This confuses me.

Hello CIN'ers (and particularly those who are SpiceHeads) -

Not sure if you heard the news, but it would seem that SpiceWorks' pledge to be forever free has gone the way of the dodo. Those of us who have been using the SpiceWorks cloud helpdesk for years, asking for Entra ID and better methods for inventory and asset tracking have been disappointed, particularly when SpiceWorks discontinued the On-Premises model that worked so well in the early years. But I guess their pricing model isn't paying the bills, so...

If you have more than five active employee users in the system, as the annoying banner says, you have until 05/31/2025 to pay up or find a new home for your helpdesk needs.



So, let's talk Help Desk Systems...

What are you using for your current ticket tracking? Is it working out? Are there things you wish you could do that you can't? Paid or premium options? Worth paying or nah?

I had a few students ask about CompTIA AI certs. This one caught me off guard since I missed this AI notification, beta tests, etc. I've seen a few posts, but I'm not sure I understand the mission here with CompTIA. It seems like CompTIA is going to release an "AI Essentials exam," but I admit these so called expansions are quite perplexing(seems like throwing pancake batter on the kitchen wall).

I'm not sure why they want to develop all these certifications at once when, from what I can see, they have not released one.

I find it entertaining that there are numerous CompTIA AI courses on Udemy, but I can't find the certifications.

https://www.comptia.org/newsroom/comptia-announces-ai-product-roadmap-expansion-covering-six-domains

Any insight would be appreciated. Cheers. Joe

Hey, CINners! James Stanger and I are wondering about your use of cyber ranges. By "cyber ranges," we're talking about interactive individual and/or team-oriented environments where people work on specific skills (e.g., security analytics skills), courses (e.g., Security+), individual skills (securing APIs against Advanced Persistent Threats), and/or Capture the Flab (CTF). So, here's the question:

What cyber range environments do you use?

And, here's a follow up question: What do you like or not like about cyber range environments?

Hello CINners! We have a special virtual livestream event coming up just for you! CompTIA and Dr. James Stanger will be conducting a workshop at the AFCEA TechNetCyber Baltimore conference on May 7th, 2025.

During this session, Dr. Stanger will be joined by special guest Zach Vaughn of Vectra AI, Dr. Matt McFadden of GDIT, and Bill Newhouse of NIST for a discussion of how traditional IT and cybersecurity workflows and approaches are changing in the face of AI and Post-Quantum Computing. They will discuss topics such as:

• Analyzing today's vulnerable tech footprint: The impact of Post-Quantum Cryptography and AI on how we do things today
• AI: Hunter or hunted? A look at the attack lifecycle and today's hybrid environments - traditional and AI-based approaches
• Migrating to post-quantum encryption
• How AI and Post-Quantum are affecting traditional pen testing, analytics, and attack surface paradigms
• A practical overview of post-quantum issues and readiness: What we've learned from past rollouts
• Analyzing your problem surface for post-quantum readiness
• Upskilling opportunities

We are pleased to offer this event to CIN members in conjunction with the AFCEA TechNet Baltimore conference attendees. Your participation will even include a Participation of Attendance certificate valid for two hours of CE credit for CompTIA certifications.

What: CIN TTT Series A+ Core 1 1202 10 sessions
When: May 7, 2025 12:30-2:30 PM Central Daylight Time
Who: Dr. James Stanger, Zach Vaughn, Dr. Matt McFadden, Bill Newhouse
Where: ON24

REGISTER HERE

On April 16, a foundational piece of the world’s cybersecurity infrastructure may quietly grind to a halt.

MITRE’s stewardship of the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program—a backbone of coordinated vulnerability disclosure for more than two decades—is facing an uncertain future as its U.S. Department of Homeland Security contract expires. Without confirmed renewal or replacement, the industry risks entering a period of dangerous opacity in vulnerability tracking.

For the cybersecurity community, this isn’t a minor bureaucratic lapse. It’s a five-alarm fire.

Moving from ITF to Tech+ in the Fall 2025.

Noticed CompTIA offers Tech+ Learn and Tech+ Labs.

I have instructor access to both.

I noticed in CompTIA Tech+ Learn there are labs. Of course, I have access to Tech+ Labs.

My question is do I need to purchase CompTIA Tech+ Learn and CompTIA Tech+ Labs for the labs to work? Is there any benefit in purchase CompTIA Tech+ Labs if my students already have CompTIA Tech+ Learn?

Thank you for any information you can provide.

I am considering offering a Linux+ certification study group at the community college where I teach Linux+. In class, we use the CompTIA book and CertMaster labs. I don’t have any experience in creating a study group, so I am looking for advice and resources that could help.

YES! It is time for our first TTT series of 2025! Join us for the PenTest+ series beginning Tuesday, January 21st! @Nicholas Pierce will lead this series, which consists of eight sessions covering the PenTest+ exam domains. Nick will teach the key cybersecurity concepts covered on the exam and conduct hands-on activities with key technology tools used by cybersecurity professionals. We will also discuss instructional strategies for presenting the concepts to students and best practices for implementing a PenTest+ course.

