642-544 cisco MARS Exam

I get a lot of visitors to the Blog via the keyword 642-544, so I thought i`d give the new MARS exam another mention.

The MARS exam is part of the Cisco CCSP Certification Track, and there are a couple of training courses available in the official Instructor Led Course or 3rd Party Hands On Real World Training Course by Priveon.

There are also two books available, Security Threat Mitigation and Response: Understanding Cisco Security MARS and Security Monitoring with Cisco Security MARS.

The Cisco Press website, only recommends the first book though.

Another useful resource is the Cisco MARS User Group, where there are now over 430 members.

Exam Topics

The following topics are general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the Remote Access exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam. In order to better reflect the contents of the exam and for clarity purposes, the guidelines below may change at any time without notice.

Install and configure the Cisco Security MARS product

• Identify the components, features and functions of the Cisco Security MARS product
• Describe the process of installing the Cisco Security MARS appliance
• Add Cisco reporting devices into the Cisco Security MARS appliance
• Add non-Cisco reporting devices into the Cisco Security MARS appliance
• Investigate events that the Cisco Security MARS appliance collects from configured security devices
• Configure the Cisco Security MARS appliance to send alerts
• Create and view a long-duration query on the Cisco Security MARS appliance
• Configure rules to detect interesting patterns of network activity and other anomalous network behavior
• Use the management features in the Cisco Security MARS appliance to assign event, addressing, service, and user information
• Configure the Cisco Security MARS appliance hardware maintenance activities
• Utilize the Global Controller to manage multiple Cisco Security MARS appliances

Good luck with the Exam!

Cisco MARS Exam 642-544

I keep getting the dreaded Re-Certifcation Reminder emails from Cisco, about my CCSP certification. Whilst trying to decide whether to go for CCIE or quickly take a 642 exam, i came across this one new exam coming 19/07/07 that may interest you.

Theres very little information about this exam at present on Cisco.com , but this exam will be part of the CCSP Track.

Information on the CCSP Track quoted below...
"The CCSP certification (Cisco Certified Security Professional) validates advanced knowledge and skills required to secure Cisco networks. With a CCSP, a network professional demonstrates the skills required to secure and manage network infrastructures to protect productivity and reduce costs.

The CCSP curriculum emphasizes secure VPN management, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), PIX firewall, Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Cisco Security Agent (CSA), and techniques to combine these technologies in a single, integrated network security solution. "