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You can save on the cost of your CompTIA exams by purchasing discount vouchersfrom our web site.

Here’s how it works: CompTIA member companies like Total Seminars are able to purchase vouchers for the CompTIA exams and resell them to students at a discount to the full price you would pay when you register with VUE or buy at the CompTIA web store.

Before you register for your CompTIA exam, go to Total Seminars web site and purchase a discount voucher. Your order will be processed and you will receive an email with your voucher number.

When you register for your CompTIA exam online at the VUE web site, you have an option to pay by credit card or by voucher. Select “voucher” and type in the voucher number you received by email when you purchased the Discount Vouchers from Total Seminars.

Example: you can save over $40* on the cost of the two CompTIA A+ Exams.

When you purchase a discount voucher it is good for up to 11 months (the exact date the voucher expires is included in your email). You must register for your exam online with VUE before the date the discount voucher expires.

* prices change from time to time, at the time of this blog the savings sighted in the example were available on the Total Seminars web site when purchasing the “Two VUE A+ Certification Vouchers” bundle.

CompTIA A+ 801/802 Exams to Retire June 30^th

CompTIA will be retiring the A+ 801/802 exams June 30^th. If you have been studying for the 80x series of exams you need to complete BOTH exams before the deadline. You cannot mix and match one 80x exam with one 90x exam.

The new A+ 901/902 exams were released December 2015. CompTIA allows a 6 month overlap between launching a new series of exams and retiring the previous version. Either set of exams qualifies you to be CompTIA A+ Certified.

Make sure you are ready to pass the A+ exams with Total Seminars Total Tester and TotalSims bundle. Total Tester; is an interactive practice test software with over 1000 practice test questions. You can create custom exams by chapter in Mike’s book or by exam objective. TotalSims; prepare for CompTIA’s performance-based questions and learn more about technical concepts covered on the exams.

You can also save on the cost of the exams with CompTIA Discount Vouchers.

The new 90x exams have dropped coverage of Windows XP and added Linux and OS X coverage. There is also more mobile technology, configuration and troubleshooting. Finally, there is more coverage on security and cloud computing issues.

A+ Certification Overview:

Held by over 1 ​million IT professionals worldwide, CompTIA A+ is the most essential IT certification for establishing an IT career. If you’re new to the IT industry, this will help you put your best foot forward. And if you’re already an IT professional, the CompTIA A+ certification validates your skills and can boost your career.

A+ is comprehensive and vendor-neutral A+ certified professionals have mastered the technologies found in today’s extensive and varied IT environments, from mobile to traditional devices and operating systems. They can confidently handle the most challenging technology problems more efficiently. Learn more with this infographic.

A+ validates foundational skills A+ establishes best practices in troubleshooting, networking and security across a variety of devices to set the stage for IT careers. The certification also matches professional tech skills with communication skills.

A+ is trusted by employers As businesses and governments worldwide continue to adopt mobile and cloud technology, they trust A+ certified professionals to keep their devices running and organizations working smoothly.

A+ is globally recognized and accredited CompTIA A+ is compliant with ISO 17024 standards and is approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to meet directive 8570.01-M requirements.

A+ is industry supported A+ is developed and maintained by leading IT experts. The A+ exam content stems from a combination of industry-wide survey feedback and contributions from our team of subject matter experts. Learn more about the people behind the CompTIA A+ exam development and the CompTIA A+ Advisory Committee.

Effective January 1, 2016 CompTIA is raising the price for all their exams. A quick summary of the old and new prices:

Exam               Old Price         New Price
A+ (each)         $194.00           $199.00
Network+         $277.00           $285.00
Security+          $302.00          $311.00

Total Seminars (www.totalsem.com) sells discount vouchers for these CompTIA exams. We have decided to hold last year’s prices until the end of January 2016.

If you plan on taking your exams this year be sure and purchase your vouchers now before we have to raise our discount voucher prices to reflect the higher CompTIA prices!

Act now before we have to raise our prices!

At a time when some industries are shedding jobs, IT offers a wider range of entry-level positions and career advancement opportunities than just about any other field.

Consider these facts:

• There are currently over 500,000 job openings for IT professionals in the U.S., according to CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association.

• U.S. employers are expected to need 140,000 network system and data communications analysts, a 53% increase, over the next decade, according to the U.S. Department of Labor..

• Industry observers are sounding the alarm about a growing networking and security skills gap. That’s good news for Network+ certified techs with these much needed skills.

• 91% of hiring managers indicate that CompTIA certifications are valuable in validating expertise.

• The average salary of a network engineer is $91,000

Think of an IT career as a lifelong learning path. Earning certifications is how you show employers you’re advancing your skills and are ready for the next step. A typical certification path would include:

CompTIA A+ Cert. => Network+ Cert. => Security+ Cert. => Microsoft or Cisco Certs.

