Takeaways Cloud Computing

On Volley, Carolyn April and Seth Robinson welcome Nancy Hammervik, executive vice president, industry relations at CompTIA, to discuss the upcoming issue of CompTIA World Magazine, available August 5. “We’ve been hearing that tech’s been getting a little bit of a bad rap the past few years, when we’re looking at issues like data breeches, but also the fear of losing jobs and privacy concerns and big brother. The more that we advance into the future world of tech, the more that the general public seems to fear the unknown that tech might bring in changing our world. We really wanted focus as a theme on ‘Tech for Good,’ and highlight all of the things that technology is doing to improve lives and literally change the world.”
- Nancy Hammervik, Executive Vice President, Industry Relations, CompTIA

Bryan came back for another session about operating system (OS) updates. He covered Windows, macOS and several distros of Linux, including Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

“We tend to focus on buzzwords like release date,” he said. “But what happens in the in-between phase?”

Regarding Windows, Bryan explained there are two support phases: mainstream support and extended support, but extended support is reserved for enterprises with thousands of endpoints that are spending thousands of dollars. He warned IT pros to keep up with update and support schedules to make sure their systems don’t become vulnerable.

“We look at end of life dates and think we're safe until then,” he said. “But you might not be supported now, and you're unaware of it. … Regardless of the operating system, it does need to be patched, or it presents a vulnerability inside of your networks.”

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More from CompTIA Subject Matter

When moving to the cloud, several things need to change within an organization to completely reap the benefits of cloud computing. Several technology vendors have written operations guides and/or provided guidance on how an organization should change its operations procedures and processes within a cloud computing world.

You might be asking, why have technology vendors done this? One reason is because an organization has to change its operating model from a legacy IT environment to a cloud computing one. Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed (RACI) matrices, governance policies and security are just three areas that have to be looked at.

Organizations also have to ask questions like the following:
Are there enough cloud skills on staff?
How will staff be retrained and new staff acquired?
Do automation, orchestration and DevOps play roles here?

Skills Over Experience

Hiring managers and potential bosses need to look at the skill set the applicant is bringing to the table and not as much about the traditional educational paths. “Look at the skill set that’s needed, the requirements for the job and try not to worry so much about the four-year degree,” Woods said. “Look at the skill set.”

Krautbauer recommended using blind attribute software to help connect people with jobs outside of the traditional checkbox of a college degree. “Instead of job descriptions, they set up profiles and then skill sets, and the algorithm matches people with jobs. It’s really a blind application until those matches are made,” she said. “It’s really helping get over those preconceived notions that are pervasive in HR.”
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navigate Apple’s new security successfully

Obviously, Apple is getting more people [to trust them and to buy into their products. The end user is also going to be impacted positively because Apple is not collecting as much data with seamless integration through biometrics. The two-factor authentication and protections limit users from all of this exposure.

Apple is also reigning in their developers. They are forcing builders to use this technology. If you are a developer of an app with Apple, Apple is going to force you—in a nice way—to use Apple’s sign on. This will occur in the upcoming OS 13.

Do you expect we’ll see big changes in the way data is ultimately mined?

Yes, especially among the third-party folks. They may be forced to rely on Apple for authentication. But the third party still wants user info, so they will go a different route in capturing this data. We will see [vendors] making changes on their end to combat against the added security by finding new ways to ask additional questions of users, likely in the apps themselves.

What do solution providers need to know right now about how to navigate Apple’s new security successfully?

From a security perspective, this is a good thing. Solution providers should know that it will crack down on fraud [and breaches]. And, in general for business, you’re going to improve security in your company. If you’re using a “bring your own device” model and [an employee may be using their own phone, for example] you can better control the security of that phone.

Could you give an example of how this works?

Companies of various sizes and technical complexities may use a combination of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect their work computing environments. A written policy, like having users sign terms and conditions, coupled with appropriate training on safeguarding protected information, is a great start. However, when workforce members are allowed or encouraged to bring in their own mobile devices (because the organization may not have the means or simply don’t want to purchase additional devices), then a more layered technical safeguards approach may be more viable.

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Embedded Systems to Embedded Linux

Linux has been quite a phenomenon. From its inception in the early 1990s by then student, Linus Torvalds, who would have guessed it would become the force to reckon with for operating system choices. In the beginning, it was a rough road trying to install Linux and getting it to work with almost any hardware. The kernels would crash shortly after booting, and finding device drivers that worked was almost impossible.

