Top comptia Technical Courses

AZ-103T00 Microsoft Azure Administrator

This course teaches IT Professionals how to manage their Azure subscriptions, create and scale virtual machines, implement storage solutions, configure virtual networking, back up and share data, connect Azure and on-premises sites, manage network traffic, implement Azure Active Directory, secure identities, and monitor your solution. Learn more here.
AZ-900T01 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

This course will provide foundational level knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. The course can be taken as an optional first step in learning about cloud services and Microsoft Azure, before taking further Microsoft Azure or Microsoft cloud services courses. Learn more here.
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 - v3.0 (ICND1)

One of many courses needed in order to complete the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification. Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices v3.0 is split into two classes, with the more advanced class following. Students will learn how to install, operate, configure, and verify a basic IPv4 and IPv6 network. This includes configuring a LAN switch, configuring an IP router, connecting to a WAN, and more. The class runs for 5 days. Learn more here.

Cisco recently introduced an updated CCNA and training dates are now available.
CompTIA Security+ Certification

This course shows students how to implement and monitor security on networks, applications, and operating systems. They will also learn how to respond to security breaches and prepare for the SY0-501 exam. Over the course of 5 days, students will learn the fundamental concepts of security, how to identify threats and vulnerabilities, develop disaster recovery plans, and more. Security+ can be used as a foundation course for more advanced security certifications and career goals.
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Price of CompTIA Security+ Certification Testing and Renewal

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) provides you with three pricing options for CompTIA Security+ certification exam:
If you buy just an exam voucher, it will cost $339.
For $899, you can purchase the CompTIA Security+ Deluxe Bundle, which includes the exam voucher plus a voucher good for one retake and two training resources — CompTIA CertMaster Learn for Security+ and the Official CompTIA Study Guide for Security+ eBook.
If you want more, you can choose the premier bundle, which includes everything the deluxe bundle does plus CompTIA CertMaster Practice for Security+, for $1,049.

If you earned your certification before Jan. 11, 2011, you remain certified for life. Otherwise, your certification will be valid for three years from your exam date. To renew your certification, you need 50 continuing education units (CEUs) over the three years. You can earn your CEUs by completing the CompTIA CertMaster CE course, earning a higher level CompTIA certification, earning another industry certification, passing the latest release of the CompTIA exam, participating in IT industry activities, gaining work experience, completing higher education and more. As you earn your credits, you can upload them to your account; once you have enough, your certification will renew automatically. Renewal fees vary based on which recertification option you choose but typically total around $150 for the three-year recertification period.

Today, virtually every organization needs to worry about cybersecurity, which has driven high demand for professionals with proven skills and knowledge in this area. If you’re an IT professional looking to progress in your security career or transition into a security role, CompTIA Security+ is a great place to start.
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Building Linux Kernels

Once the proper compilers and utilities are installed, building a Linux kernel, kernel drivers and device drivers can be done fairly easy. Linux systems can be built from scratch using Linux from Scratch, Buildroot or Yocto. These products are open source and have default build and make files for building cross-platform targets on a number of host systems.

Linux from Scratch (LFS)

LFS uses scripts to build Linux completely from source code. You have to install the compilers manually using your package manager or other methods, such as Git or other scripts. LFS gives the highest degree of experience but has a steep learning curve if you are not familiar with building Linux from source code.

Buildroot

Buildroot automates Linux from scratch. With Buildroot, the developer uses scripts to set up the target architecture. Once set up, a series of automated menus walks the developer through build options. When the options are all set, a make file is created, and the standard make program is invoked with the target make file just created. The build process can take from a half hour to several hours, depending on build options. A complete Linux ISO file is put into a folder ready to copy to an SD card or hard disk for testing.

