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MTA Security Fundamentals vs COMPTIA Security +

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Today's post is about telling you the differences between these two for everyone who wants to start a career in Cyber Security. They both cover pretty much the same topics, although Comptia goes deeper in most of them, and covers other crucial subjects as well.


MTA (Microsoft Technology Associate) just covers the basics, so anyone within a month study basis should make it with easiness. I'm not saying the exam is easy, but if one is able to work in the field for 3 months or so, should be able to accomplish it. You already know the cybersecurity world is too big, I mean, you can't really focus in just one aspect. You must see the big picture.
So let's start with MTA. These are the topics: security layers; OS Security; network security; security software. I shouldn't say this, but within a month of solving multiple choice practice tests, I was able to acquire a big score. Yes, I'm working on cybersecurity, so yeah, I should know it all,
blabla. But for someone who had no relevant experience (maybe 1/2 months tops), I'm not the one to blaime. In fact, I've been studying security for about 4/5 years off hours, after college classes, making experiences, watching youtube tutorials, being a self-paced learner. Although I have a post graduation in cybercrime and digital forensics, it's never enough. Most of you must know the feeling. I'd rather say it's about what you want to do and accomplish in your life. If you want to do something or working on a certain area, you should do some research over the internet about the most relevant courses The MTA is much smaller than Comptia Security, so it just gives you the basics within the most relevant security subjects. It's a fresh start for a career start and should be done with other certification like Comptia to assure you a place at some company.


Comptia Security + is such a great challenge. I studied through Mike Meyers' book, and I must say it was tough! It's very well written, of course, but if you want to succeed in this one, you should practice a lot for at least 3 months. If you check the requirements of the exam, a network administrator with 2 years of relevant experience is applied. So this aspect should give you a good idea about the spectrum of this exam. Don't freak out, though, if you compare this exam to CEH, for example, it's like comparing a child to a 30years old adult (you got the idea). I'm not willing to copy paste the subjects here, because they are too many, so you should check comptia website. In this exam, you are really tested for focus and your overall security experience. As it goes deeper in all security topics, one should be really well prepared for what's coming. The perfomance-based are really tricky; you can find a lot of examples on youtube, but you really need to focus on this part. For the rest of the exam, the length of it should give you a good idea about the difficulty; the maximum number of questions is 90. So.. I know it doesn't have nothing to do with CEH for example, but if you're not used to spend a lof of time answering to questions, you're tested for your patience. Besides the book, you could study in other websites like cybrary.it (my favorite); gocertify has a lot ot practice tests for you (really.. a lot of them), you just have to search for your certification name and then a huge list of tests is displayed, and most importantly, they are free (cybrary and gocertify).

This was my experience. I hope you can accomplish your goals as well, if similar to mine. Above all, follow your passions and practice every single day. And remember, security is not about a goal, it's about following a process!

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