Started Checkpoint CCSA - some details

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Hi All,

Last night I decided to get on my bike an get certified for the Checkpoint CCSA exam. As I've done with my other certs, I'm going the self-study route.

I have decided to take the Check Point Certificate Security Administrator CCSA Certification on R75 secureplatform. We don't yet use GAIA where I work and R75 is still supported by checkpoint up until 2016, so this is the right exam for me to validate what I know and push my understanding of the product a bit further.

Here are the details of the exam for all those interested. You can find (with a bit ((LOTS)) of digging) all the details on the checkpoint website.

Exam#:156-215.75
Check Point Security
Administration R75
Products:
Security Gateway, Firewall, Smart Console, Remote Access VPN, IPSEC VPN, User Directory, Anti-spam/virus/mail, URL filtering, Identity Awareness

Some basics (and a bit of marketing ;) ) about the certificate:

What you need to know
•Check Point Technology Overview
•Deployment Platforms and Security Policies
•Monitoring Traffic and Connections
•User Management and Authentication
•Implementing Identity Awareness in the Firewall
•Configuring VPN tunnels
•Resolving security administration issues

Prerequisites:

•6 months to 1 year of experience with Check Point products recommended
•Check Point User Center account

How You Will Benefit:

•CCSA’s rank higher than other security vendor professionals
•Validation you have the skills to manage today’s latest network security advancements
•Certified Professionals community, newsletter and special web access

--
Unfortunately in the usercenter, there is no study guide however, the topics on the exam are apparently about the same as the 2013 one. Here is the website for all the details about the various exams: Self-Study Resources | Check Point Software

The checkpoint user center account is free and gives you access to more details and some free ressources, ie a practice exam. Only 20 questions though, however it's better than nothing.

For the study, I'm using the study guide and lab guide and taking notes using microsoft one-note. I have also the CBTnuggets videos (one month IT training access to there videos of a month) and also all the administation guides (many pages!) available free from the checkpoint website.

It's gonna be tough!

For the labs, I have an iso image of secureplaform and will build my network using virtualbox.

The exam is booked via the pearson vue and on the website it costs about 200 euros about 180 quid.

...so chapter one, here we go

Cheers.

- - - Updated - - -

p.s - on the vue website you can find out more information about the certificates available.

http://www.vue.com/checkpoint/

 

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Hey buddy,

I passed my CCNA Security last week and decided to start studying my CCSA in the next couple of days. I have been looking all over the web and I am struggling to understand how the CCSA R75 self-study works..
I went onto the self-study portal and it seems that their is no study guide available (not like Cisco). I also had a look on Amazon but couldn't find anything related.
Could you let me know where did you get your study/lab guide?

Merci beaucoup ;)

Ben

 

You can buy the courseware on the checkpoint site for $600 only:

Check Point eStore

I have the R65 courseware but that's probably far outdated...

You could ask Braderz what he used to prep for the exam: http://www.certforums.com/forums/networks/48495-passed-ccsa-where-next-network-engineer.html

 

I have all the r76 official material... Contact me in pvt for details

 

I passed my CCSA exam today. So pretty pleased

However, I was disappointed with myself as I think I could have got a higher mark if I really had put my mind to it.

The biggest tip I can give you all is to install the smartconsoles and connect to them on demo mode. Forget about the official training, and official books!! Go through EACH menu, window, option and click on the help file to learn about each. Learn about Identity Awareness, NAT, Policy, Global Properties, CLI commands. Unfortuneatly, I find the study guides will give you about 30% of what you need, or even the bare minimum.

I can't stress enough that you need to download the ISO from checkpoint and get as much practise on the product as possible. Your experience will help you Don't forget IPSO too, if you are taking the R75 exam.

Good luck with this.

Me I'm on to CCNA security and then CCNP Security, or beyond



And remember, don't to the braindumps!!!! If you have cheated, and learnt the answers to the exam, you have cheated yourself.