• To ensure you get the most out of your CIN membership and stay connected with the latest updates, we are asking all members to update their community profiles. Please take a few moments to log in and: • Complete all sections of your profile • Review your current information for accuracy • Enter an alternative email address if desired (CIN requires your valid business email address for your training organization). Keeping your profile up to date helps us better serve you, ensures your account is correctly linked with CompTIA’s CRM, streamlines processes, enhances communication, and guarantees you never miss out on valuable CIN opportunities. Thank you for taking this important step! step!

Authorized partner list is gone?

Hiya!

CompTIA used to have a directory on their site, where one could lookup authorized (delivery) partners. I was on that list.

I can't seem to find the list anymore. Some cached pages on Google still have hints that the list used to be there, but I just really, really can't find it anymore.

I've already pinged Luke to ask him what's up, but maybe someone else knows? Where did the list go?!

Advice for people soliciting for trainers

If you want to get some responses to your solicitations for trainers, please remember to do the following:

1. Be specific in what you're looking for. Is the assignment contract work, part-time, or full-time? Do you require that the trainer be certified in the latest version, or just have an active certification that is maintained through CEUs? Do you require a degree? Does the assignment require TS/SCI clearance? Is the assignment onsite or virtual? Do you want local trainers, or will you accept distant or even overseas trainers? In which time zone will the training take place? In what language will the training be conducted?

2. Post a pay range for your budget. It saves you time and it saves the trainers time. If you have a limited budget, there may be trainers who will bid on the job. But more experienced trainers with high demand won't get tied up for an assignment that ultimately they won't accept.

3. Respond in a timely manner. If you post on this site, but take a week to respond to questions or comments, don't be surprised if you see little interest in the assignment.

CIN The Pulse: The Undiscovered Country of Operational Technology (OT): A practical overview

What is all this talk about OT? Why should my IT students learn about OT? Information Technology professionals are increasingly asked to understand the relatively foreign world of critical infrastructure and Operational Technology (OT).

Join CompTIA's Chief Technology Evangelist, Dr. James Stanger, to learn more about how our critical infrastructure works. James will avoid abstract discussions of acronyms such as SCADA, PLC, and Modbus. Instead, he'll discuss case studies from critical infrastructure professionals he has met worldwide. Do you ever wish you had a few stories to explain how critical infrastructure works? Looking to get past the typical cliches and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) about OT cybersecurity?

What: CIN The Pulse Webinar
When: Wednesday February 19, 2025, 11:00 am CDT, one-hour session
Where: ON24
Who: Dr. James Stanger, CompTIA Chief Technology Evangelist
Register Here

06689 CIN ThePulse Banner-SM.png

Realistic Presentation Planner for Comptia Network+

I'm having some difficulty on delivering the course for the new Comptia Network + certification in a week. The training materials contains a Course Paging Guide for a 5 day course but the total estimated instructional time there is 5942 minutes which means aproximately 99 hours, too much for a week.

Do you have any materials with recommendations about the recommended timing for the course so I can deliver the knowledge in a week (8 hours per day)? For example, the old course had a document called Presentation Planner for Network+ which you could have used for schedulling the time.

My Journey in Cybersecurity: From Security+ 2003 to Advanced Certifications

My cybersecurity journey has been a fascinating evolution, spanning over two decades of continuous learning and professional growth. Back in 2003, I first obtained my CompTIA Security+ certification, which was a significant milestone in my career. Recently, I revisited this foundational certification by successfully passing the latest Security+ (SY0-701) exam, demonstrating the importance of staying current in our rapidly changing cybersecurity landscape.

I will complete Pen+, CySA+ and CASP this year. I wrote an ARP Poisonging detection tool in Python and was going to share it, but when testing there were a few errors so I will test it further.

CompTIA Instructors & Mentors Needed (Remote – Flexible Schedule)

Hi All,

Claim Academy is hiring CompTIA Certification Instructors and Mentors to train and support students in earning industry-recognized IT certifications. If you have expertise in A+, Network+, Security+, CySA+, or CASP+ and a passion for teaching or mentoring, we want to hear from you!

✅ Remote & flexible schedule
✅ Competitive pay
✅ Impact future IT professionals

Apply now:
👉 Instructors: https://claimacademy.org/jobs/comptia-certification-instructor
👉 Mentors: https://claimacademy.org/jobs/certification-program-mentor

Thank you!
Eddie
Claim Academy

  • Question
CertMaster Perform DataX "Master" Solutions for Reference

Good Day Everyone!

Is there a master solution set for the Live Labs for the DataX class? For example, a ZIP file that contains working examples of all of the Jupyter Notebooks?

