CompTIA Security+ Certification

Yesterday I achieved my CompTIA Security+ certification, while it was easy compared to the CPTS exam, I think I needed this certification, since for some reason I decided to jump into cybersecurity by doing penetration tests, which is definitely not recommended and I had some knowledge gaps in some basic areas. The cert tackles basic concepts about cybersecurity, most of which I knew already thanks to doing a harder certification from the get go, but I would say it was definitely worth. It gave me a chance to write notes about these concepts and build a solid database that I can now always go back to if I ever forget a term or tool. Overall I think it took just a bit over a month to cover all the topics. I think the exam was a bit harder than I expected but I ended up passing with a score of 802/900.

Note taking

I usually do not take notes, and if I do, I usually quit after two or three weeks. Thankfully, I did not quit this time and I am very proud of this, having a huge note database that I can always go back to is really nice and I think it will come in handy for the future. I used obsidian as my note taking app. The thing I like about obsidian is that I can link concepts with each other and generate cool graphs like this one:

I think the most important thing about notetaking is to write them yourself, it solidifies what you learnt and helps you retain the concepts easier. I would usually read a sub-section or paragraph and then write notes about it. It can get tedious and boring for some sections but I guarantee you it will be worth the hassle.

I would usually review my notes when I was bored or at the gym, it gave me plenty of time to revise the concepts over and over again. Another important thing is to divide your notes into chapters or sections. Please do not put all your notes in a single text file. You are just making things harder for yourself.

Resources

For studying I mainly used one of the most popular books out there. I simply chose the cheapest one that had a kindle version. I leave a link for the book in amazon here. I really didn’t look at anything else. I know there are some youtube videos out there, but I didn’t like them or it made notetaking harder.

To test my knowledge, I used the following site. I think it’s an OK site to use because some questions are a bit out of scope and the question format is not quite the same as the exam. I would use it to test your understanding of concepts, but I would not use it to test your readiness.

A week before the exam I purchased professor Messer’s practice exams, which I think is the closest thing to the real exam. As the guide says if you get less than nine questions wrong for a practice exam you can be considered ready. I think it is pretty accurate, as the real exam, at least for me, was harder than these exam sets. I think I got around 84% for the first set, 86% for the second and 92% for the last set.

The Exam

I was not too nervous because I was confident in my abilities. Once the exam started I began to feel a bit nervous because I got some hard questions early on and I was second guessing myself, but I pulled through and completed it with about 10 minutes to spare. I got my certification the same day.

What’s Next

I am also happy to announce that I am starting a role as a Cybersecurity Intern at Plug and Play. I could not be happier for this opportunity and it seems my hard work paid off. I will be quite busy for the next 6 months with work and my master’s program, so I do not expect to be taking any certifications, maybe OCSP if there is a neat discount but I cannot promise anything. I will try my best to keep posting HTB content when I have time.