Yocto

Yocto is supported by a number of hardware manufacturers for developing custom Linux systems for custom hardware. Yocto uses a tool called BitBake and special formatted scripts to add or remove features from a compete Linux system. One major difference between Yocto and Buildroot is tools and scripting syntax. Buildroot uses stand Linux C and make file syntax, while Yocto uses special tools and syntax. Yocto has a steep learning curve, even if you are already familiar with stand script and C language conventions. Yocto has thousands of pages of documentation, so if you are going to use Yocto, be ready to hit the books.
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Steps To Renew Your CompTIA Certification

CompTIA offers IT certifications that help start and grow your IT career. Find the right certification, from A+, Security+, Cloud Essentials, CySA+, and CASP, train for it with the uCertify courses and pass the exam in your first attempt. The CompTIA IT certs help you grow you as a successful IT professional with a great number of job opportunities. CompTIA’s vendor-neutral certifications are the starting point for a career in IT. They show employers you have the skills to do the job, regardless of the vendor hardware or software. You should keep the certification. Let’s start with understanding why keeping your certification current ensures longevity in your IT career. Second, know about the renewal processes and their requirements. This will help you choose the best-suited renewal path for you based on time, cost, and your long-term career goals. But don’t worry, if you ever have any questions about the CompTIA CE program, we’ll be here to help you out through every stage of the process. CompTIA Continuing Education Program allows you to simultaneously keep your skills current while validating your expertise. Renewing your certification helps you maximize your overall return on the time and financial resources you put forth to prepare for and pass your exam.

Every CompTIA certification requires a specific number of CEUs for renewal. You can earn CEUs by completing activities.
A+ Certification – 20 CEUs
CASP Certification – 60 CEUs
CySA+ Certification – 60 CEUs
Cloud+ Certification – 50 CEUs
Security+ Certification – 50 CEUs
Network+ Certification – 30 CEUs


There are three steps in the renewal process:

Step 1: Learn about the renewal process

Step 2: Choose your renewal path

Step 3: Submit your CEUs and renew

How to Earn CEUs

Your activities like sitting for the exam must meet the following requirements to qualify for CEUs:
Timing: Activities must be completed during your three-year renewal cycle.
Relevance: At least 50% of the activity content must relate to one or more exam objectives for the certification you’re renewing.
Documentation: You’ll need to provide documentation for the following activities to receive CEUs:
Earn Non-CompTIA IT industry certifications
Complete training and higher education
Participate in IT industry activities
Publish a relevant article, white paper, blog post or book
Gain related work experience

So, now when you have all the knowledge related to the CompTIA CEU and renewal procedures then you should renew your certification and have the CEUs. Prepare and pass the various CompTIA cert exams with the uCertify study guide to enhance your career prospects.

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New Career Opportunities

Increase Your Salary and Find New Career Opportunities
Many companies and organizations have made CompTIA certifications mandatory for certain positions and many job ads list the certs as basic requirements. Surveys also show that certified professionals earn more on average than non-certified IT pros in the same roles.
Software troubleshooting
To measure your comprehension of the software and operating systems you’re likely to work closely with, the CompTIA A+ 1002 exam will provide common scenarios that you’ll troubleshoot such as slow computer performance, short battery life on a tablet, or printing issues.

Operational procedures

IT technicians will inevitably face tasks that require documentation. This is necessary for inventory management, tracking regulations and compliance, and toxic waste handling, among many other best practices that may affect an IT department.
Build Your Confidence and Credibility

But probably the greatest advantage of CompTIA certifications, especially for those who are new to the IT field, is increasing your own personal confidence. By achieving a certification you gain proof that you really know what you're talking about, which gives you more credibility and determination to advance your career.

In the first few days that the feature was available, nearly 1,200 CompTIA certification references were added to their LinkedIn profiles by certification holders.

“Hiring managers and HR professionals believe having IT job candidates with industry certifications saves time and resources in evaluating applicants, ensures a candidate’s credibility and demonstrates that they have a baseline set of knowledge,” Gross noted.

Two-thirds of HR executives CompTIA’s HR Perceptions of IT Training and Certification said IT certifications are very valuable, compared with just 30 percent three years ago. A net 94 percent of HR executives expect the importance of IT certifications to grow over the next two years.