The Network+ Certification exam covers a lot of material. The list price for the exam is $277. You want to make sure you’re ready to pass the exam the first time so you don’t have to pay for a retake.

Studying for the Network+ exam: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Here’s the best way to learn the concepts, memorize the material, and make sure you’re ready to pass the exam:

Learn

Step 1; whether you’re an experienced network tech or just starting out, you need to make sure you know all the concepts covered on the exams. With so much to learn the best way to start is to find a good textbook or video training course. Don’t try to learn everything at once. Start with bite sized pieces. Take a first bite; read a few chapters or watch a series of videos that cover a related group of topics.

Practice

Step 2; Take a break from learning new concepts and practice what you have learned in the first group of topics. I recommend setting up a home lab. You will need several computers, routers, switches, cabling and a simple server to start. You can usually get some used equipment to start with and build from there. You will need to set up a network in your home lab and add functions as you cover topics in your studies. You can also purchase a set of Network+ simulations. Try to find simulations that track chapter by chapter the book or videos you are using to study. This will allow you to get hands-on experience that will reinforce what you have learned and help you commit the information to memory. These types of simulations can also help prepare you for the performance-based questions you will see on the CompTIA Network+ exam.

Take a practice test

Step 3; Get a good set of practice test questions; preferably one that works with your study materials and allows you to test on groups of chapters or topics. This way you can test yourself only on the topics you have studied so far, see where your weak areas are and go back and review them before you go on to the next group of topics.

Repeat

Step 4; Repeat this process one bite size set of topics at a time. Keep the amount of material you try to master at one time small, practice and test yourself until you are confident before you take the next bite. Pretty soon the elephant doesn’t look so big. Finally, once you have covered all the material for the entire exam use the practice test software to covering everything and find any last weak areas for review.

This step-by-step study methodology will help you tackle the large amount of material covered on the CompTIA Network+ exam in a systematic way that makes it easier to remember everything and make sure you are ready to pass the exam the first time.

The key to this approach is to find training videos, simulations and practice test software that work well together and allow you to use them in matching bite size pieces. Total Seminars offers videos, simulations and practice test software that all map to Mike Meyer All-in-One book. The author Mike Meyers offers Video training plus TotalSims, Network+ simulations and Total Tester, Network+ practice test software on his Total Seminars web site. Both these products track chapter by chapter with the videos. Total Seminars also has discount vouchers that will save you on the cost of the CompTIA exam.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our training materials for the new CompTIA Network+ exam. Mike’s new All-in-One 6th edition book is in the warehouse. You can access updated TotalSims, Total Tester practice exams, and Mike’s new video series right now. Click the Network+ tab at the top of the page.

Also check out Mike’s Introduction to the NEW Network+ N10-006 video:

Move Aims to Prod Developers to Adopt Technology That Protects Against Hackers

Google Inc. wants to reward websites that are more secure.

The world’s most popular search engine said it is now giving bonus points in its ranking algorithm to Web pages that are encrypted. Google hopes the move will prod website developers to adopt technology that protects against hackers breaking into their websites and stealing users’ information.

“We hope to see more websites using HTTPS in the future,” Google said in a blog post, referring to the protocol for securing communications over digital networks.

The move is the latest, and among the most significant, steps Google has taken to make the Web more secure, efforts it has accelerated in the wake of disclosures about Internet snooping by the National Security Agency.

“This is a huge deal,” said Christopher Soghoian, a principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is the ultimate carrot for websites” to use encryption.

Encrypting data transmitted over the Internet adds a barrier between Web users and anyone who wants to snoop on or steal their data. That can help protect users even when they connect through unsecured Wi-Fi networks in airports and coffee shops, for example.

“If you were sending a letter with your credit-card information and Social Security number, would you send it in a secure envelope or a clear envelope?” asks Kevin Mahaffey, chief technology officer and co-founder of mobile-security company Lookout Inc. With encryption, users are, in effect, putting their data in a more secure envelope to better protect it in transit.

The desire among websites to rank highly in Google search results means Google can use its search algorithm to encourage and discourage practices among Web developers. Sites that load slowly are penalized in search rankings, for instance, while those with higher quality content get a boost. In all, Google uses more than 200 “signals” in its search rankings, most of which it doesn’t discuss publicly.

“This is a lot like consumer reports saying that the overall rating of a car is higher because it has airbags,” says Lookout’s Mr. Mahaffey.

Google said it had begun favoring encrypted sites over the past few months. Up to now, it has been a “lightweight” signal, affecting less than 1% of global searches. But it plans to boost the weighting over time.