Any other insights are appreciated!

Thank you,
Ben

CIN Sneak Peek: A+ 1200 Series

Yes! It is that time again! A+ is coming up for renewal. Join the CompTIA Instructor Network and special guest Lynn Warne as she takes a Sneak Peek into the changes with the new exam objectives. We will discuss how to cover the content with students and suggest various labs to let students gain hands-on experience as they prepare for certification.

The CompTIA A+ certification is being updated to ensure it remains relevant and comprehensive in today's rapidly evolving IT landscape. The new A+ 220-1201/1202 certification will cover essential skills in hardware, software, networking, and troubleshooting, with an increased focus on security, networking, and software troubleshooting, preparing individuals for a wide range of IT roles.

What: CIN Sneak Peek A+ 1200 Series
When: February 12, 2025, 12:00-2:00 pm CDT
Who: Lynn Warne
Where: ON24
REGISTER HERE

CIN Sneak Peek Webinar SM.png Aplus Logo.png

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  • Question
Account Manager disappeared!

Hi, can someone please help me. I am an authorized delivery partner and my account manager who i have been communicating with suddenly disappeared. No answers to emails or calls. Comptia help have also been unresponsive. Does anyone know who i can contact? I will really appreciate some clues.

How can i find my Account Manager!

[Please ignore this message]Hi, can someone please help me. I am an authorized delivery partner and my account manager who i have been communicating with suddenly disappeared. No answers to emails or calls. Comptia help have also been unresponsive. Does anyone know who i can contact? I will really appreciate some clues.
  • Like
Reactions: precious

Tech Differences Between Net+ and Sec+ Objectives and Content

Hey there, fellow Instructors. A couple of notes if you are teaching Network+ and Security+. I noted that some topics are covered in both, but the coverage between the objectives, the course content, and the possible exam questions may differ.

(1) How DNS works and how DNS is secured. Network+ covers DNS over UDP, DNS over TCP, DNS over HTTP (DoH), and DNS over TLS (DoT). DoT and DoH are included in the latest Network+ objectives (but not in the Security+ objectives. I cover these in both courses. I point out the difference in the objectives. I also challenge (quiz) students with questions that differentiate these protocols. I also noted differences in how the topics were covered in the latest Mike Chapple and Mike Meyers Study Guides.

(2) Disaster Recovery (DR) is covered in Net+ and Sec+. Net+ objectives call out RPO, RTO, MTBF, and MTTR. Sec+ objectives call out RPO, RTO, MTD, and MTBF (no MTTR). I had students ask me questions about this after taking both exams. I recently took the Net+ exam and saw this topic. I'd advise covering these terms in both courses with some reinforcement (ask questions or include them in the quiz).

My advice to students is that understanding the details of a technology or process helps them perform better on exams. These are two topics that I explore in greater depth to aid students in developing that understanding.

Tech+ Focus Group

I know that this is for the ITF+ but there is no current group or thread for the Tech+ yet. I was one of the instructor SMEs that met in Chicago during the 2023-2024 school year to help develop the new Tech+ course. While teaching the course this year, I noticed that there were several issues with the content. Since there have been a lot of changes within CompTIA recently, I was hoping that someone within the CompTIA organization might be willing to set up a focus group to review the content and suggest changes to the Tech+ course now that we have had a chance to teach the content. If so I would be interested in being part of the focus group

Facebook’s Linux Ban

A recent Facebook decision to block posts and groups related to Linux, categorizing them as "cybersecurity threats," and even claiming that Linux is malware is a big concern within the tech community. DistroWatch, has reported being restricted since January 19, with users experiencing account suspensions for disseminating Linux-related content. As instructors and IT professionals, many of us rely on social media platforms like Facebook to share knowledge, discuss open-source tools, and educate others about Linux.
How will this impact the tech community and cybersecurity education?

DeepSeek

A Chinese artificial intelligence company called DeepSeek has released an AI app with development costs estimated at only $6 million. OpenAI, Google, and other major US companies are on track to invest roughly $1 trillion over the coming years. The news has caused NVIDIA to lose 15% of its stock value in one day.

The exceptionally low development cost, and the fact that it runs on older processors, have rocked the AI market.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-deepseek-ai-china-stock-nvidia-nvda-asml/

In-person and Virtual instructor for Mt. Laurel New Jersey

Happy Friday!

Rowan College at Burlington County currently offers CompTIA courses to the community.

We would like a local instructor who could come on campus for A+ and other courses as needed.

The below graph is how we have run courses in the past but the schedule is flexible.

