• CIN will be sunsetting the official CIN app! The app will be turned off on Saturday, August 1st. Thank you to everyone who used the app to post updates. It just was not adopted as much as hoped. This is ONLY the mobile app. The CIN community is not being affected. :)

At Long Last - The CyberCache is BACK!

First, apologies for taking so darned long to get this back up. I had to search around for a compiled list from the v1 cache - but landed on something I had rebuilt from Dec 2025. But, I think it's time to get it put back up.

So, here it is...

The Black Fedora Cyber Cache v2


Go check it out and if you have a contribution for the Cache, send me a DM and I'll get it added.

Enjoy!

Rick

  • Question
A+ Core 1

I sat and passed the A+ Core 1 yesterday (Friday 19th of June) using the Pearson OnVUE system. At the end of the exam I saw my result (passmark) 808 points, but I didn't see a breakdown of my weak areas. (Which I have always gotten for other exams that I have sat). Is there a way to recover this from CompTIA or from Pearson VUE?
Thanks

  • Question
Compcert Courses -- Where's The Beef

I'm wondering if these "CompTIA Compcert courses" that are not tied to actual CompTIA certifications are going to result in opportunities for instructor work, teaching classes that at best result in a "certificate of attendance"? In my decades of teaching as well as selling new courses to employers, students, and curriculum committees, that path has been made much more successful because of the recognition of CompTIA as a "Certification Issuer".

Thoughts?

Steve

Passed Linux+ XK0-006

I finally buckled down and took the Linux+ and passed it today. It took some extra study but after I let the 005 get away from me I swore to myself I wouldn't let it happen again. HUGE thanks to @Stephen Schneiter, Jason Eckert's great TTT and the amazing CIN network for the voucher. Watching the expiration timer tick down on it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to finish!

Flashcards. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

OK CINers. I'll confess. I build and distribute flashcards to my students. I've been using Quizlet for years. In 1-on-1 engagements, it has always worked well. It's always handy to have a flashcard deck available for small-group training so students can interact, compete, and demonstrate what they've learned. I've found that I sometimes have to monitor the level of competitiveness in some small group settings. When I have too many Type-A personalities, I'll team people up (I pick the teams) to diffuse that. The problem is that some of my students have started distributing my flashcards. Without asking, and after I asked them not to. Quizlet has no DRM solution to limit sharing. And if that wasn't bad enough, somebody tried selling one of my decks, and Quizlet sent me a 'That's Not Allowed' notice.

What tools are other CINers using for flashcards? I've heard of Anki. I have a friend who uses and swears by Notion. Thoughts? Comments?

CertMaster Competency Assessments

Looking for guidance for use of Competency Exams for CertMaster Perform courses. Are the Competency Assessments certs for courses like Pentest, CySA, Sec+, etc.. used by individuals or employers?

There is also practice exams in the courses that seem just as good if not a better tool for the student's to gauge their own level of preparedness before taking an actual certification exam.
  • Like
Reactions: Abu Afza

Passed SecAI+ Perfect Score

I passed CompTIA SecAI+ with a perfect score. The exam shows you the score right after you finish, but the official report only says “Pass.” My previous highest CompTIA score was an 885 on Security+ back in 2014, so this one felt good. I used CertMaster through our academic partnership, which also covered the voucher. I also did the TryHackMe AI Path, and that combination made a big difference. SecAI+ is not something I would recommend approaching only through the exam outline or a few theory notes. I have seen people in the forums say they studied just from the outline, and yes, maybe you can pass that way, but you missed sooooooo much approaching the exam just as another bunch of questions you go and try to wing. In the real world that won't help, and the bigger question is: can you actually do what the certification says you should be able to do in real life?

