WGU MSCSIA Week 6: Security Operations and CySA+ Crunch Time

 Another week has gone by and I was able to finish D486 GRC first try! No comment from me except to just follow the rubric. I am not trying to finish a class in a day or in a week because I would like to retain the information I'm learning. When I started this paper, I would try to do a section per day (at least outlining) and then when I feel like it's good to go, then I have a go at it and write to my heart's content.

Now this week I will be starting the paper for D483 and be studying for the Comptia CySA+ exam. I'll continue to watch movies in the background and work on the PBQs on certmaster during my down time at work. I'm hoping to schedule the test before December and then on the week of I will work through practice exams and studying what I got wrong.

I don't think I'll have time to work on my project for Game Off 2024. I am contributing on QAing open source engines so maybe I'll start on my games again.

I did see Sunami and Big Boy this weekend so it was filled with hardcore music. This is unrelated but I just wanted to add that I'm not always studying and have been seeing concerts as of late. When I went to buy merch at the Monster Outbreak tour in San Jose, I bought an Impurity and Killing Time shirt. I lost my Killing Time shirt but I still got the pin. Sucks though. But I'm always down to rep more hardcore bands.

WGU MSCSIA Week 5: Beginning of November

 It's the beginning of November and I just submitted my paper for D486! I'm about 50/50 on it and I'm sure I'll get it returned to fix something only because the rubric for was very ambiguous. I think I know what they want but I will see what happens after they review it.

I'm pulling through D482 especially the certmaster lessons. I been going through them on my spare time at work and work on the practice quizzes when I can. The labs are pretty good as they provide hands on experience with tools and software that I normally don't use at work. There is a paper assignment for this course as well but it doesn't look too bad. It looks like you fill out the a form regarding the lab you took. I only just saw a glimpse of it so I'm not 100% sure until I actually tackle it. I'm hoping to take the CySa+ exam before Thanksgiving (Or earlier!) and get the next course started by the end of November too. (Or early December!)

I did sign up for Game Off 2024 and I want to use twine again but I don't think I'll have time for it. I want to get into circuit boarding and hardware programming since I saw a arduino kit being offered for free by inventr.io so I might get into that as well.

See you guys next week.

WGU MSCSIA Week 4: Almost the end of the 1st month.

 It's almost the end of October and I'm about to wrap up my 2nd class. I'm still working through the PA and I'm hoping to get it done by October 31st. I started it last week but took a couple days break to hit up some concerts in Los Angeles and San Jose.

This paper had more research I needed to do but once I got the materials I needed, it'll be a breeze! (I needed to look at impact rating standards). I also have to find sources supporting the rating and how to deal with them as well for D486. But now that I know how the assessments are done, my tip is to write with the rubric. If it tells you to list 3 things, list those 3 things. No less and no more.

Also this week I will start on the course for Security Operations. With the head start I already taken for it (CySa+ prepping videos). I think I might be able to take the comptia exam before Thanksgiving and start on my next set of classes before December as well.

Not much of an update for this week, but I'll let you guys know how the CySA+ course goes. I believe is both a paper assessment and a comptia exam. (Let's get my next cert!)

The goal is to try and get to the capstone as my last class on the final month of the term.

WGU MSCSIA Week 3: Passed D482!

 Week 3 has finished and got the email this morning that I passed D482!

I did have to do a revision and thankfully it was all minor. I only had to fix some things in 2 parts but considering that I haven't done any paper essays in about a decade I didn't feel bad at all.For anyone reading. For anyone reading and getting ready to start the course, I would recommend to double check your work and make sure you follow what the rubric needs. Don't over think it too much. Try to start writing what you want to write, templating your essay and then start on it. 

 For Week 4, I'm going to begin working on the next course, D486 and hoping to start major work on the essay later this week as well.

My goal is to try and get CySA+ before Thanksgiving and accelerate the next set of classes before December. I'll still be working on my essay and listening to CySA+ videos while trying to take practice quizzes when I can.

