1 00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:03,120 In this lesson we're going to cover some exam tips. 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:04,560 Now before we dive into the content 3 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:06,780 for the Comp TIA Security Plus certification exam 4 00:00:06,780 --> 00:00:08,700 in this course, I think it's important for us 5 00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:11,340 to quickly discuss some exam tips and tricks. 6 00:00:11,340 --> 00:00:12,900 This will help you better study for the exam 7 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:14,220 as you're going through this course 8 00:00:14,220 --> 00:00:16,020 and also help you focus your study efforts 9 00:00:16,020 --> 00:00:17,940 to get the most out of this material. 10 00:00:17,940 --> 00:00:19,440 Now, the most important thing to remember 11 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,480 when you're taking the exam, is that there's not going to be 12 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,820 any trick questions on exam day. 13 00:00:23,820 --> 00:00:25,530 Every question is precisely worded 14 00:00:25,530 --> 00:00:27,270 to match the material you've been studying 15 00:00:27,270 --> 00:00:29,640 and if you need to, take the time to read each question 16 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,950 multiple times to ensure you understand exactly 17 00:00:31,950 --> 00:00:34,080 what the question is asking you and that you're answering 18 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,510 the question that's actually being asked of you. 19 00:00:36,510 --> 00:00:38,370 As you're read each of the questions and answers, 20 00:00:38,370 --> 00:00:40,140 always be on the lookout for any distractors 21 00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:41,310 or red herrings. 22 00:00:41,310 --> 00:00:43,590 Generally, there's at least one of the four answers 23 00:00:43,590 --> 00:00:45,090 that are listed that are actually written 24 00:00:45,090 --> 00:00:47,370 to try and distract you from the correct answer. 25 00:00:47,370 --> 00:00:49,230 If you could start to identify which one that is 26 00:00:49,230 --> 00:00:50,611 and eliminate it as a possibility, 27 00:00:50,611 --> 00:00:53,070 you're exponentially going to increase your chances 28 00:00:53,070 --> 00:00:54,960 of guessing the correct answer. 29 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,180 Another thing to remember is that if you see a word 30 00:00:57,180 --> 00:00:58,920 in a question that's in bold, italics, 31 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,420 or written in all upper case, 32 00:01:00,420 --> 00:01:02,760 you need to pay very close attention to that word 33 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,800 because the test writers decided those words 34 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,810 were really important for you to consider. 35 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:08,040 It's also important for you to remember 36 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,570 that you must answer the questions based 37 00:01:09,570 --> 00:01:12,240 on your CompTIA Security Plus knowledge and studies 38 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,970 from this course or the official CompTIA Security Plus 39 00:01:14,970 --> 00:01:16,020 student textbook, 40 00:01:16,020 --> 00:01:18,360 not from your personal workplace experience. 41 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,370 Now, your workplace may use different terminology 42 00:01:20,370 --> 00:01:22,470 for assessing and responding to security threats 43 00:01:22,470 --> 00:01:23,700 or they use different terms 44 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:25,410 for a specific type of assessment. 45 00:01:25,410 --> 00:01:27,750 Either way, you should always select the book answer 46 00:01:27,750 --> 00:01:30,300 when you're answering a question on a certification exam 47 00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:32,190 because that's what the test writers are also using 48 00:01:32,190 --> 00:01:34,320 when they write their exam questions. 49 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:37,650 On exam day, you should always select the best answer. 50 00:01:37,650 --> 00:01:40,260 Now, each question may have several right answers 51 00:01:40,260 --> 00:01:43,110 but one is going to be most right, most of the time 52 00:01:43,110 --> 00:01:44,700 and in the most cases. 