Here in the U.S. it is Halloween week! Saturday, October 31st is Halloween also known as All Hallows Eve. This week many people will watch scary movies and reminisce about days gone by (pre 2020) when they attended parties to dress up in scary outfits to celebrate and tell ghost stories.

As instructors, we know scary things DO exist and lurk within the networks of training facilities! Now, it is your time to share your scary stories with the rest of the community. What is your scariest experience? Is it students loose on the network accessing the student information management system? Or have you seen smoke coming from the server closet? Experienced network outage during testing, or during a restore process you find out the backup media was corrupted? Has your awesome, student engaging demonstration blown up during your instructor evaluation? Do you have administrators who click everything making the security threat a reality?

Your scariest story from your instructor experience could win you a “Spootacular” $25.00 Amazon gift card. Community members will vote on the stories. The story that receives the most “likes” by Monday November 2nd at 12:00 pm EST will be the winner!

Do you see a scary story that makes you smile or relate to? Click the “like” button and show your support!

Well, since the Server+ Sneak Peek, I've been wondering on who's got plans to take the Server+. I'm also interested in drilling down into 1) if you genuinely think Server+ has industry value and 2) what kinds of preparations you're taking for your classrooms if you decide you might teach it. Hopefully, I'll get the opportunity to do the Train the Trainer as well - looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'd like to hear more about what your all's perspectives are.

/r

The National Cyber League (NCL) Competition consists of nine skill categories

Tried several times to watch session 2.
Keep getting the following error on the video stream
"Content not available or is still being processed"

This is not really a webinar but close enough to promote in this forum.

Ever since the CompTIA Partner Summit, we have been asked to have a meetup similar to what we had in the Exhibitor Showcase. Well, here we go! The first ever official CIN meetup is happening on Thursday October 29 at 4:00 pm CST. ?

We will connect via Zoom! Come and catch up with other CIN members. Time to put a face to that name you are group chatting with in the other CIN webinars! We will even have a mixologist one hand to show us a special concoction just for CIN!! ? ? We are close to Halloween, so costumes are optional! ?

No need to register for the event! We will post a Zoom link here in this discussion on Thursday before the meetup. Then simply come join us at 4:00 pm CST! Looking forward to seeing everyone! ?

CompTIA is continuously committed to developing high-quality, innovative eLearning resources to support Instructor-led Training and help students learn more effectively and achieve success. During this webinar, Katie Hoenicke, Senior Director of Learning Product Management, will take an in-depth look into the CompTIA eLearning solutions available for Security+ SY0-601, provide live product demos, and present an opportunity to ask questions.

What's new with learning content for Security+ SY0-601

• CertMaster Learn for Instructor-led Training
• CertMaster Labs

Join us as we look at the full suite of intelligent solutions tailored to meet your individual needs and those of your students for the new Security+ SY0-601.

Title: Create Hands-On Classroom Experiences with NEW CertMaster eLearning and Labs for Security+ 601
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2020
Time: 10:00 AM Central Daylight Time
Duration: 1 hour
Register

Have any of you wondered the difference between traditional on-premises server management that we've done for years on end and the definition of "Private Cloud", which in numerous texts, seemed to appear to be the same thing, just with a new fancy name.

But then I thought about it some and thought, "yeah, there is a real difference between the two". It becomes a private cloud when it acts like what the cloud would be, in my data center.

1) Customers can provision their own servers, resources, and create IaaS, SaaS, or PaaS type platforms on their own, or with minimum IT involvement. IT keeps the stuff below the Service going.
2) Resources are elastic and can be expanded or contracted based on need. They can be pooled and allocated based on changing requirements in the organization.
3) Resources can be metered based on user, group, department, or project. Costs can be distributed and budgeted in that manner and charged back appropriately.

So you just can't have a data center and say, "yeah, I have a private cloud environment". It has to behave like a cloud for it to be one.

Just a random thing, hopefully it's helpful in the classroom.

Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

/r

Hello. One of my students asked if there is still a trial version of Win 7 out there to download to Virtual Box for practice. I know support has been discontinued by Microsoft and would not want to refer him to a website that may be bogus. Does anyone know if the trial ISO is still available from a reliable source? Since it is on the current A+ test he wants to practice. I told hm I thought he would be ok with just the Certmaster Labs since Win 7 is going away. What do you think?

American Cyber Careers, a New Jersey based training company is seeking an instructor for PenTest Plus. Monday and Thursdays from 7pm to 10pm for ten weeks starting the week of October 26. Please contact email [email protected] or call 862.500.2622.

My understanding is the new Security+ exam is due out next month. Having taken this certification exam for each of the 5 prior exam versions, I'm starting to "ramp up" my study efforts. I did a comparison of the exam objectives for the old and new exam, aligning them up with Professor Messer's video series and thought you all might find it useful. You can access it by clicking HERE.

Hello

I am teaching the A+ online class and a student had a question I am not positive about. Is there partial credit for the PBQ questions on the actual exam?
Thanks!

Diane

Scary...

October is Cybersecurity month and the CompTIA Instructor Network Challenge could land you a drone! Are you up for the challenge? Follow the link below to see the criteria see the criteria and get involved with fellow instructors.

You must complete the challenge by October 31st to be considered for the drawing.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a bit of my experiences with teaching Linux+ so far.

