Throughout my years of teaching Cisco CCNA, CCSP, and CCNP courses, I am often asked about the application of a concept in the “real world”...as if there is doubt that material presented might not speak to the same world that the students work in. The same question might be asked about being a CCNA Security-certified IT professional. Does the certification hold any real-world value in itself, or is it simply a rung in the long ladder of certifications that one must climb before you can say that you’ve finally “arrived?” In my own career, I can safely say that this climb never ends. In reality, any knowledge gained, if properly applied, has real-world application. This is true of the CCNA Security. It is a very useful and practical certification, one that attests to the person’s ability to absorb and also apply basic principles of network security—principles that bear greatly against the fundamentals of networking.
And that’s when we can start feeling that we’re close to arriving at our destination; when we can start applying the fundamentals that we’ve previously learned in new and artful ways. Network security is like that. It is an applied science, though hardly rocket science. The very best network security practitioners are those who have not forgotten the fundamentals on which this science is founded: routing, switching, and network protocols. This information will have been learned and reinforced in the prerequisites for the CCNA Security, namely the CCNA certification itself.
So, what are the tangible takeaways from the CCNA Security? What are some of the attributes of this certification that you can proudly trumpet on your resume after you have passed the exam? Here are a few:
You possess the ability to put network security concepts in proper context: The strangest phenomenon that I have witnessed in my decade of teaching and consulting in the area of network security is how few network security professionals understand the basics of networking. The CCNA Security proves the ability to absorb and apply network security concepts in the complete confidence that only comes through understanding these concepts’ network underpinnings.
You can confidently take on new challenges: While saying that network security is not rocket science, it is still science. You now possess the ability to offer advice and guidance using Cisco’s Self-Defending Network as a blueprint. You know how network security can be implemented using Cisco’s Security System Development Lifecycle, and you can use it as an implementation framework for your own IT projects.
You will be the go-to person for network security: Cisco’s certifications are recognized as the gold standard certification in the networking industry. Passing this certification demonstrates that you have the right stuff and that you are technically quite competent. Applying the lessons learned will prove to be rewarding.
The successful CCNA Security candidates have distinguished themselves as being top-drawer practitioners of network security concepts. Ultimately how this translates to the real world is that when a prospective employer is weighing candidates’ qualifications for a job, everything else being equal, the CCNA Security certification will stand head and shoulders above the crowd.
We have all heard of people who can pass Cisco certification exams based on studying the prerequisite materials and using just book knowledge, without real-world experience. Well, that is the exception and certainly not the rule—especially when considering intermediate-level certifications such as the CCNA Security. The key to passing this exam is practice, practice, and more practice. Certainly this is something that you will have learned through passing the CCNA certification, the prerequisite certification for the CCNA Security. Here are some of the attributes of the ideal CCNA Security candidate:
The ability to learn: As any teacher will attest, “We can teach you but we can’t learn you!” If you have had trouble quickly absorbing information in the past and recalling this information in the pressure of an exam, you need to have realistic expectations for yourself. Everyone learns differently, and you might need more time to absorb the same amount of information as someone else. So, give yourself time, and do not make unrealistic demands of yourself.
The willingness to ask questions: If something isn’t clear to you, ask a question. This can be to your instructor if you are taking an instructor-led course, a work colleague, a peer, or any number of online discussion forums. Don’t use asking questions as a substitute for good study habits, but if you’re truly stumped about something, or something isn’t being properly explained in a context that you understand, don’t be afraid to ask a question. The only stupid question is the one that you don’t ask. This includes asking yourself questions in the process of self examination as you are studying for the certification.
The ability to put things in context: This seems to be an overarching theme. Ultimately, the test of technical knowledge’s usefulness is whether it can be applied in some way. Adult learners need context. The ideal CCNA Security candidate possesses the ability to see the application of a concept and use the resulting context as a type of memory aid or mnemonic. Rote memorization only works so far. If you want things to truly stick in your brain, the ultimate glue for this knowledge to stick to your synapses is to organize it and index it in the brain’s database using the concept as the key.