53 00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:46,980 In cybersecurity, there's rarely a time where 54 00:01:46,980 --> 00:01:49,620 there's a hundred percent correct answer for everything 55 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:51,930 and so everything becomes situational. 56 00:01:51,930 --> 00:01:54,030 Now, for the exam, you're going to have to select 57 00:01:54,030 --> 00:01:55,260 just one answer. 58 00:01:55,260 --> 00:01:57,990 So, if you're in doubt, choose the answer that's correct 59 00:01:57,990 --> 00:01:59,790 in the highest number of situations 60 00:01:59,790 --> 00:02:01,080 and don't try to talk yourself 61 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:02,850 into one of the lower answers. 62 00:02:02,850 --> 00:02:05,040 This will help you eliminate some of those doubts you have 63 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:06,420 when you're trying to read those questions 64 00:02:06,420 --> 00:02:08,340 and the answer choices you have. 65 00:02:08,340 --> 00:02:10,350 Also, whenever you're taking a practice exam 66 00:02:10,350 --> 00:02:12,030 or the real certification exam, 67 00:02:12,030 --> 00:02:15,000 you should try not to fight the exam or the test questions. 68 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:16,950 Instead, I want you to try to understand 69 00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:18,900 what is the key concept they're asking you about 70 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:21,240 in that question whenever you're reading a test question 71 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:22,320 for the exam. 72 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:23,760 This will really help you increase your score, 73 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,320 I guarantee it. 74 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,330 Also, as you're going through the course, 75 00:02:27,330 --> 00:02:29,070 there's going to be times when I give you study hints 76 00:02:29,070 --> 00:02:31,080 or things that you should definitely remember. 77 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,540 For example, anytime you hear me say something 78 00:02:33,540 --> 00:02:35,640 like confidentiality in Security Plus, 79 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:37,680 you should always be thinking about encryption. 80 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:39,240 Anytime you hear the word integrity, 81 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:40,890 I want you to think about hashing. 82 00:02:40,890 --> 00:02:42,510 Anytime you hear the word availability, 83 00:02:42,510 --> 00:02:45,240 you should be thinking about redundancy and resiliency. 84 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,670 Now, don't write too much about those three terms just yet 85 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:48,750 but you get the idea here. 86 00:02:48,750 --> 00:02:51,270 I promise I will repeat them again and again 87 00:02:51,270 --> 00:02:52,980 as we go through the specific lessons 88 00:02:52,980 --> 00:02:54,810 where you need to remember these kind of things. 89 00:02:54,810 --> 00:02:56,520 But I want you to make a note of those keywords 90 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,830 'cause they will help you out on the exam. 91 00:02:58,830 --> 00:03:00,750 Now, when it comes to certification exams, 92 00:03:00,750 --> 00:03:02,730 I also want you to remember that you don't need to memorize 93 00:03:02,730 --> 00:03:05,700 the terms from this course or the textbook word for word. 94 00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:07,710 Instead, you have to be able to recognize them 95 00:03:07,710 --> 00:03:10,020 from the answer choices given in the questions. 96 00:03:10,020 --> 00:03:12,480 There are no fill in the blank questions on this exam. 97 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,330 It's all either multiple choice or multiple selection. 98 00:03:15,330 --> 00:03:16,950 Now, for the Security Plus exam, 99 00:03:16,950 --> 00:03:19,590 you are not expected to know how to use any specific tools 100 00:03:19,590 --> 00:03:21,240 or pieces of software. 101 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,520 Everything is going to be vendor neutral and generic 102 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,080 if they ask you to perform an action 103 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,900 like configuring a firewall or mitigating a vulnerability 104 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:30,120 within a certain control that you're going to select. 