The group I teach are a dozen young adults with varying IT experience. They range from 16-32, from experienced hacker to IT newbie. Two of them have a lot of Linux experience already, more than I do in some cases! A few others have had a passing interest in the OS, while the rest are fresh / new learners. Getting and keeping them all interested and motivated is an interesting balance

The class is an "Introduction to Linux", whose structure and objectives were meant to align with the Linux+ exam. One thing that daunted me was the sheer amount of information that is covered by the Linux+ exam objectives. We're taking students who have no prior work experience in IT and are working them towards a cert that usually tests for 1-3 years of work experience as a Linux admin! The way things are going, it looks like we'll need 15-odd classes to cover all the materials, ringing in at 5-6 hours each, plus self-study and homework for the students.

Offsetting that workload against the commercial classes made me doubt myself. How can commercial trainers ever expect to cram all this stuff in with a 40-hour week of classes?! Luckily one of my students reminded me of what I said a few lines back: "that's because their students already have experience". Good point

The school didn't spring for CompTIA's materials, so I'm making my own. Making my own course materials has been stressful to say the least. It's like I'm running a marathon, while constantly trying to stay ahead of the group who's on my heels The good part is that I'm learning a lot while prepping my classes! There's a few subjects on the exam that I've never touched on in my professional career.

Welcome new instructors! Whether you are a first time instructor or an instructor teaching CompTIA certs for the first time this community is here for you! This is a great place to ask any questions about content delivery, resources, certification or ... anything else. Need some advise or suggestions, this is the place to find some answers. Be sure to jump in and introduce yourself!

The next version of CompTIA Security+, SY0-601 will be released in November 2020. The Security+ certification validates the baseline skills you need to perform core security functions and pursue an IT security career.

Join us Thursday October 22 at 2:00 p.m. CST, as we welcome Stephen Padilla as he walks us through the expected changes to the new version of the exam. We will discuss suggestions as to how to cover the content with students and suggest various labs to let students gain hands-on experience as they prepare for certification.

Be sure to register now! http://bit.ly/CINSP-SecurityPlus

Cybersecurity Awareness Month: 20+ Free Resources for Your Cybersecurity Career

https://www.comptia.org/blog/cybersecurity-awareness-month

CompTIA recently announced a partnership with the National Cyber League (NCL). NCL enables students to prepare and test themselves against practical cybersecurity challenges that they will likely face in the workforce.

Examples include:

• Identifying hackers from forensic data
• Pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites
• Recovering from ransomware attacks, and much more!

Join us in this session as CIN welcomes Curtis Coleman and Stephen Miller, NCL Coaches, to introduce the program. They will tell us about NCL and competitions open to U.S. high school and college students. We will also talk about how you can get involved with your students in future virtual events.

When: Tuesday October 6, 2020 10:00 a.m. CST
Registration: https://bit.ly/CIN-NCL

What are the all equipment would be needed to stand up a local lab, with real hands on, to train my students for CompTIA Network+ certifications.

Looking for A+ Instructor

Hola!

A while back, someone asked about extensions or facilities for test-takers with visual limitations. I would now instead like to ask about students with attention deficit disorders. Do you reckon CompTIA could work in arragements for students like these? I have a few folks in my class (incl. folks with severe anxiety), who could certainly use the reassurance of an extension.

Cheers,


Tess

Hi,

We are looking for a Security+ trainer to deliver virtual training sessions in November (once new content has been launched). European Time Zone.

Please email your details to [email protected]

Many Thanks

Blake

Some folks are already back with students, others are just now getting back. CompTIA put together a "Back to School Kit" with resources to promote certification and IT to your students. Looks like some good information! I really like the "Battle Cards" that talk about the value of individual certifications. Of course I also like that they promote CIN!! Check it out!

The next release for CompTIA Server+ will be available in May of 2021. Join us Tuesday September 29th at 10:00 a.m. CST as we welcome @Rick Butler who takes a sneak Peek into changes with the new exam and the current version. 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.

Be sure to register now! https://bit.ly/CINSP-ServerPlus

Registration is now open for National Cyber League Fall Season!

October 2: Deadline to register

Instructors, through a partnership between CompTIA and NCL, students of cybersecurity and IT have access to a limited number of discounted registrations ($20 fee) for the NCL Fall Season of games! Note: Only students who have not played NCL previously are eligible.

The NCL games are entirely virtual and include a full suite of resources:

• Access to an online gym (September 14-December 8), to practice skills in 9 different categories. The NCL Gym is open September 14-December 8
• Pre-Season Game (October 12-19), through which students are placed in one of four brackets: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Pewter.
• Individual Game (October 23-25)
• Team Game (November 6-8). After participating in the Individual Game, students have the option to join or create a team with others from their school, and compete against other schools. NCL Leaderboards show where individuals and school teams rank relative to the other 5,000 or so players each season.
• Scouting Report, enhancing resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Once the season is over, players receive a Scouting Report detailing their national rank, score, flag capture, flag attempts and accuracy in the competition.
• Webinars, blogs and resources through NCL’s Player Ambassador community
• The nine categories of skills are Open Source Intelligence, Cryptography, Password Cracking, Log Analysis, Network Traffic Analysis, Forensics, Scanning, Web Application Exploitation, and Enumeration & Exploitation.

Coaches are encouraged to join the NCL Coaches community and gain free resources and knowledge from the NCL Player and Coach Ambassadors. For more information, contact [email protected].