Linux was touch and go for the first 10 years. A small group of developers were working feverishly to make the operating system commercial grade. The distributions available then were Slackware and Debian, two distributions that had a lot of blood, sweat and tears behind them.

Slackware was actually a closed source distribution with one sole architect. Releases were sparse, and long periods of time would pass between updates.

Debian, on the other hand, has always been the default GNU Linux, and it was tough to find large numbers of volunteers who would work and stay on the project.

But Linux had something going for it that most commercial operating systems didn’t – it was open source, and a developer could modify the system as a custom operating system, only promising that the changes and improvements would be uploaded to improve its integrity, and share the source code to those changes with anyone who wanted to use Linux. And while it took some years, eventually the idea caught on, and Linux took off like a wildfire.
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Why Do Threat Actors Send Phishing Emails?

The endgame of a phishing attempt could be one of a few things, sometimes in combination with one another:
Ransomware: The threat actor encrypts your personal and company files and sends you a ransom note that your systems are locked until you pay a fee (usually via a digital currency). This happens to businesses of all sizes and verticals. I’ve seen schools, municipalities, hospitals, banks, retail, manufacturing, etc., all hit with ransomware. While you can pay to release the ransom, that won’t stop the threat actor from hitting you again.
Malware: Sometimes the goal is to drop a probe on your network to gather more data before launching a more sophisticated attack. You might not even notice any wrongdoing after clicking on a malicious link. This is extremely important in the world of intellectual property – a threat actor may be acting on behalf of one of your largest competitors, attempting to steal patent, blueprint or script information to clone your valuable assets and beat you to market. This happens every day. To put it into context, when the U.S. government proposes adding tariffs to China because of ongoing intellectual property theft, this is what they are referencing.

Families are Important Too

Employees need to know that you are most concerned about their family and safety, according to Jim Perrier, CEO of Universal Data, a New Orleans-based solution provider severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

"Tell your employees to make sure that their families are cared for as soon as possible This means that they should submit information regarding their evacuation plans to their manager as early as possible. What will their action plan be if the storm is a Category 1, Category 2, or higher? At what point will they be evacuating and what is their destination?”

All pertinent information should be well documented and available to the head of personal or HR prior to hurricane season and updated, if possible, before any known potential threat is imminent.
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Taking Threat Intelligence to the Next Level

When it comes to creating your own knowledge base, don’t just import a few URLs and call it good. If you really want to customize the data you obtain and make it useful, learn how to tag your TTP data using a markup language, such as Yara. Once you do this, you and others can then conduct granular searches of your cybersecurity knowledge base.

You can, for example, define new malware entities and threat actors relevant for your company. If you have discovered a new exploit, then you can use Yara and other tools found in Yeti to document it and share it with others.

Because Yeti is a TAXII-enabled server, you can obtain and share information as you wish. If you have the time or need, you can even configure Yeti to become a stand-alone, production web server.

Whether your cybersecurity team wants to better leverage and customize information obtained from an ISAO, ISAC or threat intelligence feed or you’re looking to do some self-study, setting up a threat intelligence platform and cybersecurity knowledge base helps to further contextualize that information and supplement it with your own observations. No matter what your need is, free threat intelligence tools such as Yeti can help you collect, organize and share threat intelligence information, such as tactics, techniques and procedures, so you can build your cybersecurity knowledge base and protect your organization more efficiently.

You’re not limited to creating your own threat intelligence feed. If you have accounts for third-party threat feed organizations, you can manage them in Yeti.

For example, let's say that you have created an account for a common threat information sharing service or for your ISAO. You can then configure Yeti to go to that service and obtain that information automatically. All you have to do is enter the relevant authentication information into Yeti's configuration file (yeti.conf).
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State of the Channel and Enterprise Mobility

This month on Volley, hosts and CompTIA research analysts Carolyn April and Seth Robinson tackle a few of the most recent and pertinent topics in channel news. In the September 6 episode, Carolyn and Seth talk about the upcoming research study on the State of the Channel, which analyzes how the latest emerging trends affect or are affected by the economy, and what the data points mean to technologists in the industry. People are feeling a little bit of uncertainty of the direction of where things are headed and what their place is going to be … The use of technology is different, it's being used more strategically, and the level of awareness and expertise around technology has risen as well. A lot of companies don’t just need some really well-versed people and specialists in a lot of different areas. The whole thing is shifting. I feel like in the aggregate, that’s something we’re seeing companies struggle with. They haven’t quite embraced, 'What does it mean to be providing technology services in today’s business economy?'—Seth Robinson, Senior Director, Technology Analysis at CompTIA

