CompTIA, the leading trade association for the global technology industry, released the following statement from CompTIA Executive Vice President for Public Advocacy Elizabeth Hyman regarding the temporary reopening of the federal government.
“While we join many Americans in breathing a sigh of relief over today’s agreement to temporarily reopen the government, unfortunately, the damage done by this month-long standoff will leave economic and cybersecurity waves in its wake. We now have a three-week respite. We urge Congress and the Administration to move quickly to a long-term budget so that we can restore faith, support for our federal workers, and not further harm the long-term prospect of recruiting and retaining skilled workers to work on our nation’s behalf.”
About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the leading voice and advocate for the $4.8 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the more than 35 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, market research and membership programs, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce.
CompTIA launched A+, it’s first IT certification, in 1993 to standardize skills for PC technicians in a manner that showed they could work on any machine, no matter the vendor. Today, CompTIA A+ validates the entry-level IT skills employers demand and gives IT pros a broad perspective on many IT functions. If you got your CompTIA A+ 10 or 20 years ago, you may be wondering how the Core series, which launched this week, compares to the exams you took. Keep reading below to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same.
CompTIA A+: The Initial Release
1993 to 2000
The first iteration of CompTIA A+ focused on PC components and did not have dedicated domains for computer networking or security. It covered popular operating systems, including DOS 6.x, Windows 3.1 and Apple Macintosh System 7. It also covered an array of hardware, including AT motherboard form factors, serial and parallel ports and connectors, CRT monitors, dot matrix printers, floppy disk drives and CD-ROMs.
When was the last time you saw a dot matrix printer or a floppy disk drive? This is a great example of why CompTIA A+ has continued to evolve over the years – to reflect the changes in technology and the needs of the industry.
CompTIA A+: Version 2001
2001 to 2003
After eight years on the market, CompTIA A+ was ready for a refresh. This also marks the beginning of the three-year renewal cycle.
The core of the exam still focused on PC hardware components, but this sparked its evolution from computer repair to a more well-rounded tech support certification. This version saw the addition of a domain dedicated to computer networking, including topics on internet connectivity, HTTP and TCP/IP. CompTIA A+ also now emphasized diagnosing and troubleshooting issues, a shift from the break-fix mentality.
The exam still covered Windows, motherboard form factors, drives and ports, but it upgraded to the latest technologies, including Windows 2000, DVD drives, SCSI connectors and LCD monitors. Coverage of the Apple Macintosh was dropped.
CompTIA A+: Version 2003
2004 to 2006
In this second update, we saw even more of a transition from PC repair to building a PC from components, connecting it to the network and troubleshooting. In 2004, CompTIA A+ put network and internet connectivity front and center and split networking into two domains: network hardware and client software configuration.
In 2003, the first iteration of personal devices – personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Palm Pilots – were added to CompTIA A+. New technology including wireless LAN connectivity, DNS and Cat6 networking cabling were also added, as were firewire, USB 1.1 and infrared receivers.
CompTIA A+: 600 Series
2006 to 2009
By 2006, security had found its way to tech support and the help desk, and CompTIA A+ reflected that. The 600 series added a dedicated security domain, covering topics including software-level security, accounts, permissions, antivirus software, firewalls, encryption and malware, including adware, viruses and grayware.
This series also offered three different exam options to meet the needs of different IT pros: remote support for end users, enterprise technical support and PC build and repair.
Computer networking and the internet continued to be a focus, with topics such as LAN/WAN and VoIP. In addition to PCs, CompTIA A+ also now supported laptops, setting the stage for mobile device support.
CompTIA A+: 700 Series
2010 to 2012
As cybersecurity threats exploded, CompTIA A+ delved even deeper into types of attacks and how to mitigate them. The entry-level IT certification covered topics including authentication technologies, encryption, BitLocker and social engineering as well as Disk Manager, Event Viewer, Device Manager and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
Networking coverage expanded as well, covering ports and protocols, TCP/IP, HTTP, FTP, POP, SMTP, TELNET, wireless networking, WEP, WPA, SSID and more. In addition to the printers themselves, the 700 series of CompTIA A+ covered networked versus local printers.
Lastly, devices including projectors, web cameras, touchscreens, touchpads, track points and removable storage were added to the IT certification exam.
CompTIA A+: 800 Series
2013 to 2015
The CompTIA A+ 800 series split its focus evenly between supporting end users across devices and building custom PCs. Basic cloud computing concepts were added for the first time in 2013, as well as a dedicated domain for mobile devices, featuring OS administration and device connectivity.
Operating system coverage included Windows XP, Vista and 7, Android and iOS, with command-line admin tools and utilities, user account control, Windows firewall and upgrade paths.
On the hardware side, CompTIA A+ included motherboard expansion slots, storage drives, output connectors and devices. The exam even covered gamepads, joysticks, motion sensors and Smart TVs.
Physical and logical security, client-side virtualization and virtual printing were also added.
CompTIA A+: 900 Series
2016 to 2018
In 2016, CompTIA A+ brought back Apple and added Linux and the internet of things (IoT). The 900 series focused on supporting user access to applications and data from any device. Security moved to the forefront, bleeding into all exam domains rather than being limited to one.