ClassFormatTotal Hoursdays a week Hours per classClasses per year
A+In-person
125​
3​
4​
2​
TECH+Online
55​
2​
4​
1​
Network+Online
80​
2​
4​
2​
Security+Online
80​
2​
4​
2​


If you are interested in any of the options below, please use this link to apply as an instructor:

https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/rcbcedu/jobs/3971269/lecturer-continuing-education



Questions can be directed to my email [email protected]

Thank you!

Am I overthinking the new Pentest+ 003?

In the past, I've found that the certification exams do a pretty good job of meeting the outcomes stated at the top of the exam guide regardless of the material that is presented for the different learning objectives...ie that there is often a difference of interpretations between what gets trained and how it gets tested.

This particular exam and the course material seems to leave a lot of whitespace within the words used to define the outcomes and objectives, and the scope of the objectives (given the number of sub-topics), that a test developer can fill in ... (outcomes and a couple of objectives noted at the bottom of the post)

For example, in Pentest+ 003 what is the definition of phases, ttp's, and laws referenced in the outcomes?
a) phases that the outcomes refer to (note the domains and objectives don't follow any published pentest methodology and seem to conflate phases with tactics in mitre attack)
b) which list of tactics, techniques and procedures are we aligning the attacks, tools and phases with...(note Mitre attack is the only ttp listed but it is not used consistently in the objectives)
c) what laws and compliance/control frameworks should we be aligning the attacks with (note, I don't really see this level of detail reflected in the course material...the objectives just say security and privacy laws in 1.1 and the frameworks in objective 1.3 don't identify any control frameworks beyond the owasp masvs)

...and given the outcomes, 80+ tools and 100+ "attacks", and just 2 of the objectives (noted below), I'm led to believe that the students will need to:
1. Associate each tool with all of the relevant phases, tactics and techniques...note I don't know what the authoritative list/lists of these are
2. Be able to script the commands and switch options for every tool ... and associate those with specific attacks
3. Know the appropriate mitigations for each attack and probable root causes for each control's failure
4. Be able to identify an attack with the control or law you intend to test

so, am I overthinking what my students will need to be capable of or where the test writers may take the exam?

---------exam outcomes and objectives -----------

The exam guide identifies 4 outcomes for Pentest+ 003:
• Plan, scope, and perform information gathering as part of a penetration test.
Perform attacks that are aligned to and fulfill legal and compliance requirements.
• Perform each phase of a penetration test using and modifying appropriate tools and use the appropriate tactics, techniques, and procedures.
Analyze the results of each phase of a penetration test to develop a written report, effectively communicate findings to stakeholders and provide practical recommendations.

That said, the 26 objectives (including 15 apply and 3 analyze level of learning) list over 80 pentest tools/platforms/technologies and over 100 attacks/tactics/techniques. Including these two doozies
- Given a scenario, use scripting to automate attacks.
- Given a scenario, analyze the findings and recommend the appropriate remediation within a report.

Printed courseware is gone, but what about the PDFs?

We know that CompTIA is no longer producing printed courseware, but what about the PDF Instructor Guides? I know they exist for some certs, but not for others. E-books are available when PDFs are not.

I can speak for myself and my students. E-books suck. They require network access. There is no way to access them offline. This is a HUGE mistake. People love having offline access. PDFs are easily searchable. E-books are not.

The content has also changed. I was teaching Cloud+ last week, and the PDF was missing the cover page, the legalese/publication information pages, and references to all the labs. There were no activities or labs listed in the PDF courseware at all. There is also no mapping document for which labs align with which lessons. Basically, the instructor is stuck telling students "Hey, there are labs. They don't really align with our lessons, but you should probably do them at some point." I have to assume that this is a cost-cutting decision, because it makes no valid sense to eliminate PDF courseware as an educational offering.

CompTIA Learn had Instructor guides, quizzes, assessments, PBQs, and videos. It looks like they're trying to do the bare minimum with the E-books and (loosely) associated labs. There are already a lot of other content providers in the marketplace. If CompTIA doesn't reverse the trend of lowering the bar and start raising the bar, competitors will start taking over the training space. CompTIA will still have the certifications, but students will go elsewhere for the training offerings.

Seeking Network+ instructor for 4x 1 hr classes over 4 months

Hi,
We are a nonprofit that will host an online, virtual Network+ cert course. This will occur over several months and we have the lessons already to go using a popular online platform. We would like an instructor to host a 1 hr. monthly session each month for 4 months to help the students navigate and summarize what they should be focusing on as they progress, or they may have questions about the content as they navigate thru the online course. This is a REMOTE learning format. Zoom/Google Meet links will be provided.
If interested please email: [email protected]
M-

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