That is where CertMaster shines. It is not just a bank of questions or a traditional PBQ-style experience. The best part of the preparation was the applied work. The 19 activities put you in scenarios where you have to compare AI types, work with prompt engineering, process data, conduct threat model analysis, build defensive policies, handle access requests, apply data masking and anonymization, audit AI behavior, analyze AI life cycle decisions, work through model inversion or theft, complete post-incident analysis, perform AI-assisted vulnerability analysis, identify deepfakes, review AI-assisted approvals, design governance structures, conduct risk assessments, create compliance reports, and analyze an organization’s AI structure. All activities are done via interaction with the CompTIA AI agents that guide you through the process like you have to do in real life. Then another AI agent corrects your work, gives you feedback and ask you if you want to try again

The 17 live labs were even more valuable because they made the material feel connected to actual security work. I worked through prompt engineering and bias detection, prompt design and optimization, RAG solutions, data integrity, AI threat analysis using public resources, AI threat modeling frameworks, Azure OpenAI deployment, structured prompt templates, securing Azure OpenAI, data sanitization for AI analysis, AI log analysis, prompt injection testing, AI-assisted attack vector identification, AI-assisted scripting, documentation transformation, and workflow automation. That is not just “study material.” That is the kind of work that helps you understand how AI systems are built, where they break, how they expose risk, and how security controls have to be applied.

The TryHackMe AI Path helped from a different angle. It gave me a more hands-on, attacker-and-defender view of AI security. You learn how AI-enabled systems behave, then you perform prompt injection, jailbreak, indirect prompt injection, make an agent leak or misuse information, poison the data of a model, perform threat modeling and get to a point where you change the application to the point where the system you are probing is no longer just deterministic code. That part matters because AI security is not only about knowing vocabulary. You have to understand behavior, context, trust boundaries, controls, and failure modes and actually perform AI pentesting.

That is the real value of SecAI+. Passing is nice. But the goal should not be just to collect another certification. Using CertMaster and THM AI Path will help you walk away with practical skills. For us; educators, this is exactly the kind of material we need to bring into the classroom. Students do not need only AI definitions. They need to understand how AI systems are designed, how they fail, how they are attacked, and how they are defended. I just received access to the Auto OPS+ Cert Master and it's the same amazing methodology with a lot of labs and AI powered activities. SecOT+ will be on the same line as informed to me by one of the SME's that also created the Cert Master and teaches OT Pentesting, OSINT and OT Fundamentals, workshops that I took. If you are looking for any of those 3 certs please, use Cert Master or take trainings, you will kill the tests.

Very happy with this one.

  • Question
CTT+ Instructors needed for July - December cohort.

Dear fellow instructors,

I am reaching out on behalf of Youth Development Project SA (YDP SA) – an accredited QCTO/SAQA training provider in South Africa.
Company Website

We are expanding our CompTIA course delivery in 2026 and are looking to connect with active CompTIA CTT+ certified trainers (or those with equivalent CompTIA instructional experience) who would be interested in partnering with us or being considered for training opportunities.

Specifically, we are looking for trainers who can deliver any of the following CompTIA courses:

  • ITF+, A+ for Cybersecurity, Network+,
  • Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, SecurityX (formerly CASP)
  • SecAI+ (Expansion Series)
  • AI Essentials Series: AI for Marketing, AI for Sales, AI Agent Essentials, AI Help Desk Essentials
If you are a qualified CompTIA instructor, please email my team at: [email protected]

  • Question
I Missed my SecAI+ online exam schedule

Hi, I hope topics like this are allowed in here if not please kindly delete this.

So I missed my online exam schedule. In my defense I'm in the part of the Philippines that got hit hard by a recent earthquake, we are still experiencing after shocks and intermittent power/internet loss. It was a free voucher from the TTT-series but its still a waste that I was not able to take it. I already contacted Pearson Vue hoping they'd consider my situation.

Im just here to ask if there's anything else that I could do to help with my situation
Id appreciate your suggestions thank you.

  • Solved
Certmaster access for SecAI+ On Demand

Hi Everyone!

I was not able to attend the TTT series for SecAI+ on live so I've been following on demand using the webinar sessions as well as the material in there. I noted something and is the access to certmaster is not longer in the links and @Stephen Schneiter mentioned people will receive the access code after completing the first session even for "on demand" learners.

I've already completed session 1 to 3 (started on Jun 16/2026) and haven't receive anything yet on my email. Does the certmaster access have some type of "valid time"? like, you must access or complete the training up to 15 days of finishing the live sessions?

I appreciate your comments.

CIN TTT Essentials Series: CompTIA AI Essentials & AI Prompting

Just finished the AI TTT ondemand, Nick Pierce did a great job. Really believe this is going to be a cornerstone of IT going forward.
If you are an instructor the TTT videos are a must see. Lots of good information and ideas for teaching and engaging your students

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