I finished the CySA+ course on Percipo as a "Let's see what I'm getting into" while the LinkedIn Course I'm doing will be the one Ill pay more close attention to.

Anyways, let's see what D486 is all about!

See you guys next week.

Also, I registered for Game Off 2024. November will be super busy.

WGU MSCSIA - Week 2: Beginning my 2nd class!

Week 2 was a breeze. I started my 2nd course which I ended up doing D486 Governance since it's another paper assessment course. I am listening/watching CySA+ videos while I'm doing the labs and course material to get a head start which I'm hoping to commit to CySA+ by the end of October and be certified in early November!

I'm almost done with the paper assessment for D482 and I did a lot of research to make sure I was on the right track. Been looking at reddit for tips but now that I started writing the paper, it's all coming together. I might have been overthinking it or it could be because I haven't been doing anything school related in over a decade. I had to look up how to write an essay and what APA sources were!

So far the experience has been great and the labs have been very educational. I found that the on-hand labs has been pretty useful and it made me more comfortable using the terminal/CLI when I am running on my homelab.

Week 3 is just starting and my goals is to finish the course material for D486 and begin the paper assessment for that by the end of the week. I am also hoping to be able to submit my D482 Paper by Wednesday Night but I'm hoping to get it done tomorrow night.

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November Game Jam is around the corner so I will try to commit some time for that. 

I'm planning on getting a Dell Micro for a Proxmox Backup Server and upgrading my T7910 from 64GB Ram to 128gb ram. My Home Server/Lab will be functioning soon for a 24/7 uptime and I can't wait to play with it even more.

WGU MSCSIA: Week 1

 Week 1 have finished and it's been great! I enjoy the labs as I get to experience software I have yet to use and watch*(listen) to the videos while I do them. I just finished the course material and will begin working on the Paper Assignment. I'm hoping to submit it by Friday and start the next course by the weekend. (And then use next week to fix/edit if needed).

the CYSA+ course is up next but I think I will start the next paper assignment course alongside CYSA+ and listen to the course/videos at the same time while I work on it.

D482 Secure Network Design is not too bad. A lot of it has been a refresher from Security+ but I did learn new things and reinforced some of the stuff I already knew. The Paper Assignment is a little tricky on this one since we have to make a topology chart but overall I think I can finish it in just a few pages (minus the chart) but I been seeing some folks finish it with over 15 pages. So I will have to double check and reevaluate what I need to write. 

I meant to write this post last night but I forgot to charged my macbook. I did get a basic lenovo for school stuff but I'm also been using it to learn networking and going through my server.

What I learned/done this week (last technically): 

• XAMP/Apache/MYSQL on personal server in a VM
• Watching Network+ Professor Messer Videos
• Got a WoW Server Running
• Got a Maplestory v83 Server Running
• Installed Debian and work with MYSQL/MariaDB
• Played around with Wireshark and Metasploit
• Learned Linux Commands

I will add a new page/channel soon for my tech journey. Mainly just coding games and working with software/hardware. See you guys next week for Week 2!

Forgot to mentioned that my Company finally transitioned and are officially Black Duck

Time to start classes

 I am now a student at WGU and I begin my Masters journey in less than a few weeks. I'm planning on grinding and hoping to do weekly blog posts to follow my journey as I tackle the MSCSIA program.

I'm coming in with the ISC^2 CC transferred as well as Security+ experience (in terms of educational wise).

My goal is to finish the paper classes in less than 2 weeks and spend most of my time on the Comptia exams as they are the ones I believe matters most.

I been casually listening to CYSA+ videos at work so I'll be ahead and most likely well go through the course materials real quick and focus on studying and taking practice exams/quizzes.

I have a dedicated windows laptop atm so I'm going to be working on some projects in the mean time.

But hey, let's get that Diploma.

Stuff I am going to learn in the mean time:

Powershell Scripping

Windows Server 2022

Ubuntu Server

Stuff I am wanting to implement/do this year:

Jellyfin Server

MUD Server

Finish a small RPG in RPG Maker MV