The ability to use prior experience: This attribute bears against all the others mentioned. Without experience, you might have problems seeing the applicability of the great volume of new concepts, which are taught in IINS. Whether this experience is in the real world or whether it is obtained in the closed world of a lab environment, it is experience.
A good attitude on your own part and the ability to leverage on whatever prior experience you may have—however that might have been obtained—are keys to success. Network security is seeing its own renaissance from a dark age, where the principles involved were seen as dark arts and magic tricks passed on by masters and gurus to their apprentices and acolytes. Today, network security is seen for what it is: a discipline and an applied science. The ideal CCNA Security candidate can see this and reach past the fluff and grasp the firm, structured knowledge therein.
You are the best judge as to whether you are ready to attempt the exam. Here are some questions that will help you decide. Score how many you answer “yes” to:
How do you measure up? The following scores are guidelines only. If your score indicates that you are probably not ready for the exam, treat this information not as a discourager, but as motivation to close the gap on the areas in which you are lacking. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
Number of “yes” answers:
8 to 10: You’re ready to start, and you can hardly wait to get busy studying and pass the exam. Use this book to master the exam topics and for the practice questions.
6 or 7: You’re almost there. Perhaps with a bit more experience or self-study, and maybe an instructor-led course, you can consider studying in preparation for the exam.
4 or 5: There is a significant, but not insurmountable, gap between where you are and where you need to be. With significantly more experience and/or self-study and formal instruction, you should be able to close the gap in a reasonable period of time. You need confidence, but this confidence will only come with knowledge.
Less than 4: You’re not there yet, but you have a good idea as to where you need to improve to close the gap. Give yourself some time and gain some confidence-boosting knowledge that you can leverage on to get where you need to be in as short a period as possible.
Of course, you need to be CCNA certified before you can become CCNA Security certified, so CCNA training is the logical first step if you are starting at square one. If you have that, then you have some experience with Cisco equipment and exams, but you’ll need to make the next step by mastering the specific CCNA Security topics. If you have prior security on-the-job experience or have taken an official CCNA Security course, you are ideally prepared to use this book for final exam preparation.
Cisco publishes the topics for this exam on cisco.com. The exam topics provide an excellent place to start assessing yourself about the specific material on the exam. Go through these topics methodically. Take the time to determine where you might be strong and where you might be weak. The exam topics Cisco provides can be somewhat vague and general, but this Exam Cram should fill in the specific blanks. Through the explanations and practice questions in this book and on the CD, be sure to continually identify topic areas you consistently struggle with so you can address your weaknesses.
Table 1 lists the 640-553 IINS exam topics and identifies the chapter of this book where they are covered. Cisco divides these into topic areas, and those are also listed in the table. The material in Table 1 comes from the IINS 640-553 exam information at cisco.com. Check cisco.com periodically for any updates to this list of exam topics.
In the end, reading this book is an important part of the exam preparation process. The fact that you are reading this means that you are serious about passing the exam. You can read it cover to cover (it is a good read), but probably the best strategy is to go through the sample exam questions at the end of each chapter first. If you aren’t scoring 90% or higher on the first attempt, you owe it to yourself to read through that chapter in detail, taking brief notes as you go in the areas you were having issues.
After you have gone through the 10 chapters, then you are ready to attempt the two practice exams using either the accompanying CD or the book. These practice exams contain an additional 100 questions not found in the chapter-ending questions. Do one exam first. At the end of each sample exam, there is a summary (just like the live Cisco exams) that gives you a score by subject area. Use this as a guide for the areas where you need to drill down. Study these areas hard, looking at the sample exam questions at the end of the chapter again. When you feel confident that you have closed your knowledge gap, attempt the second practice exam.
When you are adequately prepared, you can look forward to the exam. It can be eagerly anticipated as an interesting measure of not only your aptitude but your attitude. The most closely-guarded secret about the field of network security is that it’s like Legos for adults—it’s not about the knowledge, but what you can build with the knowledge. It can be fun, too!
Good luck!