Author: Stevie Bird

CompTIA Network+ complete!

Learning Path

Woohoo, I passed the Network+ exam!

I wanted to finish by the end of the year, and when December came I realized I would need to take the exam before the kids finished school–because once they’re home all day every day, and with my husband planning on being home most of the days during the break as well, I want to be able to be present for the festivities! So I scheduled the exam for the day before their last day of school.

Then life got unpredictable, of course, and I ended up having way more work to do for my husband’s business (I’m his admin and tech support for all the business things). Test week crept up on me and I didn’t feel ready! So I added Jason Dion’s Udemy course and extra practice exams (The courses were on sale for $10 each and for me it was so worth it!) to my list of resources, doubled down on all the practice tests–going through them afterwards to see what I missed, which helped me learn a ton–and went through the exam objectives to make a good list of the things I was weak on.

I was kind of surprised how helpful it was to read the sections in the textbook on the things I struggled with. Subnetting was hard to really get down with the videos, but going through that chapter in the book brought it home for me! I was still consistently failing the practice tests the first time through, so on test day I was super nervous.

But guys, as I went through the test I was surprised at how many answers I just knew. And a few I worked through carefully, and one or two I ended up guessing. And it felt so good to get the Congratulations message!

Then I celebrated with some In-N-Out on the way to get the kids from school. ‘Cause what’s an achievement without a little celebration after?!

Capture the Flag Noob

Current Projects

I’ve been seeing teasers about SANS Community CTF for a while, and the idea of a free CTF is intriguing. I have loved the tiny exposure I’ve had to Hack the Box, but really besides that this is all new to me.

They had a free community CTF in October, but I chickened out on that one. Well, I saw the registration for this one go live and decided I would just try it. I almost didn’t because I felt like I would bomb 100%. Well, I’m so glad I pushed through that and just signed up anyway!

I really liked the format. It was a bunch of Challenges, categorized as Easy, Medium, or Hard. (There might have been an Extreme category too?) They were also named with a convention that kind of told you if it was a networking challenge, or binary files, or cryptography, etc. You were awarded a certain amount of points for each challenge (based on difficulty) and could track your progress on the dashboard.

Beyond that, I got the impression that SANS doesn’t want people to publish write-ups for these challenges so I’ll keep my notes on it private. But I’m working on a GitHub repo to keep useful tools all in one place, so check it out and I’m so open to feedback on format for that one, it’s a work in progress for sure!

There were a few challenges that were fairly easy to figure out, but for the most part I was learning new things as I went and lots of trial and error! I got about halfway through the challenges, which I was pretty proud of as a total beginner. Also, I didn’t finish last so go me! 😉

If you’re ever looking for a fun CTF keep your eyes open for these! I’m hoping they’ll continue them in 2021.

CompTIA Network+ Studies

Current Projects, Learning Path

Getting ready for the Network+ exam next! I have to say, I’m glad that I started with A+. I feel like it was broad and foundational, making it easier to jump in to the more specialized network topics.

Here are the study resources I’m using:

  1. Professor Messer‘s N10-007 Network+ Training Videos on YouTube
  2. CompTIA Network+ Deluxe Study Guide Fourth Edition by Todd Lammle
  3. Professor Messer’s Study Groups – I listened to the podcast while driving, but these would be pretty cool live!
  4. Oh, and of course the exam objectives from CompTIA!

I’ll let you know how the exam goes!

Wireshark

Project Ideas

Network packets. They’re like magic. And I want to learn all the spells.

I remember this one day at the tech support job that helped put me through college (we’re talking 2000-ish, so tech was a little different back then…), a co-worker and I were trying to figure out a communication issue with a particular PCI card. We set up two of these PCI cards to communicate with each other through TCP/IP. I loved orchestrating the communication process from the back end and watching it succeed!

As I’ve been studying for Network+ exam and learning about network communication and IP packets, I installed Wireshark on my computer and captured a set of packets to look at. It’s crazy how much information is there and I want to learn how to decode and make sense of all of it!