In a later episode, Carolyn and Seth react to the recent iPhone 11 announcement by discussing enterprise mobility. Though both hosts think enterprise mobility isn’t a hot topic anymore, the discussion centers around how companies and technologist need a fresher focus that addresses the real issues companies have with enterprise mobility, not the perceived ones.Given that we talk so much about security, so much about integration, and so much about customer experience, about omni-channel approaches to dealing with customers—which means being able to serve anyone from any device that they want to use and any application on those devices that they want to use—you would think this would be more front and center for solution providers, but also the CIO’s office.
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Tech for Good blockchain

As the acceptance of blockchain technology grows, companies are investing in ways implement it into more and more business processes—some which are designed to save or improve lives.

Blockchain technology allows organizations, people, and companies to create an irrefutable single source of truth, according to Jim Gitney, CEO of Upland, Calif.-based Group50 and co-chair of CompTIA’s Blockchain Industry Advisory Council. In practical cases, that means goods and services can be tracked and audited across their entire supply chain history to ensure safety, authenticity and quality, he said.

“Traditionally, we just don't know what the source of something is, where it came from, how it was developed, how it was manufactured,” Gitney said.

Here are four examples noted by Gitney in which blockchain technology can be used to improve our quality of life:
Identify contaminated produce quickly

Earlier this year, an outbreak of E. coli infections linked to Romaine Lettuce hospitalized dozens of people, and grocery stores nationally dumped their inventories to prevent the outbreak from spreading — but what if they didn’t need to?

“The application of blockchain into the food supply chain allows a manufacturer to know exactly where everything they're putting into their product came from,” Gitney said.

Walmart, the one of the world's largest retailers, in partnership with IBM, has developed a food traceability system, which uses blockchain technology, to prevent the spread of food-borne disease illnesses, which account for approximately 800 hospitalizations and 20 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By enabling Walmart to trace product origins, the system can pinpoint the products to discard — the produce from affected farms — which prevents outbreaks, protects farms and saves money.

"Instead of banning the sale of all romaine lettuce — like the state of California did last year — they can isolate it down to a very specific subset of products and be assured that everything else is left in the marketplace is safe,” Gitney said.
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Brexit, Diversity and the IT industry

In a Q&A with John McGlinchy, CompTIA's SVP of global business development, Baroness Brady spoke about her personal opinion of Brexit. Taking a stance driven by her six ingredients for success, she said, “While I voted remain, I now just want to get on with leaving the EU… I would really like a politician to stand up and tell us where the investment, opportunities and jobs will be once we've left. It’s the not knowing that is affecting the confidence of this country—we want to be able focus on benefits so we can make smart business decisions.”

Part of adapting to Brexit—no matter what the outcome—is being able to attract and retain talent better, which Baroness Brady says comes down to developing that better work culture. Especially in the IT industry where it’s traditionally male-dominated, business owners need to look ways they can better target women for jobs and make their businesses places that women want to work, she said. This includes creating an entrepreneurial culture that is progressive and engaging staff to continually develop their own learning.

Central to helping diversify is articulating the different layers and careers that can be achieved with a career in IT. For West Ham United, Baroness Brady said, “Technology helps improve the way we bring match days to fans,” but not many people know that there are opportunities in IT within football. The tech industry needs to do more to ensure young people understand the depth and breadth of opportunities out there—beyond traditional tech companies and start-ups—which will ultimately help the industry diversify the talent pool.
Cybersecurity Consultant

If there had to be one jack-of-all-trades in the cybersecurity field, the cybersecurity consultant may be it. This person has to be ready at a moment’s notice to do any number of tasks to keep systems safe, including penetration testing, firewall management, encryption technology and advanced persistent threat management, to name a few. A cybersecurity consultant has his or her fingers in many different departments all at once. Having the ability to handle it all well, organized and consistently means that a cybersecurity consultant should have project management experience. Many organizations are listing project management skills as a must-have qualification for cybersecurity consultant applicants.
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future of website chats and AI for streamlining

Chatbots and AI are a productivity tool, but also a client-service tool and a lead-capture tool. I think that they’re underrated and sort-of maligned because initially, the experiences with chats were with a generic stock photo providing unhelpful answers that didn’t match the user’s question, which felt impersonal, useless and totally frustrating. It did more harm than good as a result.

