Reddit reviews CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide

Since you've dipped your toes in the M$ stream, I would suggest working towards the 2012 MCSA. It's 3 exams and is the go to 'asked for' cert on sys admin jobs. Each exam is $150 and it will require you to lab on your own, among other things.

You mentioned Linux...the CompTIA Linux+ is comprised of two exams but you end up getting 4 or 5 certs altogether (but only 2 [L+ and LPIC-1] are worth a shit). If you've never worked with *nix before this one will be a challenge. Interesting fact: this cert never expires.

And then...the easiest of the beginner certs--CompTIA's Security+. This is also a standard for many junior security positions and is required for many federal government contracting gigs. Just buy Darril Gibson's book and watch Professor Messer's videos and you'll be good to go. This is only one exam.

The CCENT is the entry-level Cisco networking exam. I recommend Todd Lamle's book for that. Some might suggest getting CompTIA's Network+ first but I would recommend going straight for the CCENT, then CCNA if you like the material and want to get deeper into networking.

For all of these...yes, you will have to study. The MCSA 2012 will take the longest and the Security+ should be the shortest. Use your downtime wisely.

Edit: unless you're in a dire financial situation, certs are by far the easiest and most economical form of resume boosting...invest in yourself.

I would highly suggest getting an exam prep book such as this or this

Pay attention to concepts, not just memorization but ask yourself in what situations would these concepts apply. For example...when they discuss Business Continuity, understand why one plan would be better used in certain situations than another.

Pay attention to ports and protocols, incident response techniques, attack types. Don't get caught up in the nitty gritty, but have a baseline understanding of the differences between certain items in the same category (phishing techniques, malicious codes, different attack/defense types) and why someone might use one item vs another.

Some of it will be straight memorization, but a lot more of it will be concepts. Concepts Concepts Concepts!

Good luck, I felt completely underpreped when I took my test, a lot of my test prep kicked my ass. Even as I was taking the test there were times when I sat back, stared at my screen and wondered what the hell I was doing with my life. Ended up with a score in the high 800's...so this test is beatable...just make sure you put in the book time beforehand.

Edit: Also, look around here and on some other forums, the info on how to do well is out there, just go find it!

Don't get me wrong- BackTrack, Kali, Pentoo, etc. are all amazing tools but to recommend this to someone coming from a helpdesk role might be a bit much to grasp.
Learning how to work with the distros and the wide range of tools is great but you have to learn about the theories behind analyzing protecting the infrastructure and software.

OP, you might start with some books (these have helped me a lot in my career in security)-

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide (not a bad book and the cert is easy, provides the basics of IT security)

The Basics of Information Security: Understanding the Fundamentals of InfoSec in Theory and Practice (an easy read)

Gray Hat Hacking The Ethical Hackers Handbook (is an intro to the security world and a lot of info, more in-depth)

IT Security is an awesome field and like most IT is has many separate areas within it to learn.
Check out the links below for more info on training (there are others available these are just ones I've used and SANS has a lot of additional resoures)-

SANS Institute

InfoSec Institute

Sec+ scheduled for Jan 15. Currently reading a book and using CertMaster. Get this book, and if you have funding for it, get CompTIA CertMaster Security+. I used it when studying for the Network+ (along with Mike Meyers' Net+ book) and it was invaluable. Info actually sticks in your head, and the way the questions are worded is startlingly similar to the exam.

I used this one:

http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-301/dp/1463762364/ref=la_B001IOH64U_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407252539&sr=1-9

Its important to note that they have a newer version of the test out (SY0-401). Right now you can take either version, but after December you won't be able to take the test that this study guide was written for (SY0-301). Darril Gibson hasn't released a book for the new version of the test, but he probably will soon.

When I was studying for the Security+ test, I kept going over all of the practice questions in the book until I could get at least 98% of them right. Overall, it took about 2 months of studying. I ended up getting an 851 (94%) on the test.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1463762364/ref=od_img_link_refresh_T1

I was recommended this book and I've only had a quick skim through it as I am trying to get more employibility through other avenues and then start studying for it. But it seems well laid out and easy to read. It also has a lot of great reviews

Security+ is a pretty easy certification, I'd go after that one first. I used [this] (http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-301/dp/1463762364/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372795599&sr=1-1) book to study for it, took about a week to prepare.

This book? http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-301/dp/1463762364

I passed the Security+ last week using just this book: http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-301/dp/1463762364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332330963&sr=8-1