Some resources I plan to use through the process:

  • Lynda.com courses (library access is the best!): Wireshark Essential Training, Wireshark Network Troubleshooting, Wireshark Advanced Tools and Techniques
  • Wireshark User’s Guide

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Google App Scripts

Current Projects

Have you ever used Macros or Scripts in Microsoft Excel? I recently learned there is similar functionality in Google Apps, using Google App Scripts.

I recently had someone tell me she wanted to populate a Google Doc template with the submission from a Google Form, using an Add-on. However, she was restricted from installing Add-ons to her Google account based on HIPAA requirements. As I researched a workaround, I stumbled on Google App Scripts and dove in to find a solution for her specific problem. As I learned, I saw the potential for so many applications and projects for someone who uses Google tools heavily and wants automated solutions.

Overview of Google App Scripts on Google’s developer site, including learning tools and library documentation

It’s a work in progress, but check out my App Script projects.

In the Cloud

Learning Path, Project Ideas

I’m fascinated by the idea of Virtual Machines in the cloud.

Amazon Web Services has a free training course for their entry level cert, so that’s on my list for sure! I’ve gone through the first module already and have played around with an EC2 instance (linux!) and it’s pretty cool. But there’s so much I don’t know about how it works and all the things you can do with it!

CompTIA A+ Studies

Current Projects, Learning Path

As I’ve studied for the CompTIA A+ exams, here are the materials and processes I used.

  1. CompTIA exam objectives
  2. Professor Messer‘s 220-1001 Core 1 and 220-1002 Core 2 A+ Training Videos on YouTube
  3. All-In-One CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide Tenth Edition by Mike Meyers
  4. CompTIA A+ Practice Questions Exam Cram Core 1 (220-1001) and Core 2 (220-1002) by David L. Prowse
  5. Professor Messer’s Study Groups – I listened to the podcast while driving across the country, but these would be pretty cool live!
  6. I really liked Professor Messer’s practice exams book. His questions were the most like the ones I found on the actual exams than most of the other practice questions I used.

I started studying in March of 2020, and had some good momentum before all of the COVID craziness hit. My study time slowed down a bit because I was busy with so many other things (mom of 6 here, thank you very much… online learning is not my friend). I was ready to take the Core 1 exam by June and the Core 2 exam in July, and managed to pass each on the first try!

I really liked the material in this exam. I think if you’re new to tech, it’s a great foundational cert. I had a few people recommend starting here, and a few people say they thought it wasn’t worth it and they’d recommend skipping it. I’m really glad I started with this one instead of skipping it, and here’s why:

I kind of have a tech background… I mean, I started using computers when I was a kid (and I was a kid in the 80’s–yes, I’m dating myself here–so computers weren’t even really mainstream yet!) and I think I was about 6 when I wrote my first computer program: I thought I was hot stuff because I made an ASCII spaceship launch on the screen! When I was in my late teens I decided it would be cheaper to build a computer instead of buy one, so I bought the parts and used the instruction manuals as a guide (the internet was pretty new at the time so there weren’t a ton of online resources at the time). But then I took a few computer science classes in college and quickly realized programming–like full-on software development–was not for me, so I changed my major to math and loved that. (Full-on geek here, and proud of it!) I think if there were other tech majors besides computer science and engineering at the time I might have landed there, but alas. In the end, I graduated with a non-tech degree because, well, it’s a long story, but basically it was a time thing.

But the thing is, even though I’ve dabbled in tech over the years since then, there was still so much on the A+ exam that was either new to me or long-forgotten that is really foundational. Whatever job I end up with, I don’t want to be caught without basic foundational computer knowledge and I think the A+ prep helped me get to a position where hopefully that won’t be an issue.

I guess that was the long route to say, if you’re not sure about the A+ just go for it!

Wireshark, Part 2

Courses

In the fall I discovered Wireshark and honestly it’s been an amazing tool!

The following courses on LinkedIn Learning were awesome! Check your local library for access to LinkedIn Learning courses, it’s a great way to get amazing content for free!

I’ve learned that there’s a lot of detail in each packet, and a tool like Wireshark can help unlock the magic! If you haven’t tried it out, I’d definitely recommend it.