Certifications
The RHCSA is Red Hat's system administrator certification covering Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (RHEL 9). This is a practical exam. There are no multiple-e choice questions, but rather a series of tasks that a user must complete to successfully get credit. I already knew how to navigate the linux file system, make scripts, manage user and file permissions, and create simple scheduled tasks. But studying for this exam I also learned podman container management, storage volume management, system daemons and services, and resetting a lost root password.
The CCNA is the successor to the CCENT and requires the knowledge to design and configure a network using various Cisco hardware and infrastructure. With the CCNA I mastered various concepts such as DNS, DHCP, VLANs, port security, NTP, SDN, controller based networking, subnetting, VLSM, TCP/IP, switching, routing, trunking, IPAM, STP, ACL, QoS and many more.
The CySA takes the concepts learned in the Security+ to the next level. It is the successor with a focus on Blue Team concepts. It covered concepts such as SIEM, SOAR, incident response, OWASP, encryption, SDLC, and scripting. We learned the fundamentals of tools such as Wireshark, Maltego, Burp Suite, Zed, Nikto, Nessus, Nmap, and Prowler.
The Security+ went in depth on security concepts such as attacks, threats & vulnerabilities, operations and incident response, and GRC. Regulations such as PCI-DSS, SOX, HIPAA, GDPR, FISMA, NIST, and CCPA were covered.
This certification solidified my knowledge of computer hardware, operating systems, and troubleshooting. It also laid a foundation for virtualization concepts, networking concepts, and security concepts which I would go on to further develop on my own.