Security Certification/Learning path

axer

Hi all,

I am looking for suggestions on upping my security skills in systems/network administration.

I currently have a CCNA, an MCP in Vista and an MCP in server 2003 (70-290).

In my job we are currently becoming PCI DSS compliant. We are deep in setting up auditing and implementing security procedures and security monitoring.

I'm looking at Security+ but I am wondering is it very basic in that would it really give me skills to improve security and a good understanding on security procedures. Then I am looking at CISSP and wondering if it is too advanced.

I am not planning on becoming a security specialist but I just want to have strong security skills when administrating networks.

Has anyone done either? Any advice on which path would suit better?

Thanks for any help/advice.

Mary-Ellen

Hi axer,
I'm about to start the CCNA security extension.
Might be of interest if you want to look into that one too.
Amazon have books on it if you're looking to see what areas it covers.
Hope this helps

accensi0n

You could start with the Security+ and then move onto the CCNA-Security and a Microsoft security exam.

Check out the CompTIA, Microsoft and Cisco sites and go through the exam topics to see what you think.

You can make the Security+ much more valuable to yourself..when reading about a certain topic, search online for freeware tools relating to that topic and go through implementing the tools and researching more about what they're actually doing.