What: CIN TTT Series PenTest+ PT0-003 8 sessions
When: Jan 21, 2024, 6:00 - 8:00 PM Central Daylight Time, Tuesday and Thursday
Who: Nicholas Pierce
Where: ON24

REGISTER HERE

FED VTE was a great resource for most of the CompTIA cybersecurity and infrastructure exams (Security +, CySA+, Cloud+, Pentest+, and CASP+). With the discontinuation of FED VTE and migration to CISA, it's become a lot harder to find a "one stop shop" if you will of CEU's presented in that same way. The CISA website is vast, and the convergence of information from FED VTE is still ongoing so it's hard to locate a lot of the resources.

What are some of the other resources out there that are being utilized and referred to your students when it comes to CEU's for Security X?

In the new CompTIA Learn A+ Core 1 and Core 2 Course Guide and Transition Mappings on page 4, the document addresses competency assessments available that instructors can use as a comprehensive, skills-based final exam for students in each core.

What are the specifics regarding this assessment? Where can instructors access assessment scores and certificates for our records? Is there a cost per student? Do students have to schedule themselves? Can they take the assessments in class? Any other details would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Hi everyone! Back when we were in the Facebook group, several people shared resources (vocab sheets, hands-on labs, etc). I have made some for my class over the last year, especially since we switched to Tech+ but wondered if anyone would share items they have made this year for either Tech+ or A+?

Thank you!!

how to be

• CompTIA Authorized Partner Program

I sat the CompTIA Tech+ today a good entry level qualification for anyone interested in today’s technology

I am New to the training field, my first N+ class is in a couple weeks.

What is the best way to present\ train the N+ course.

Id appreciate the help as i want too succeed.

The links I had for the Partner Summit this summer no longer work. Any information on whether this event will still happen? I'm going to be very sad if it disappears!

I don't usually watch the sessions on demand, I try to attend in person as often as I can, but I am noticing that the chat window only goes back to a certain point. Am I missing something in viewing earlier messages? I like to follow along as folks are adding their 2-bits... (0-3)

I hope all is well. I'm a Sec+ certified cybersecurity teacher representing Baku Engineering University. We have been an Azerbaijan-based academic institution since 1997. We teach bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral programs well in our facilities. We would like to be an academic partner with CompTIA so that people can enjoy our partnership. We find it fitting for our labs, teachers, and students that a partnership would be available between us.

I have used multiple online resources that were advertised to be forms to apply for partnership but they were either completely unavailable(404) or unresponsive(no returns to my email). Can anyone help me in this regard? Like what is the correct process for applying to CompTIA’s Academic Partner Program? Is there any alternative contacts or regional representatives who could assist? Anyone who has been through this process is needed

Thank you in advance

Is anyone having issues with the labs in CertMaster Perform for the new Cloud+. I have several tickets open already. I'm sure the Test Out folks are rolling their eyes and saying "Oh no, not him again" . However, I have already got 2 tickets escalated to the development team. At least I was able to use this is a real-world example of escalation when I was teaching troubleshooting to my class. It also seems like the servers a awfully busy during the morning hours. I took 7 minutes to load a lab that I was trying to teach about this morning.

Does anyone have any questions, comments, or similar experiences? Please reply to this thread.

Last night’s session was very good Lyn did a superb job leading the TTT if you missed it then use the catch up option. The future of A+ is changing and needs to reflect what is used in business today.

hellow , how to be partener training center

So, this email went out today:

Dear CompTIA Authorized Partner,

CompTIA is committed to providing our Partners with innovative, best-in-class training and the most current, high-quality certification exams. To continue to provide you and your learners with excellent experiences and leading services and solutions, effective February 1, 2024, we are increasing pricing for Authorized Partners.

Updated pricing allows us to improve industry standards, expand our services and solutions, and unlock the potential of even more learners.

A follow-up communication will be sent out on February 1, 2024 to direct to the latest Partner price sheets.

Please connect with your CompTIA business development manager with any questions or submit a help request if you need further assistance.

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Sincerely,
Your CompTIA Authorized Partner Program Team

Click to expand...

What does this mean for exam pricing?

Last night’s session was very good Lyn did a superb job leading the TTT if you missed it then use the catch up option. The future of A+ is changing and needs to reflect what is used in business today.

Dear Instructors,
I'm on of the Certified Instructor in my Organisation. I got security+ training contents and i successfully certified , started to deliver the certification to our students. Now we have multiple enquiry for other certification. But when i tried to self certified first then the BDM saying now all material delivery is freeze so i didn't get any vouchers. Is it correct or is I was wrong? I m confused please clarify the truth

Hi All,

Are there any PDF Files containing the course outlines for A+ (both cores) and Security+? I've tried searching the web and the best that I could get were the Exam Objectives Mapping PDF Files. I don't have a particular need to know where each topic in the exam can be found in the courseware material, but getting an official document of the table of contents (just the table of contents) would suffice. Does such a document exist?

Thanks