When they're automated, however, modern chat widgets can deliver more sophisticated responses that are customized and even steer conversations, which is often needed when new leads reach business websites and aren’t quite sure if the services or products match their needs. When chats are live-staffed and agents are monitoring and logging those conversations, you have automation plus delegation, which provides efficiency, and the agents can train the AI to respond better next time. The ability for learning and improvement means web chat gets more and more effective. It’s a powerful feedback loop. Not to mention, chat staff can detect language preferences for superior customer service. Many businesses have bilingual clients who can speak and write in English but prefer Spanish, for example. A chat agent can instantly translate English to Spanish, so seamless communication happens without the need for an expensive bilingual team.

Lastly, chats are a great way to inform website content because they allow you to gather an unbelievable amount of data through comments, questions and answers. Not sure what FAQs are missing or if content on your website isn’t clear? Chat transcripts give you that data.

Straight up: You don’t know what you don’t know. Until you open that channel and see what people ask about without the hassle of a call, email or web-form follow up, you have no idea what you’re missing out on. My recommendation is, before you say people don’t want to chat on your site, or your clients don’t need chat, or your website traffic is too low for chat, try it. And that goes for any other affordable, AI-driven business solution on your radar or in the marketplace.
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What pen testing skills do IT pros need today

Here’s how I look at it; the best lockpickers are often locksmiths. This is because they’re intimate with their craft and know both the how, and more importantly, why locks can be manipulated to fail. I find that the best penetration testers have some sort of background or training from the operations or development side.

I’ve seen some people spin their wheels, finding vulnerabilities in environments where an adversary would have a hard time getting into in the first place. An administrator would know this, and that’s where background knowledge is key. Some of the best security-conscious people I’ve worked with aren’t even on a security team, and that’s perfectly fine, because that means that they’re defending at a lower level.

With all of this said, if I were to name specifics, Python and PowerShell skills are very popular nowadays, but I can do a lot with Bash and Linux knowhow, and often in less time.

Familiarity with networking and operating systems is also a must and are basic skills that all penetration testers should have.

Pen testing across multiple disciplines is often ideal, but because there are so many facets to IT, it’s unrealistic to be a rock star at everything. I highly encourage people to pick one thing they want to be good at and run with it.

Cyber security and protecting our nations digital infrastructure has become an all-hands responsibility. Our state and local government elected leaders and public managers have a vital leadership role to play and perhaps it all starts with a better understanding of the issues, polices, and required resources.
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Why IT Leaders Need Project Management Skills

While all IT and cybersecurity professionals can benefit from some project management knowledge, this is especially true for those in or seeking management positions. Being an IT manager, pen test lead or similar usually implies the running of multiple projects, often simultaneously.

Being well versed in project management principles and practices can be a huge differentiator, especially for those attempting to move into these types of positions. It is important to be able to manage all aspects of the project lifecycle and to ensure that all resources are properly allocated throughout a project. Being able to correctly determine the critical path of a project can be the difference between success and failure. It is also important to know how to effectively communicate and document all project stages and tasks.
Humans vs. AI

The speakers also raised the question of the potential for AI to make deductive leaps or whether this is where humans should step in. Machine learning is a necessity today, and humans will never be able to operate as quickly alone. While AI can’t make the deductive leaps of humans—yet—it can identify patterns that can be useful for locating malware based on specific traits, such as in emails and data sets.

The speakers also debunked the myth that AI is taking jobs. “We will always need humans to make the decisions about which decisions AI will make,” said Hodson. Fildes agreed, saying businesses will need to invest as much in training employees as they do in adopting AI. However, with Amazon’s warehouses already almost exclusively manned by robots, the extent of the role humans will play in the future of work will depend on the industry and role in question.
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Advanced-Level Cybersecurity Roles

If you’re a highly experienced systems engineer, you should consider one of the advanced-level cybersecurity roles – cybersecurity engineer and cybersecurity architect.

CyberSeek identified these five skills as most required for advanced-level cybersecurity roles:
Information security
Network security
Cisco
Cryptography
Project management

Like the other categories, information security still reigns supreme. Project management is another important skill to add to your repertoire, because as you move up the cybersecurity ladder, managing projects and project teams will become a larger part of your role. CompTIA Project+ can validate your IT project management skills, and as an added bonus, it’s one of the top 10 highest-paying IT certifications.