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Why do cybersecurity certifications exist

Cybersecurity certifications move you into the infosec field quickly. An associate degree takes at least two years, a bachelor’s degree requires four years, and a master’s degree requires at least 18 months. That’s full-time study. Certificates, however, may take only a few days or weeks to prepare for the exam.

These certifications focus on granular knowledge and practical achievement. While an academic program may offer a broader and more theoretical foundation, certificates equip holders with immediately actionable knowledge. They are designed to be put into work as soon as possible.

CompTIA Security+ is the foundational certification in the CompTIA Cybersecurity Career Pathway, which includes seven different security certifications to help cybersecurity professionals develop the skills they need to advance in their careers. Along with two different career pathways and core skills certifications, CompTIA offers Project+ certifications for specific professions, such as project manager, business analyst and project team member, and other professional certifications.
Prerequisites

There aren’t any prerequisites for taking the CompTIA Security+ exam, but CompTIA recommends that you have at least two years of experience working in IT administration with a security focus. It is also helpful to have completed the other core certifications that deal with the more fundamental skills needed for an IT career.

Since experts expect unfilled cybersecurity job openings to top 3.5 million by 2020, certificates make it easier for the field to welcome new specialists. They allow hiring managers and human resource officers to screen applicants for infosec jobs. Plus, they open higher salary options to employees.
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Multivendor Approach to IT Infrastructure

As businesses make decisions on how to build out their IT infrastructure, one of the first choices is whether to use a single vendor for all their computer networking needs or to go with a multivendor model. There are pros and cons to each side, but the growing complexity of computer networks suggests that a multivendor approach will continue to gain traction since different vendors can bring different strengths.
Data

With digital data playing a much more prominent role in corporate strategy, CompTIA decided to take a step back and explore the general approach companies are taking for data management. The upcoming report, due in February, finds that only 25% of companies are exactly where they want to be when it comes to the way they currently handle their data.

As businesses begin building more formal data policies, the underlying network will be expected to handle different types of demands. The big data trend shows that data will be coming from many different sources. The blockchain trend shows that data will be handled differently depending on the record-keeping application. The resulting network will be highly complex to address all the issues.

For network engineers, supporting and managing these multivendor environments will demand top skills. CompTIA Network+ helps IT pros build these skills and prove them to potential employers. CompTIA IT certifications are vendor neutral, which means IT pros who have them know how to apply their skills to any equipment.
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A+ certification exam?

Windows 10 is not covered in the current exam. Here’s why: the current A+ exams (the 900 series) were released in December 2015, after having been developed in the 12 months prior to that. Windows 10 was released in July 2015. It was not available when the bulk of the work on the 900 series exams was being done, so it was not included.

Just because Windows 10 is not on the current CompTIA A+ exams doesn’t mean you shouldn’t study it, though! You might not need it to pass the exams, but you will definitely need it in any job you get in the computer support field.

More and more employees are demanding the flexibility to use their own devices on corporate networks, and employers are looking for IT professionals with the skills to ensure the security of their enterprise data across a variety of platforms and networks. With the new CompTIA Mobile certification, IT professionals gain the knowledge needed to provide security not only to desktops, servers and laptops – but to the ever-growing number of smartphones, tablets, and mobile devices used in the workplace. “Mobile Technology Expert” is the #4 Hot IT Job according to InfoWorld – if you’re ready to take advantage of this growing field and differentiate yourself as a skilled professional with the knowledge needed to create effective, secure IT solutions at the enterprise level, then CompTIA Mobility+ is the certification for you.

Visit us at GetCertified4Less for discounted CompTIA Mobility+ Vouchers, and a variety of discounted CompTIA vouchers that help you save money while advancing your IT career!

Interested in taking a certification prep course? Enroll in StraighterLine’s low-cost CompTIA A+ Certification prep course and prepare for your exam at an affordable cost!

About the author: Faithe Wempen, M.A., is a CompTIA A+ certified PC technician, a Microsoft Office Master Instructor, and the author of over 140 books on computer hardware and software, including CompTIA A+ Certification Study Guide, Ninth Edition, Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Lab Manual, Fifth Edition, CompTIA A+ Certification Workbook for Dummies, and PC Maintenance: Preparing for A+ Certification.

