CertNexus CSC 210 and CFR 410

2023-03-24 10:27:00

About a month ago I re-sat CompTIA's Linux+ exam, to make sure I am still preparing my students properly for their own exams. I still like the Linux+ exam (which I first beta-tested in 2021) and I'm happy to say that my course's curriculum properly covers all "my kids" need to know.

This week I sat not one, but two exams. That makes four this year, so far. :D

Why the sudden rush, with two exams in a week? I'm applying as CertNexus Authorized Instructor, through an acceleration programme that CN are running. They invited professional trainer to prepare and take their exams for free, so CN can expand their pool of international trainers. 

I feel that's absolutely marvelous. What a great opportunity! I heartily applaud CertNexus for this step.

The first exam which I took was CSC-210: Cyber Secure Coder. The curriculum had a nice overlap with the secure coding / app hacking classes that our team taught at ${Customer}, which means it's a class I would feel comfortable teaching. It's not programming per sé, it's about having a properly secure design and way-of-work in building your software. The curriculum is language agnostic, though the example projects are mostly in Python and NodeJS. 

I went through the official book for CSC and I like the quality. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than CompTIA's style. I haven't gone through the slide decks yet, so I can't say anything about those yet. The exam, I really liked. The questions often tested for insight and when it asked to define certain concepts, it wasn't just dry regurgitation. 

I can definitely recommend CertNexus CSC to anyone who needs an entry-level training and/or certification for secure development. 

Now, CFR-410 (CyberSec First Responder) is a different beast. I took the beta back in 2021 and at the time I was not overly impressed. The exam has stayed the same: it still asks about outdated concepts and it still has dry fact-regurgitation questions. 

I haven't gone through the book and slides yet, I'll do that this weekend so I can update this post. 

have contact CertNexus to offer them feedback and help, so we can improve CFR. Simply complaining about it won't help anyone, I'd rather help them improve their product.

EDIT: CertNexus have indicated they will welcome any feedback I can provide them for CFR, so that's ace. I will work with them in the coming weeks. 


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