105 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,100 So, if you're ever asked about a tool, 106 00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:33,870 what you really need to know about that tool 107 00:03:33,870 --> 00:03:36,360 is what it's used for and not the syntax 108 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,610 or how to actually operate that tool. 109 00:03:38,610 --> 00:03:40,440 Basically, if you can define the tool 110 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,600 and what it's going to be used for, you have the right level 111 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,450 of knowledge for this exam 99% of the time. 112 00:03:45,450 --> 00:03:48,210 So if they ask you about Nmap, yes, you should be able 113 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:50,610 to pick the correct answer because you know that Nmap 114 00:03:50,610 --> 00:03:52,800 is the network mapping tool and it's used to conduct 115 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:54,660 reconnaissance during a vulnerability assessment 116 00:03:54,660 --> 00:03:56,070 or penetration test. 117 00:03:56,070 --> 00:03:58,650 But you should not have to know the specific command 118 00:03:58,650 --> 00:04:00,600 to issue an order to perform a SYN scan across 119 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,600 a given subnet like entering in: nmap -sS -T5 192.168.1.0/26 120 00:04:07,860 --> 00:04:09,240 or something like that. 121 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,340 Now remember, during the certification exam, 122 00:04:11,340 --> 00:04:12,780 you're going to be choosing answers 123 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:15,390 from a multiple choice style question most of the time, 124 00:04:15,390 --> 00:04:17,880 and there is no fill in the blank or essay questions. 125 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,459 This is an essential difference in this certification 126 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:21,779 versus the test you may have taken 127 00:04:21,779 --> 00:04:23,520 back in high school or college. 128 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,590 In the certification world, you just need to be able 129 00:04:25,590 --> 00:04:28,020 to recognize and not regurgitate the information 130 00:04:28,020 --> 00:04:29,130 you've been learning. 131 00:04:29,130 --> 00:04:30,810 Now, if you remember these exam tips, 132 00:04:30,810 --> 00:04:33,030 it's really going to help you get a higher score on the exam 133 00:04:33,030 --> 00:04:35,490 and lead to a lot less frustration as you're preparing 134 00:04:35,490 --> 00:04:38,310 to take that exam by watching the lessons in this course, 135 00:04:38,310 --> 00:04:39,780 taking the quizzes in this course, 136 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:41,790 or using our practice exams as you're studying 137 00:04:41,790 --> 00:04:43,230 for your certification. 138 00:04:43,230 --> 00:04:45,330 One last thing before we finish this lesson. 139 00:04:45,330 --> 00:04:47,400 I want you to set a target date for your exam 140 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,230 that you want to earn your certification by. 141 00:04:49,230 --> 00:04:50,670 Do you want to get in the next 30 days, 142 00:04:50,670 --> 00:04:52,890 the next 60 days, or the next 90 days? 143 00:04:52,890 --> 00:04:55,170 I don't recommend going further than 90 days out 144 00:04:55,170 --> 00:04:57,630 and the reason is I want you to look at the calendar today 145 00:04:57,630 --> 00:04:58,800 and choose the date that you plan 146 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:00,480 to earn your certification by. 147 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,750 Those who go longer than 60 days tend to forget information 148 00:05:03,750 --> 00:05:05,550 they learned at the beginning of their studying. 149 00:05:05,550 --> 00:05:07,170 Now, once you pick out your date, 150 00:05:07,170 --> 00:05:09,300 I want you to start working backward on the calendar 151 00:05:09,300 --> 00:05:11,400 and plan out how many lessons or sections you need 152 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,830 to complete each day to stay on target. 