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CompTIA Fundamentals

CompTIA A+ Part 1: Builds on Fundamentals, taking a deeper dive into hardware, including PC hardware foundations, system components management, data storage management and support for printers and multifunction devices.

CompTIA A+ Part 2: Focuses on software management, including network and security foundations, operating system foundations, installing and configuring Microsoft Windows and troubleshooting system errors.

CompTIA Certification Exam Prep: Students take an in-depth look at what is covered in the CompTIA exam and how to study for it.

“We do recommend taking the in-person classes if possible,” Pinckney said. “In IT Fundamentals and our CompTIA A+ courses, there is a lot of hands-on learning, a lot of concepts that you can grasp better if you’re in the classroom, seeing and handling the computer equipment.”

Tri-C also offers online-only courses to prepare for the CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Network+ certification exams.

“It really is worth it to take the courses and the exam, when you consider the payback certification will give you in terms of your career,” Pinckney said. “Employers throughout the region are always looking for the brightest, most qualified talent, especially in an in-demand area like IT. This opens the door for you to enter into more rigorous programs, like Cleveland Codes or the Cisco Technical Training Institute, which are both offered at Tri-C.

“The CompTIA certifications represent a great steppingstone for future success in your IT career.”

Microsoft offers a host of certifications that aid IT professionals at every level. Here are just a few of the certifications available:

Entry Level: Database
Associate Level: MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Associate Level: MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
Associate Level: MCSA: SQL 2016 Business Intelligence Development
Associate Level: MSCA: SQL Server 2012/2014

Learn to drive strategies, gain faster insights on data, design solutions for SQL servers, and more with these certifications.
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midlevel Microsoft certifications

When you’ve completed an MTA or other entry-level certification, you may consider an intermediate certification from Microsoft.
Microsoft certified solutions expert (MCSE): MCSE certifications come in several specializations and show that you have the skills to manage servers, data systems, storage, private clouds, networking and more, depending on which you complete.
Microsoft certified solutions developer (MCSD): Getting the MCSD certification shows that you have what it takes to design and create apps across a wide range of Windows products.

MCSE and MCSD are two of the most highly regarded certifications in tech. Either of these will add some sparkle to your IT resume.

Another thing that’s easy to get caught up in is specifications. You’ll find your textbooks throwing specs at you about various cabling speeds and distances and interface speeds. You will definitely get asked about 802.11 speeds and frequencies. You need to know Ethernet specs for CAT 4, 5, 5e, 6, and 6a. But don’t obsess about remembering these facts. They are helpful on the test, but for the exam you need to have a good overall idea of how things work and how to fix them. That’s what matters the most.
Where to go after CompTIA A+

After earning your A+ certification you should already start looking to earn another certification to develop a well-rounded picture of your skills and knowledge. The typical path goes to CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+. These are foundational certifications for a career in IT, networking,a cyber security.

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The Evolution of A+ Certification

The first major revision came in 2003 when CompTIA divided the A+ exam into separate sections for hardware and software. This change brought the exam up to date with changes in the technology field in the decade since 1993.

In 2006, CompTIA revised the certification again. They updated it to cover new IT developments, but this time they also divided the certification into two separate exams.

However, it also made the exam much harder, resulting in a pass rate of less than 10 percent. The first exam was A+ Essentials. The second part was an elective exam and you had your choice of:
IT Technician test
Remote Support Technician test
Depot Technician test

This change brought the pass rate up to 20 percent.

The latest and largest overhaul of CompTIA's A+ certification came in 2009. Previous iterations of A+ certification had been highly focused on theory, with little to no practical application. It was becoming clear that employers wanted IT professionals with more grounding in real-life IT situations.

CompTIA responded to this with a complete overhaul of their certification. They eliminated the three elective tests and replaced them with the Practical Application test.

A+ Essentials was revised to focus on real-world application and include new technologies such as Windows Vista, Core 2 Duo, and the latest hard drives and types of memory.

