I was going to go for the CCNA CyberOps last year but when I saw it was retiring soon, I decided to start studying for the SSCP while I waited for the new Cisco CyberOps Associate Exam. Fast-forward to March 2021, and I decided to pick up the CyberOps book and prepare for that exam. Plus, there’s quite a bit of overlap between this and the SSCP so I didn’t feel like my time was wasted.
Honestly I just thought the Cisco exam seemed a bit more technical in the sense that I would have to be more hands on with my preparation, so that’s why I switched to it. I was definitely right, passing this exam required a lot of hands on with various tools, labs, and topics covered. Had I just tried to focus on memorizing definitions and concepts I don’t think I would have passed. Setting up a lab, using cyber ranges, and just toying with the many tools covered (and even those not covered) helped quite a bit!
Info on the CyberOps Associate certification: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/cyberops-associate
As far as the resources I used to prepare for the certification, here’s my list:
- Skilsoft/Percipio SSCP & CyberOps Courses – https://www.skillsoft.com/meet-skillsoft-percipio
- SSCP all in one exam guide (bought on Amazon) – https://amzn.to/3t8ZCRr
- Cisco official cert guide (bought on Amazon) – https://amzn.to/3nFXKyd
- Cisco official cert guide premium – https://www.ciscopress.com/search/index.asp?query=CyberOps
- Cisco Exam Review – https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/assessments-and-practice-exams
- Pluralsight CyberOps – https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/certificate/cisco-certified-cyberops-associate-cbrops-200-201
- Infosec Skills CyberOps (CCNA CyberOps) – https://app.infosecinstitute.com/portal/skills/path/322
- Pluralsight packet analysis course – https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/packet-analysis-getting-started
- NIST SP800 61 and 86 – https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/sp
- Regexone.com – https://regexone.com/lesson/introduction_abcs
- Cisco CBROPS Study Material – https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/cyberops-associate
- Linux labs & courses (TryHackMe, Infosec Skills, Skillsoft)
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