CompTIA A+ now covered a wide variety of computers, ranging from PCs to wearables, from smartphones to GPS. The operating systems covered are just as broad, with Windows, Android, Mac and Linux all getting attention.
The modern exam stayed true to its roots with coverage of motherboard form factors, hardware and components, but it included the latest iterations. Hardware coverage also now included mobile device accessories, such as headsets, docking stations and credit card readers.
Cloud, mobile devices and connectivity, wireless networking and cybersecurity were all addressed, as well as PowerShell, software as a service (SaaS) and router configurations.
CompTIA A+: The Core Series
2019
This week CompTIA released the newest version of the CompTIA A+ certification, the Core Series. It focuses on enabling end users and devices to securely access the data needed to complete a task. Despite its evolution, the exam continues to emphasize problem solving and takes a vendor-neutral approach to tech support.
The latest iteration gives cloud computing and virtualization a dedicated domain and introduces scripting as an important technical support tool. Coverage of IoT is expanded, including both device hardware and connectivity.
Cybersecurity also plays a key role, with topics such as Active Directory security settings, software tokens, security protocols and encryption, authentication methods and security threat identification and prevention. Privacy concerns and policies, such as GDPR, are also addressed.
Networking and hardware round out the certification, which gives aspiring IT pros a well-rounded view of what they might encounter at the help desk and a taste of the specialties they could choose to pursue in the future.
They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. While CompTIA A+ still covers the basics, like motherboards and operating systems, it has evolved to include modern technology concepts and devices and shifted its focus from PC repair to problem solving.
As a cloud engineer, I maintain a customer cloud infrastructure. I ensure that the data processing solutions are functional and that accesses and data are correctly processed. I also ensure we are following best practices, keeping costs down and keeping our solutions secure.
In the Amazon cloud environment, I maintain the EC2 instances (virtual machines), monitor incoming transaction queues, maintain s3 (storage) and create identity access management (IAM) roles and policies.
A typical day includes making the environment safer, finding ways to automate processes, finding optimizations for cost and performance, and responding to customer inquiries.
How did you become a cloud engineer?
I have bachelor’s degree, and I worked a little bit of everything in IT before moving to the cloud: from desktop support to Windows admin, Linux admin and VMWare admin to data center and cybersecurity.
I also have a lot of IT certifications:
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Linux+/LPIC-1
CompTIA PenTest+
Certified Ethical Hacker
Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester (GXPN)
Amazon Solutions Architect Associate.
The certifications have helped open doors to me in different areas of technology, by meeting a requirement on a job application or by proving I have some baseline experience within certain fields. They also help me identify what I need to know, especially in emerging fields like cloud computing.
To gain hands-on skills, I like to tinker with new, interesting things, so I used a free trial account to get familiar with the cloud. Usually it helps to just jump in and try things out, learn from the mistakes.
What are some of the differences between working on-premises vs. cloud?
Making the transition from working an on-premises data center to the cloud was really fascinating for me. Working in the cloud environment is different from a regular data center because you can manage most of what you need to do from the console.
If I need to change dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) settings or modify subnets or access control lists (ACLs), it can all be done within the web interface or through the command line. In my previous positions, I’d have to pull up the management console for the specific services. I never did much with ACLs on network devices or routing before, but within a cloud environment, you get to learn all the facets in one spot.
Another large difference between on-premises data centers versus the cloud is that the cloud emphasizes infrastructure as code. Within the Amazon cloud, you can deploy cloud formation templates and essentially deploy your environment with YAML files. This makes it super easy to re-deploy things like a test environment, which usually skews from production, and can keep the configurations very close.
There are also slightly different security concerns in a cloud versus a standard data center. A lot of controls can be inherited from the cloud provider, and there are a handful of differences that make the older compliance rules not applicable.
The cloud provider also gets their services certified for use for specific compliance purposes. For example, Amazon has a list of services and what compliance they fall under: Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Payment Card Industry (PCI), Service Organization Control (SOC) and more.
Another large difference within the cloud is having resources on demand. You can set up your servers to spin up more instances if there is a lot of consumption, like at peak times, and then just shut them off and not pay for them when they are not needed. Optimizing the use of those resources for cost is very specific to your cloud provider.
Where I worked before, we would have technical refreshes with on-premises data centers, finding the best cost of new hardware that will be most reliable until new funds were allocated. Here in the cloud, we are determining if our instances can run smaller, configuring autoscaling groups for more efficiencies or discerning which style of deployment or cloud-provided utility will best fit our system needs at the lowest cost. As most cloud providers keep incorporating new features and changing prices, this can be very interesting and keep you on your toes!
How do your past experiences play into the role you have now?
The cloud is a nice big mix of everything. I use networking, server administration, scripting and vulnerability and pen testing skills to help architect and support our system layouts. Almost everything I’ve learned or done at previous jobs help me manage our cloud environment in some way because the foundations have a lot of similarities.
What’s next on your learning agenda?
Currently, I’m getting ready to test for my GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) certification and continuing studies on my master’s in computer science.
What advice would you have for someone who wants to work in cloud computing?
I would say not to be intimidated. A lot of the concepts are the same, just with a different interface. Seasoned on-premises engineers and administrators will not find it too difficult to pick up. Also, most cloud providers offer a free trial account so that you can use that to help study for certifications or get a handle on what it’s like.
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