This version of the A+ certification test is still highly regarded by employers today. In other words, if you pass this version of the A+ Certification, you will be a desirable and sought-after candidate in the IT industry.
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The Ties Between Tech and People

These days at Zscaler, Hodson finds gaps. Gaps that appear between company’s policies and how their networks operate. Gaps in encryption. Gaps in data protection moving back and forth from the cloud. And a host of other gaps that hackers are always on the lookout for as they seek a way into a network.

“Maybe that’s some kind of subconscious anti-establishment attitude,” Hodson said.To find those gaps he has to understand and appreciate the psychological motivations of a malevolent actor.

As always, CompTIA exams like to really test how well you follow instructions. Read the questions slowly and thoroughly. Then read the question again. I found myself flustered with a very simple question.

Here’s what happened:

On the 902 exam, one of the interactive questions asked to configure a new disk while accounting for future redundancy. Simple enough! So I went to initialize it and set the partitions as requested.

But Hodson, firmly on the side of the good guys, isn’t just using his expertise and insight to the benefit of the businesses he advises. He’s also doing it for the good of the cybersecurity profession.

As a member of CompTIA’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee (CAC), he helps revise and update intermediate and advanced cybersecurity certifications, including CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP), using his experience from the field to make sure CompTIA is benchmarking and testing on the things the most advanced cybersecurity professionals need to know.

And while making big decisions at this level may seem like a world away from the support-level IT role in which he began, for Hodson, the past isn’t so distant.

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DDoS Attacks and IoT Exploits

We recently found notable malware activity affecting devices running Linux, a platform that has battled numerous issues just this year. Further analysis of retrieved malware samples revealed that these actions were connected to a botnet called Momentum (named for the image found in its communication channel). We found new details on the tools and techniques the botnet is currently using to compromise devices and perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Compared to other kinds of cyber attacks, DDoS attacks are messy, overly destructive, and very difficult to pull off. Because of this, they don’t make much sense from a financial perspective.

So cybercriminals might use them as a blunt weapon against some of their competitors. For instance, they might want to bring down a site hosting a cybersecurity tool, or bring down a small online shop operating in the same niche.

Momentum targets the Linux platform on various CPU architectures such as ARM, MIPS, Intel, Motorola 68020, and more. The main purpose of this malware is to open a backdoor and accept commands to conduct various types of DoS attacks against a given target. The backdoors being distributed by the Momentum botnet are Mirai, Kaiten, and Bashlite variants; the specific sample we analyzed was pushing a Mirai backdoor. Moreover, Momentum spreads via exploiting multiple vulnerabilities on various routers and web services to download and execute shell scripts on the target devices.
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DDoS Attacks Be Prevented?

How did GitHub survive that massive DDoS attack? Planning and preparation, of course. After 10 minutes of intermittent outages, the GitHub servers activated their DDoS mitigation service. The mitigation service rerouted incoming traffic and scrubbed the malicious packets, and about 10 minutes later the attackers gave up.

In addition to paying for DDoS mitigation services from companies like Cloudflare and Akamai, you can employ your standard endpoint security measures. Patch your servers, keep your Memcached servers off the open internet, and train your users to recognize phishing attacks.

The PopVote DDoS attack was carried out in 2014 and targeted the Hong Kong-based grassroots movement known as Occupy Central. The movement was campaigning for a more democratic voting system.

In response to their activities, attacker(s) sent large amounts of traffic to three of Occupy Central’s web hosting services, as well as two independent sites, PopVote, an online mock election site, and Apple Daily, a news site, neither of which were owned by Occupy Central but openly supported its cause. Presumably, those responsible were reacting to Occupy Central’s pro-democracy message.

The attack barraged servers with packets disguised as legitimate traffic, and was executed with not one, not two, but five botnets. This resulted in peak traffic levels of 500 gigabits per second.