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that inside Google, executives were discussing taking encryption into account in Web rankings.

Historically, website operators have shied away from encryption because of concerns about cost and slowing response times. Messrs. Mahaffey and Soghoian said the cost of encryption has declined, while its use by Google and Facebook Inc. suggest it doesn’t have to slow a website.

To protect its own users, Google encrypts user searches as well as email sent via its Gmail service. It has also raced to encrypt data flowing among its data centers world-wide, an effort that it accelerated following reports that the NSA had spied on that traffic. In June, Google also published a new report disclosing data about email providers that don’t encrypt emails.

The Commerce Department has second thoughts about surrendering America’s online oversight.
From the Wall Street Journal

By
L. Gordon Crovitz

April 13, 2014 6:51 p.m. ET

Less than a month after announcing its plan to abandon U.S. protection of the open Internet in 2015, the White House has stepped back from the abyss. Following objections by Bill Clinton, a warning letter from 35 Republican senators, and critical congressional hearings, the administration now says the change won’t happen for years, if ever.

“We can extend the contract for up to four years,” Assistant Commerce Secretary Lawrence Strickling told Congress last week, referring to the agreement under which the U.S. retains ultimate control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann. If the administration makes good on that reassurance, it would punt the decision to 2019 and the next president.

Mr. Strickling originally linked the end of U.S. control to the September 2015 expiration date of the current Icann agreement. He backtracked at a Hudson Institute conference last week: “We did not intend that to be a deadline after which ‘bad things’ would happen. There has been some misapprehension that we were trying to impose a deadline on this process. We weren’t.” Fadi Chehade, Icann’s CEO, agreed. “There is no deadline,” he said. “The U.S. has many years on the contract.”

In an interview, Mr. Chehade assured me that he understands why supporters of the open Internet want the U.S. to retain its oversight role, which keeps countries like Russia and China from meddling. “I’m worried, too,” he said. “There’s no question that governments like power and certain governments will always try to take control of the Internet, so we will have to be careful.”

The Commerce Department tasked Icann to come up with a plan to invite authoritarian governments to participate while still keeping the Internet open. This is likely impossible—and wholly unnecessary. Nongovernmental “multi-stakeholders,” such as engineers, networking companies and technology associations, now run the Internet smoothly. They are free to do so because the U.S. retains ultimate control over Internet domains, blocking authoritarian regimes from censoring or otherwise limiting the Internet outside their own countries.

The Obama administration proposal would have treated other governments as equal stakeholders, turning the concept of private-sector self-governance on its head. Robert McDowell, a former commissioner at the Federal Communication Commission, pointed out at the Hudson Institute event that “‘multi-stakeholder’ historically has meant no government,” not many governments.

Mr. Strickling tried to deflect criticism in his testimony: “No one has yet to explain to me the mechanism by which any of these individual governments could somehow seize control of the Internet as a whole.” The senior State Department official involved in Internet governance, Daniel Sepulveda, similarly claimed at the Hudson Institute: “Governments can no more take over Icann than Google GOOGL +1.38% can take over Icann.”

These are false assurances. Steve DelBianco of the NetChoice trade association gave this example in congressional testimony: Under Icann rules, a majority of governments can simply vote to end the current consensus approach and switch to majority voting. China and Iran are already lobbying for this change. Russia, China and other governments switched to majority voting to outfox the U.S. at a conference of the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency, in 2012. Mr. Sepulveda called that an “anomaly,” but the result was an 89-55 vote for a treaty giving U.N. legitimacy to governments cutting off the open Internet in their countries. This division of the Internet into open and closed networks goes into effect next year.

The Obama administration somehow thinks sacrificing U.S. control of Icann will satisfy regimes eager further to undermine the open Internet. Mr. Strickling argues: “Taking this action is the best measure to prevent authoritarian regimes from expanding their restrictive policies beyond their borders.” The opposite is true. Granting these countries access to Icann and the root zone filenames and addresses on the Internet would give them the potential to close off the global Internet, including for Americans, by deciding rules for how all websites anywhere must operate.

The letter sent by Republican senators identified a dozen criticisms of the plan. They asked why it’s in the U.S. interest to cede control and how control could be regained once lost.

The senators also asked to see the legal opinion claiming the executive branch has the power to transfer control of the Internet without congressional approval. A bill called the Internet Stewardship Act was introduced in the House to mandate congressional approval before any change is made. Unanimous congressional resolutions starting in 2005 have called on the U.S. to retain control over Icann.

If Mr. Obama still thinks giving up U.S. protection of the open Internet and its multi-stakeholder community is such a great idea, he should ask Congress to vote on it. He won’t, because there is zero chance that an Abandon the Internet Act would ever pass.