Instructor: Before we dig into the content 2 2
of the CompTIA CySA+ exam in this course, 3 3
I think it's important for us to quickly discuss some 4 4
of the exam tips and tricks that will help you better study 5 5
for the exam as you're going through the course 6 6
and also help you focus your efforts. 7 7
Get the most out of this material. 8 8
Now, the most important thing to remember 9 9
when taking the exam, is that there's not going to be 10 10
any trick questions come exam day. 11 11
Every question is precisely worded to 12 12
master materials you've been studying. 13 13
If you need to take the additional time to 14 14
read each question multiple times to ensure that 15 15
you understand exactly what that question is asking you 16 16
and that you're answering the question that's 17 17
actually being asked. 18 18
As you read the questions and answers, 19 19
always be on the lookout for any distractors, 20 20
or what I like to call, 'red herrings.' 21 21
Generally, there's at least one of the four 22 22
listed possible answer choices that are written to try 23 23
and distract you from the correct answer. 24 24
If you can identify which one that is and eliminate it 25 25
you now have exponentially increased your chances 26 26
of guessing the correct answer from the remaining options. 27 27
Another thing to remember is that 28 28
if you see a word in a question that's bolded, italicized 29 29
or written in all uppercase letters 30 30
you should pay very close attention 31 31
to that word because the test writers decided 32 32
that keyword was extremely important 33 33
for you to be able to consider. 34 34
Now, it's also important that you remember 35 35
that you have to answer the questions based 36 36
on your CompTIA CySA+ knowledge, 37 37
and your studies from this course 38 38
and the official CompTIA CySA+ student textbook, 39 39
not from your personal workplace experience. 40 40
Your workplace may be using different terminology 41 41
for assessing and responding to security threats 42 42
or they may use different terms 43 43
for a specific type of assessment. 44 44
You should always select the book answer 45 45
when you're answering a question on the certification exam 46 46
because that's what the test writers are using 47 47
when they wrote those exam questions too. 48 48
On exam day, 49 49
you're always going to be selecting the best answer. 50 50
Now, I know that that sounds kind of silly 51 51
because each question may have several right answers 52 52
but I can tell you there's only one that is 53 53
the most right answer because it is true most often, 54 54
or in the most cases. 55 55
Now, the problem is in the world of cybersecurity 56 56
there really is no a hundred percent correct answers 57 57
for every situation. 58 58
Instead, in the real world 59 59
everything becomes situational and there's a lot 60 60
of different options you have to think about 61 61
but for the exam, I want you to try and select the answer 62 62
that'll be correct for the most situations, 63 63
and most of the time. 64 64
Now, when in doubt, always choose the answer that's correct 65 65
for the highest number of situations. 66 66
This will help you eliminate some of the doubt you're 67 67
having when you're reading these questions because often 68 68
there'll be two answers that you think are really right 69 69
but only one of them is the correct answer. 70 70
Also, I want to remind you to try and not fight the exam 71 71
or the test questions when you're going through 72 72
practice exams. 73 73
Instead, I want you to try and understand what 74 74
the key concept is that they're asking you about 75 75
in the question whenever you're reading a test question 76 76
or a practice exam question. 77 77
This will really help increase your score, I guarantee it. 78 78
Also, you don't have to memorize the terms from this course 79 79
or the textbook word from word. 80 80
Instead, you just need to be able to recognize them 81 81
from the answer choices given in the questions. 82 82
Remember, there's not going to be any 83 83
fill in the blank questions on the exam. 84 84
There's no essay question, no short answer, 85 85
because everything here is going to be multiple choice 86 86
or multiple selection, 87 87
plus those three to five simulation questions. 88 88
Now, when you're asked about a tool 89 89
it's important to realize 90 90
that you really just need to know what that tool is used for 91 91
and not necessarily how to use the tool, 92 92
or what the syntax is to operate that tool. 93 93
Now, there's a couple of exceptions to that 94 94
but really what we're focused on 95 95
is the 'why' behind using a tool. 96 96
Why would you use this tool and not that one? 97 97
When would use this tool in this situation 98 98
and when would use that tool in that situation? 99 99
Now, there's going to be a few exceptions to this rule 100 100
such as the tool known as, 'Nmap,' 101 101
because you're going to be expected to actually 102 102
know the proper syntax and how to use that tool 103 103
and we'll cover that in a lot more depth in this course 104 104
as we go through, to ensure you're ready to succeed 105 105
on test day. 106 106
But for pretty much all the other tools 107 107
you really just need to know what the tool name is 108 108
what it's going to be used for 109 109
and what it's going to give you as an output if you're using it 110 110
during an assessment or a penetration test. 111 111
Now remember, during the certification exam 112 112
you're going to be choosing the answer 113 113
from multiple choice style questions, not fill in the blank 114 114
or essay questions, and this is a big difference 115 115
between certification exam testing 116 116
and the tests you've taken 117 117
in high school or college. 118 118
In the certification exam world, you just need to be able 119 119
to recognize and not regurgitate the information 120 120
that you've been learning. 121 121
If you remember these exam tips 122 122
it's really going to help get you a higher score 123 123
on the exam and lead to a lot less frustration 124 124
for you as you're studying and preparing for the exam; 125 125
by watching the videos in this course 126 126
taking the quizzes that we have 127 127
and using other practice exams 128 128
as you're studying for your certification.