Another fun fact: the most requested certifications at the advanced level are the same as mid-level:
GIAC
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

The knowledge and skills that these certifications validate are common in both mid-level and advanced-level job roles, so earning these certifications can prove to employers that you have the knowledge it takes to be successful in your job.

CompTIA also has an advanced cybersecurity certification that can help you in your career: CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP). CASP is a great option for cybersecurity professionals who want to want to continue working directly with cybersecurity technology and rather than moving into a management role.

The majority of job postings in the advanced-level track require higher education:
80 percent require a bachelor’s degree
11 percent require a graduate degree

But again, with higher education comes higher salary: the average salary for advanced-level cybersecurity job roles is $119,500.

As you can see, transitioning to a career in cybersecurity from systems engineering is not a crazy move. The skills you’ve developed in systems engineering have prepared you for this change, and CyberSeek can help you stay up to date on the skills and certifications needed to succeed in a cybersecurity career.
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Career with Cybersecurity Degrees and Certifications

Brady and his wife have five children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers. Things are busy in the Brady house, to say the least. However, amid the busy parenting schedule and the full-time job, Brady is now pursuing a master’s degree in cybersecurity. For Brady, adding a cybersecurity degree to his IT certifications and experience give him an edge in keeping up with evolving technology.

It may seem like a lot to take on, but between his wife and his mentor, he’s got the support he needs at home and at work. Once his schedule calms down a little, he’s planning to return to the newer CompTIA cybersecurity certifications that weren’t around when he got CASP+ – CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) and CompTIA PenTest+.

The mindset that makes this focus possible is, for Brady, part and parcel of being a Marine.

“I was a Marine; I’m always a Marine — there’s no such thing as a former Marine,” Brady said. “You’re always going to have that drive to be better and better yourself and fix your weaknesses, that drive toward self-improvement.”

With that in mind, Brady has advice for those who want to get into IT after leaving the military, whether they want to build upon their military IT experience, move into another area of technology or change careers into IT.

“When you’re trying to get into a new career and leave the military, have a plan,” Brady said. “If you want an IT career, look at the requirements.”

For veterans who want to get into IT, earning IT certifications, like those offered by CompTIA, should be a part of the plan.

“[IT certification] is the foundation that will build you,” Brady said. “An IT certification says ‘Yes, I have attained this knowledge and I know how to do this.’”
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Why should technology be more about solving business problems?

TF: I don't believe that heroes are born. I think they were cornered. It’s the individuals that are cornered that have the rationale to go back to their indexed catalogue of experiences and knowledge, and realize which tool — because technology is a tool — can be put in place to solve a problem at a particular time.

To be successful as a leader, you need to know yourself and your team inside out, and be confident in your ability to manage change. Change inevitably creates disruption within organisations, and the best leaders can bring order to chaos to allow teams to adapt.

To successfully navigate times of change, leaders should:
Communicate a strong vision to ensure staff understand why change is occurring.
Articulate the goals and plan for success.
Set realistic expectations of individual team members who may struggle to adapt to change.
Regularly check in with staff and ask for feedback to ensure staff feel valued and involved in the changes happening.

Leaders must not try to change people but rather understand and respect their uniqueness and complexities. This will foster a mutual respect and trust which can lead to increased effectiveness across teams. Self-awareness is the first step in your leadership journey and those who identify their values and ethics can perform more successfully as leaders.

When a problem is solved, people tend to look at the technology as the hero. When the reality it was the humans that realized they had a problem, such as a manual process that needed to be automated. They understood the tool that need to be implemented to overcome that problem. They could visualize a path to resolution with that piece of technology as a critical component of it.

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CCNA Leaves Out the Essential Business Skills

Today’s workplace is changing quickly. Digital transformation is a top priority for many companies, and hiring managers are looking for job candidates who have practical business skills that will help them add value to their company. In addition to providing multi-vendor networking skills, CompTIA Network+ teaches business skills that are in high demand, including the following:

Change management
Incident management
Cloud management
Troubleshooting

Conversely, the new CCNA provides candidates with technical skills alone. It doesn’t pair candidates with the vital business skills that CompTIA Network+ does, which will not serve them well when looking for jobs.

