security+

Hey , I cleared it in the first shot !!! Piece of cake , not sayin this to make u feel happy , but really becoz it is a piece of cake !!

But but... i would really recommend the examcram2 book (security+) , it helped me a lot to prepare for the final exam , see u can learn a lot of theory but u still require a lot of practice at trying to solve questions.

hmm isnt sec+ completely theoretical ? I mean they cant ask you to practically gain r00t

hehe

if you're serious about security, wait for a bit, and then step up to a SANS certification.

is security+ the best starting certification for security professionals?

My apologies rootcipher for replying so late to your query.
Frankly speaking ,i think that it is the best certification out there for someone who is new to the field simply because it covers a whole lot of dimensions without really getting deep into any one of them.

Sec+ seems to cover a lot of disaster recovery, such as hot\warm\cold sites, and remembering the diffrent backup types. While it is security, and defently good things to know, it's not the type of security exams most people think of. It does cover some of what most people think of when they think of security, like covering the diffrences between AH and ESP when using IPSec. Another thing that sets it apart, like most compTIA exams, wording seems a lot simpler then cisco\microsoft exams. Generally no need to scroll the page like you do thoese two exams. And Sec+ counts as a certification for MCSE + Security, at least on 2000 spec, can't find it listed for MCSE + Security 2003. Like many compTIA exams, it seems like the starting exam for that branch, like Net+ is the starting exam many people take for MCSE or CCNA, and A+ is a starting for people... hmmm....

Ok, so I have no idea what A+ teaches you, all I remamber from it is california cows won't dance the fandango. And not to plug in a DB-9 into a USB port. (Note: that's a joke, I actually liked the A+ exam, more so not so much for what I learned from it, as just an entry level exam to get used to the process. Glad I took them before 70-210 exam, I would have ran home to mommy if that was my first exam)