153 00:05:13,830 --> 00:05:16,118 For example, if I know I want to take my exam in 30 days 154 00:05:16,118 --> 00:05:19,170 from today and there are 300 lessons that I need to finish, 155 00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:21,780 that would be approximately 10 lessons per day 156 00:05:21,780 --> 00:05:23,670 to be able to finish in 30 days. 157 00:05:23,670 --> 00:05:25,830 But I also need to give myself a little bit of time 158 00:05:25,830 --> 00:05:27,510 for practice exams, so, 159 00:05:27,510 --> 00:05:30,330 maybe I'll plan to do 12 or 14 lessons per day 160 00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:32,340 and that way I have enough time to give myself one 161 00:05:32,340 --> 00:05:35,580 or two days for practice exams before taking the real exam. 162 00:05:35,580 --> 00:05:37,470 That's the way we plan these things out. 163 00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:39,277 Now, on the other hand, you can plan it where you say, 164 00:05:39,277 --> 00:05:41,077 "I'm going to do two sections per day every day 165 00:05:41,077 --> 00:05:43,237 "for the next two weeks, and then I'm going to learn 166 00:05:43,237 --> 00:05:45,007 "all the content needed for the exam. 167 00:05:45,007 --> 00:05:48,127 "Now I can spend the next week taking all the practice exams 168 00:05:48,127 --> 00:05:50,347 "and the final fourth week gives me a couple of days 169 00:05:50,347 --> 00:05:51,997 "for final review for anything I missed 170 00:05:51,997 --> 00:05:53,197 "before I take the real exam. 171 00:05:53,197 --> 00:05:56,670 "And again, I finished the whole thing in 30 days that way." 172 00:05:56,670 --> 00:05:59,010 Most of my students who have a part-time job or less 173 00:05:59,010 --> 00:06:01,200 will usually complete this course and their certification 174 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:02,670 in the next 30 days. 175 00:06:02,670 --> 00:06:05,070 If you're working a full-time job or you're married 176 00:06:05,070 --> 00:06:06,780 and have a family, you should probably plan 177 00:06:06,780 --> 00:06:08,940 on taking the exam within the next 60 days 178 00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:10,950 because you have a lot going on in your life. 179 00:06:10,950 --> 00:06:13,410 Basically, if you can dedicate one to two hours a day 180 00:06:13,410 --> 00:06:15,330 to studying, you're going to be able to get certified 181 00:06:15,330 --> 00:06:16,770 in the next 30 days. 182 00:06:16,770 --> 00:06:19,260 If you can only dedicate a half hour or an hour per day 183 00:06:19,260 --> 00:06:22,380 to studying, then you can get certified in the next 60 days 184 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:25,140 if you do it consistently each and every day. 185 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:27,450 Now, in lesson two of the course, we have provided you 186 00:06:27,450 --> 00:06:30,090 with both a 30-day and 60-day study plan 187 00:06:30,090 --> 00:06:31,950 you can download as a PDF. 188 00:06:31,950 --> 00:06:34,260 I'd recommend that you download it, set your goal date, 189 00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:35,940 and then do some backward planning to ensure you 190 00:06:35,940 --> 00:06:38,310 hit your target date and start checking off the items 191 00:06:38,310 --> 00:06:40,680 in your study plan until you're certified. 192 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,450 I can tell you from experience that students 193 00:06:42,450 --> 00:06:45,060 who use our study plans pass the certification exams 194 00:06:45,060 --> 00:06:47,220 at a much faster rate than those who try to study 195 00:06:47,220 --> 00:06:48,570 without a plan. 196 00:06:48,570 --> 00:06:50,760 I know it all can seem very daunting right now 197 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:52,080 because there are so many lessons 198 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,390 but I guarantee you can do it. 199 00:06:54,390 --> 00:06:57,330 Basically, you just need to plan to study for about 40 hours 200 00:06:57,330 --> 00:06:59,760 in total to be ready to pass your exam 201 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:01,560 and the more concentrated you're studying, 202 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:03,420 the faster you're going to get certified. 203 00:07:03,420 --> 00:07:05,010 Don't make the mistake of trying to study 204 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:07,020 over a six or 12-month period either 205 00:07:07,020 --> 00:07:08,850 because you'll start to forget the key information 206 00:07:08,850 --> 00:07:10,680 from earlier lessons by the time you get 207 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,210 to the end of your study plan. 208 00:07:12,210 --> 00:07:14,670 So instead, I want you to carve out a few hours a day 209 00:07:14,670 --> 00:07:16,410 for the next few weeks and let's go ahead 210 00:07:16,410 --> 00:07:17,613 and get you certified.