Balance Sheet Wealth

Measuring wealth requires goals and benchmarks that can be regularly reviewed. For example, it’s essential that your business can comfortably set aside an agreed salary to match replacement costs for a CEO and retain an agreed dividend amount to be used to invest, build wealth or reduce bad debt.

You must also calculate your business’s expenditure to create your net worth, and determine how long you can survive going forward without any income at all. Your job is to create wealth for your balance sheet, so investing a lot of time to get each detail right is important.

Margins

Your margin is everything in your business; it’s the money you make when you subtract your operating costs from your revenue. When setting prices, you can either create prices through a calculation mechanism, or by conducting market research. It’s important to review your margins every quarter to identify where you can improve and any issues that are occurring.
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CompTIA IT Fundamentals

CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+) is well worth your time and money if you either hope to start a career in IT or wish to change career paths within the tech field, according to CIO. Like CompTIA A+, CompTIA ITF+ provides foundational knowledge of IT and helps candidates determine whether or not a career in IT is a good fit for them.

As an added bonus, the exam costs just $119. Career changers and new grads alike will find that this certification is worth every penny.

Other top entry-level IT certifications, as mentioned by CIO:
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
Cisco Certified Technician (CCT)
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA)
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA)

Insurance Protection Against Losses

Small businesses should also consider cybersecurity insurance, Rubin said. Once your policy goes into effect, it can help with mitigating losses resulting from a cyberattack. He also stressed the importance of businesses having a PR response in place for when cyberattack incidents do occur, especially if employees aren’t properly educated on potential threats.
Employee Training

Not all employees are fully aware of the dangerous of clicking links in unsolicited emails. “That’s still a thing, and it always will be a thing,” Rubin said. Changing end-user behavior isn’t easy to do. Even with the right solutions in place, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to prevent all incoming cyberattacks. In fact, many IT professionals still struggle with identifying and preventing cybersecurity threats.

Not all IT professionals are qualified to handle cybersecurity measures. Cybersecurity is a skillset of its own, Rubin said. Don’t always assume your business is secure if you have an IT person. A company’s internal IT staff may not be fully equipped to monitor cyber threats. Working with an managed security service provider (MSSP) allows a business to build a cybersecurity roadmap with the right solutions at the right prices. An MSSP will also put security top of mind for small business owners.
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Making Cybersecurity Decisions That Support the Business

So, what does all of this mean for getting into cybersecurity? Knowing how a company runs from a different viewpoint is extremely important. Knowing what is valuable to the end user should shape how security procedures are formed and how security incidents are handled.

For instance, say that a server has been compromised, and a decision was made to shut the server down immediately and analyze it offline. After all, this server is only used to control printers.

Unbeknownst to the cybersecurity professional, a production line is now backing up because that server controlled printers that print serial number labels for the parts that are being manufactured. Every minute these printers are offline, the company is losing tens of thousands of dollars.

If this security professional had worked on the help desk, then they may have known the importance of the printing process, because every time it broke before, they would get a phone call from a frantic worker. I’ve seen similar situations before, where someone in cybersecurity, who has worked in a bubble for all of their career, has no clue how their actions impact the business. Working in other departments makes an individual better at their job because they can put context around scenarios.

Don’t discount working your way into the position you want. Just as a surgeon doesn’t start performing open-heart surgery right out of college, one doesn’t simply start as a cybersecurity engineer as their first IT job. Education is a steppingstone, but every day of experience is another step toward a successful career.
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IT Pros Should Earn CompTIA Network+

There are several IT networking certifications on the market, and CompTIA Network+ and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) are two of the most popular. While CCNA covers select networking skills as they relate to Cisco routers, it can’t beat CompTIA Network+ for comprehensive networking skills that can be applied in a multi-vendor environment.

Before choosing a vendor-specific networking certification like CCNA, IT pros should consider the benefits of earning CompTIA Network+, a vendor-neutral certification that will give them the knowledge and tools to create the IT career they want most.
CompTIA Network+ Broadens IT Pros’ Networking Capabilities

IT pros, especially those who want to build a computer networking career, must make it their mission to broaden their knowledge of networking topics. They can do so by earning a vendor-neutral certification, such as CompTIA Network+. CompTIA Network+ prepares candidates to work with any tool or product, regardless of vendor, which makes an individual’s computer networking capabilities limitless.

On the other hand, CCNA limits a candidate’s knowledge to just one vendor by training candidates to work with Cisco’s tools and products exclusively.

