\/span> on the CompTIA website, you can choose a discounted student voucher that is cheaper than than the vendors mentioned above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">For non-Students:<\/span> the above vendor prices are different, but not that much. Dion Training and Professor Messer I recommend because they are the most credible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where should you start in Cybersecurity? Why study for each certification (i.e., CompTIA A+, Network+, & Security+) and take their exams? What study resources do I recommend for all three tests? FIRST, I am NOT sponsored or receive any kickbacks from the following vendors\/sources. These are MY PERSONAL recommendations based on MY studying and testing… <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/home\/certifications\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":30379,"featured_media":0,"parent":120,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/909"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30379"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1854,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/909\/revisions\/1854"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38189\/2025\/05\/CompTIA-A.png?resize=204%2C204&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38189\/2025\/05\/CompTIA-Network.png?resize=204%2C204&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38189\/2025\/05\/CompTIA-Security.png?resize=204%2C204&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/locky\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38189\/2025\/05\/CompTIA-CSIS-2-2-300x300.png?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n