You can turn on Black Hole Routing during a DDoS attack to send all traffic to the abyss. You can set up rate limiting to cap the number of requests a server gets in a short amount of time. A properly configured firewall can also protect your servers.
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How Should You Mitigate DDoS Attacks

It’s one of the oldest cyberattack methods in existence – and one that’s been around for nearly as long as the Internet itself. I am referring, of course, to the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Although there are many different attack vectors a DDoS may exploit and many different methods through which it may achieve its purpose, at its core, every DDoS attack is the same – it floods its victim with bogus traffic or requests until that victim’s infrastructure buckles under the strain.

Application attacks target weaknesses in how an application works. One well-known application attack is Slowloris, which targets web servers. In a Slowloris attack, the attacker sends HTTP requests to a web server without ever completing the requests. Periodically (and slowly--hence the name), the attacker will send additional headers, thus keeping the request "alive" but not finished. Similar to a SYN flood, this forces the web server to maintain open connections for these partially completed HTTP requests, eventually preventing it from accepting any new connections.

The remainder of this post details strategies for preparing networks to defend against DDoS attacks.

Occasionally, this is done just to cause chaos, as was the case with Lizard Squad. More frequently, however, a DDoS attack is a distraction tactic – like driving a bus through the front window of a store so no one notices a robber in the back. While a business is overwhelmed dealing with the fact that they are unable to function, hackers might make off with valuable data.

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Types of DDoS Attacks

There are a few specific types of DDoS attacks but they all share a common mission: to disrupt network operations and bring down a web service. Attackers often do this by utilizing a botnet which is a collection of compromised devices (zombies) that they can force to participate in the attack. A “botmaster” oversees and instructs the devices in the botnet, sending instruction on when and how to implement the attack.

Volumetric AttackA volumetric attack is a network-level attack that aims to entirely saturate the target’s available network bandwidth. This is a relatively simplistic approach to a DDoS attack but effective and threatening nonetheless. The rapid rise and availability of botnets has allowed for the expansion of volumetric attacks recently. Using scalable protection schemes can help to prevent and protect against such attacks.
SYN FloodA SYN flood attack takes advantage of a weakness in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The TCP connection sequence uses a “three-way handshake” method between a client and a server. For a normal TCP connection, the client requests a connection by sending a synchronize (or SYN) message to the server. The server then acknowledges the synchronize message, and the client sends a final acknowledgement to establish the connection.

In a SYN flood attack the final client acknowledgement is never sent, so the handshake is never completed. Often the attacker will spoof their IP address, resulting in the SYN acknowledgement message never being received. The attacker continually sends requests faster than they time out, eventually taking up all open ports. This results in a denial of service to anyone trying to access the server.
UDP FloodA User Datagram Protocol (UDP) flood attempts to overwhelm random ports on a target with UDP packets (or datagrams). UDP is a communications protocol used as an alternative to TCP. When a packet is received, the host checks for an associated application. When the packet is malicious, it won’t find any association and the host sends a packet back saying the destination is unreachable.

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Distributed Denial of Service Attacks

An analysis of the technology that drove the attack revealed that it was in some ways simpler than other assaults. While the Dyn attack was the product of the Mirai botnet, which required malware to infest thousands of IoT devices, the GitHub attack exploited servers running the Memcached memory caching system, which can return very large chunks of data in response to simple requests.

Application layer attacks (also known as OSI layer 7 attacks) target web servers, web application platforms, and specific web-based applications rather than the network itself. The attacker’s goal is to crash the server, making a website or application inaccessible to users. These attacks can target known application vulnerabilities, the underlying business logic of an application, or abuse higher-layer protocols like HTTP/HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol/Secure) and SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). These attacks often use less bandwidth than other types of attacks and therefore don’t always display a sudden increase in traffic, making them harder to detect. Application layer attacks are measured in requests per second.

Memcached is meant to be used only on protected servers running on internal networks, and generally has little by way of security to prevent malicious attackers from spoofing IP addresses and sending huge amounts of data at unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately, thousands of Memcached servers are sitting on the open internet, and there has been a huge upsurge in their use in DDoS attacks. Saying that the servers are "hijacked" is barely fair, as they'll cheerfully send packets wherever they're told without asking questions.

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