For the best career results, IT pros should first earn a vendor-neutral certification like CompTIA Network+ and later stack vendor-specific IT networking certifications onto it.
CompTIA Network+ Prepares Candidates for Specific Job Roles

IT pros hoping to land a specific type of networking job require training that prepares them for the role they want to assume. CompTIA Network+ does this, covering the skills needed for specific job roles, whereas CCNA covers the skills needed to work on Cisco products, regardless of role.

This means that if a hiring manager wanted to quickly onboard a new network support specialist or network administrator, for example, someone with CompTIA Network+ may have a leg up on someone with CCNA because they know and possess the skills needed for the job and can apply those skills to any equipment.
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Online IT Training from CompTIA

There are a number of eLearning options out there in a range of price points. Official CompTIA eLearning solutions are flexible and interactive and align with CompTIA certification exam objectives, which are based on real-world IT job roles, ensuring that you’re learning the skills you need for your career. Whether you want to enhance your existing skills, learn new ones or prepare for IT certifications, CompTIA has a solution for you.
Official CompTIA Study Guides

CompTIA offers study guides – in eBook and print form – for most of its 13 certifications. Whether you are preparing for an IT certification or simply want to build your knowledge on the topic, CompTIA Official Study Guides are a great resource for learning job-related IT skills. All study guides are available in the CompTIA Store, and some are also available on Amazon.
CompTIA CertMaster

CompTIA CertMaster is a suite of online IT training products that includes eLearning, labs for hands-on practice and exam prep:
CompTIA CertMaster Learn is great if you’re just starting to learn about a topic. This comprehensive, self-paced eLearning environment is packed with activities and features designed to help you learn and retain content in an engaging way.
CompTIA CertMaster Labs is great if you already have some knowledge on a topic. It helps you practice solving real-world problems in a browser-based environment of live servers hosted in a data center.
CompTIA CertMaster Practice is great if you want to build upon the hands-on skills you already have. It reinforces your knowledge – moving quickly through what you know and focusing on what you don’t – to efficiently prepare for CompTIA certification exams.

Learn more about how to train for your IT certification with CompTIA CertMaster.

CompTIA CertMaster products are available for many of the certifications along the CompTIA Career Pathways. Go to the training webpage for your certification to see what products are available. You can purchase all CompTIA CertMaster products through the CompTIA Store and some through Amazon.

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Cybersecurity Certifications Are Approved

DoD Directive 8570 did not specify which cybersecurity certifications meet the policy requirements. Instead, 8570.01-m was established to provide them. 8570.01-m is still used and actively managed by the DoD. An 8140 manual is expected to be released in the next year.
What Training Is Required to Achieve DoD 8570 Approval?

Personnel required to obtain specific cybersecurity certifications for their position category may need training. DoD Directive 8570.01-m does not specify training requirements, so IT pros need to decide what training options will best prepare them for certification.
I already passed CompTIA A+ (220-901), but I haven’t taken 220-902 yet. What should I do?

To earn your CompTIA A+ certification, you need to take both exams from the same series. So, if you’ve already passed CompTIA A+ (220-901), continue preparing for 220-902. Just make sure you take your exam before it expires on July 31, 2019.
I’ve been studying for the CompTIA A+ 900 series – should I switch gears and study for the Core Series instead?

If you’ve been studying for the CompTIA A+ 900 series, we would encourage you to stick with it. If you have not yet started studying or have not invested much time or money into your preparation, take a look at the Core Series exam objectives and see if it makes sense for you to change course. Just keep in mind that if you choose to pursue the 900 series, you must take both 900 series exams by July 31, 2019, in order to get your CompTIA A+ certification.
How to Become DoD 8570.01-m Compliant

DoD Directive 8570 and 8140 use 8570.01-m to outline cybersecurity certification requirements for specific job categories. Most DoD-related organizations are required to comply. Examples include cybersecurity workers in the Air Force and workers performing DoD work with defense contractors, such as General Dynamics IT (GDIT).

Personnel receive a position category, such as IAT II. The category determines which certifications will satisfy the requirement. For example, someone in an IAT II role could earn CompTIA Security+ for DoD 8570 compliance. You will learn more about position categories in the next article of this series.

For more information on how to comply with DoD 8570.01-m, read Steps to Obtain a DoD 8570 Baseline Certification at the DoD Cyber Exchange.

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