What is CCNA Security Certification? A Complete Guide

CCNA Security certification is organised by Cisco, which is a global leader in IT networking. Cisco is the top leader in manufacturing networking equipment.  It has a large base of products and services.

Cisco has so much influence on the IT industry that every single company all around the world use at least one Cisco device.

Therefore if you are going for CCNA Security certification; you would also be in demand after getting certified like cisco devices and products.

 

What is CCNA Security Certification all about?

CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Security is the beginner level certification of network security. It will help you to know the essential and fundamentals network security principle and techniques. CCNA Security introduces the network security related issues; such as threats, attacks, vulnerabilities etc. And demonstrate the methods to mitigate problems in network related to security.

So you can say that; CCNA Security certification is all about finding and solving the security-related issues in the IT network infrastructure.

 

What will you learn throughout the CCNA Security Certification?

  • Fundamentals of network security: network security concept and common security threats.
  • What is data (data in motion & data in rest) and how to secure it?
  • Security methods and techniques of various Cisco networking devices (Router, Switches, Firewalls, IPS/IDS, WSA)
  • What is ASA Firewall? And how to configure and use it in the IT infrastructure? Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) is the one of the major topics of CCNA security certification syllabus.
  • How to recognise an authorized user and halt the access of an unauthorized user (Access Control and Identity Management)
  • What is AAA (Authentication + Authorization + Accounting) server and how to implement in Cisco devices?
  • What are ACL (Access Control List) and types? How to configure ACL on various Cisco devices.
  • Firewall is set of rules (ACL), so along with firewall, you will also listen ACL (Access Control List). Therefore to success in network security, you must know how to make ACL, which you are going to learn throughout the CompTIA Security+ certification. 
  • Networking is incomplete without protocols. These are some important protocols that you are going to learn throughout the CCNA Security Certification: TACACS, RADIUS, IPsec, IKE, TLS, SSL, SSH, HTTPS, NTP, SNMP.
  • What is VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology and why we need? Different types of VPN.  
  • What are the public and private key? And why it plays a significant role in network security?
  • Installation, troubleshooting and monitoring of network devices to maintain the integrity, confidentiality and availability (CIA Model) of valuable data.
  • What are encryption and decryption? Different types of encryption methods.

 

Education required for CCNA Security examination 

You don’t require any degree to appear in CCNA Security certification exam. There is no such type of requirement on Cisco website. You are eligible to write CCNA Security certification exam.

However, if you have a bachelor degree in any subjects; Computer Science is mostly prefered in the IT industry as compare to others degrees. Then definitely! You got more opportunities as compared to non-graduate students. So a degree makes it easier for you to get your first IT job in network security.

Prerequisites:

You must have intermediate knowledge of network infrastructure. To pursue network security career path; you must know how to connect two and more cisco devices is the ability to communicate with each other. Therefore Cisco decided to introduce eligibility criteria for Security certification program.

According to Cisco, a candidate must have valid CCENT, CCNA Routing & Switching, or any CCIE certification.

Know complete list of certification that Cisco provides

I would also suggest going first to gaining knowledge about basic networking. And it is oblivious; if you don’t know how two devices are connecting with each other. So how can you expect, you would be capable of finding the security-related issues in the IT network infrastructure.

 

What types of job you will get after CCNA Security Certification

These are the following designation you will get in an organisation after passing your CCNA Security examination…

  • Systems Administrator
  • Network Administrator
  • Security Administrator
  • Network and Security Engineer
  • Security Analyst
  • Security Consultant
  • Security Specialist
  • Security Architect

If you want to start your career in network security; and want to become a network security engineer in a vendor-specific domain. There is no better option than Cisco. It shares large market in IT industry (global leader in manufacturing networking devices) and has a huge list of product and services.

Therefore writing the CCNA Security certification exam is a right and smart choice to get enter into the network security domain.

Recommended certifications after CCNA Security: CCNP Security, CompTIA CySA+, CompTIA PenTest+

Know complete list of certification that CompTIA provides

Similar Certification program: CompTIA Security+

Get complete details related to CCNA Security examination such as fees, number of questions, syllabus etc. Click Here