Chapter 16. Final Preparation
The first 15 chapters of this book cover the technologies, protocols, design concepts, and considerations required for your preparation in passing the Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (200-201 CBROPS) exam (the required exam to pass the Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate certification). These chapters cover the information necessary to pass the exam. However, most people need more preparation than simply reading the first 15 chapters of this book. This chapter, along with the Introduction of the book, suggests hands-on activities and a study plan to help you complete your preparation for the exam.
Hands-on Activities
As mentioned, you should not expect to pass the Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (200-201 CBROPS) exam by just reading this book. The exam requires hands-on experience with many of the tools and techniques discussed in this book. These include tools such as Wireshark, tshark, tcpdump, nmap, and others. A good place to start is with Kali Linux (https://kali.org) to become familiar with some of the most common open-source attack tools and Security Onion (https://securityonion.net) to become familiar with tools related to incident response.
Practice regular expressions! I have included several regular expressions cheat sheets, tutorials, and games that you can use to learn and practice at https://github.com/The-Art-of-Hacking/h4cker/blob/master/cheat_sheets/regular-expressions.md.
Tip
Although building your own test lab is beyond the scope of this book, you might want to check out http://h4cker.org/lab. It guides you through building your own lab and using many of these tools. The most effective way to learn the skills necessary to pass the exam is to build your own lab, break it, and fix it.
Suggested Plan for Final Review and Study
This section lists a suggested study plan from the point at which you finish reading this book through Chapter 15 until you take the Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (200-201 CBROPS) exam. You can ignore this plan, use it as is, or modify it to better meet your needs:
Step 1. Review key topics: You can use the table at the end of each chapter that lists the key topics in each chapter or just flip through the pages looking for key topics.
Step 2. Review testable content: Cisco maintains a list of testable content known as the Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (200-201 CBROPS) Exam Blueprint. Review it and make sure you are familiar with every item that is listed. You can download a copy from www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/associate/cyberops-associate.html.
Step 3. Download Security Onion and Kali Linux and practice with the tools: Again, nothing can replace hands-on experience with the tools. If you understand how a tool such as Wireshark works, you will be able to answer any questions regarding it.
Step 4. Study “Q&A” sections: Go through the review questions at the end of each chapter to identify areas in which you need more study.
Step 5. Use the Pearson Test Prep software to practice: The Pearson Test Prep software provides a bank of unique exam-realistic questions available only with this book.
The Introduction of this book contains the detailed instructions on how to access the Pearson Test Prep software. This database of questions was created specifically for this book and is available to you either online or as an offline Windows application. As covered in the Introduction, you can choose to take the exams in one of three modes: Study mode, Practice Exam mode, or Flash Card mode.
Summary
The tools and suggestions listed in this chapter have been designed with one goal in mind: to help you develop the skills required to pass the Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (200-201 CBROPS) exam and gain the skills needed to start your cybersecurity operations career. This book has been developed from the beginning both to present you with a collection of facts and to help you learn how to apply those facts. Regardless of your experience level before reading this book, it is our hope that the broad range of preparation tools, and even the structure of the book, will help you pass the exam with ease. I wish you success in your exam and hope that our paths cross again as you continue to grow in your cybersecurity career.