Self-Assessment

Based on recent statistics from CompTIA, as many as half a million individuals are at some stage of the certification process but have not yet received one of their various certification credentials. Recent polls in Certification magazine indicate that two to three times that number might be considering whether to obtain a CompTIA certification of some kind. That is a huge potential audience!

What we can't know yetbecause the Security+ certification is relatively new as this book goes to pressare precise numbers for the Security+ certification itself. Based on recent salary and job interest surveys, we know security is a hot topic for IT professionals and a leading target for upcoming certification studies. But there are more than 50 security certifications of various types and parentage available in today's marketplace , so we can't know yet how well Security+ will fare in this densely populated and highly fragmented certification landscape. On the one hand, CompTIA certifications on popular topics tend to do fairly well, numbers-wise. On the other hand, with so many other options to choose from, only time will tell whether what's true for more certification topics in general is also true for security certifications in particular!

The reason we included a self-assessment in this Exam Cram 2 book is to help you evaluate your readiness to tackle the CompTIA Security+ certification. It should also help you understand what you need to know to master the topic of this booknamely, Exam SY0-101, "Security+." But before you tackle this self-assessment, let's talk about concerns you might face when pursuing the Security+ certification, as well as what an ideal Security+ candidate might look like.