The SCP Certification Program

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Test Tips and Hints

Has it been awhile since you've used Snoop or looked at a packet dump with an analyzer? Well, now might be a good time to sharpen those skills. Maybe you can't afford a fully loaded version of Sniffer, but you could download the latest version of Ethereal. Spend some time capturing traffic and analyzing the packets. Look for things like the TCP three step handshake. Watch the flag sequence. Get up to speed with hex to decimal conversions.

What About CISSP?

What motivated security professional wouldn't want to achieve their CISSP? The problem is that not everyone can meet the requirements. The test itself is 250 questions and the exam time is 6 hours. Currently, CISSP requires 3 years of direct work experience in one or more of their ten test domains. Should you decide to not take the test until 2003; the minimum experience requirement will be increased to 4 years of direct work experience and an undergraduate degree will also be required. Also, you will need to have a considerable amount of knowledge to successfully pass the exam.

Take a close look at the ports associated with applications. That's right, there are 65,000 of them. No one said to memorize them all. Look mainly at well known ports 0 - 1023 and those associated with trojans and malware. Check out RFC-1700 for a complete list of well known ports.

20/21 FTP
23 Telnet
25 SMTP
53 DNS
80 HTTP
110 POP3

For a complete list of Trojan ports see the G-Lock Software Web site.

12345 NetBus
31337 Back Orifice
57341 Net Raider

Again, a good overall review of the objectives and their details will go a long way in helping you to prepare for each test. One of the greatest things about the Internet is the amount of resources it can provide. Use them!

The bottom line is that viruses, DoS attacks, and other threats cost businesses millions of dollars yearly. These problems are not going to disappear. They are most likely to increase in the future. Individuals will be needed to secure and protect networks.

If you are thinking about a security certification, there's no better time than now to get started. Sure, it's difficult to determine which certification offers the most return on your investment of time and money. Many times it depends on what your end goal or objective is. I personally have been well served by each certification I have achieved. Each has added to my body of knowledge. Do some research, find the one that you are best suited for and go for it! It's guaranteed to improve your bottom line and your skill set.

About the Author:
Michael C. Gregg (MCSE, MCT, CTT+, A+, N+, MCP+I, CNA, CCNA, TICSA, and CIW SA) is an independent trainer, consultant, and author. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Troubleshooting Networks, Securing Unsecured TCP/IP, Network + Boot Camp, and Network Security are just some of the classes he currently teaches. His training and consulting firm, Superior Solutions, Inc., is based in Houston, Texas. You can contact Michael at mikeg@thesolutionfirm.com

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