Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)About The Course:Q: How does the course differ from the official Check Point course? A: Check Point offers an NGX I Ver 1.1 (CCSA) and NGX II Ver 1.1 (CCSE) training course through their Authorized Training Centers (ATC’s). Our course is different (and better!) in two significant ways. First, we have a much more sophisticated and useful lab configuration. Each student gets their own enterprise network, including a Check Point firewall protecting three web servers, a mail server, an ftp server, a telnet server, and everything is monitored by sophisticated network monitoring software. Secondly, our course focuses on teaching you the material and focusing on getting you through the CCSA and CCSE exams, which we offer right in the classroom as part of the course. Q: What OS platform does the course use? A: The course is run on Windows 2000 Server and SecurePlatform because these are the most popular platforms for Check Point Firewall-1. Students who wish to prepare themselves to administer Firewall-1/VPN-1 on Solaris, Nokia, or Linux should understand that the user interface and configuration issues are 99% identical across all platforms. Once the product is installed, it looks and feels exactly the same on all platforms. Studying and practicing Firewall-1 on Windows 2000 Server and SecurePlatform is a perfectly good method for becoming proficient with Firewall-1/VPN-1 on all platforms. Q: What version of Firewall-1 will be taught? A: The course is always taught using the very latest current version of Firewall-1/VPN-1, including all the current Hot Fix Accumulators. Currently, this means VPN-1 NGX Ver 1.1. Q: What course materials are used in this course? A. The course makes use of seven parallel data streams for learning:
Q: What is the daily schedule for the course? A: Because this is a boot camp course, we start at 8:30 AM, take breaks, including an hour or so for lunch and dinner, and go until about 7:30 PM. The final exam is offered at 1:00 PM on the sixth day, and camp concludes after the exam. It’s an intensive schedule. About The Instructor:Q: Who is the instructor? A: Barry Stiefel (“Stee-ful”) is a Check Point Firewall-1 practitioner and instructor and is the founder of Information Engine, Inc., a Silicon Valley internet security consulting firm. He holds a B.S., an MBA, and a Certificate in Internet and E-Commerce Security from the University of California. He is CCSA, CCSE, CCSE+, CCSI, RCSA, RCSE, RCSE+, RCSI, CCNA, MCSE, A+, CISSP, FCSE and NSA IAM certified. He is co-author on three books on Check Point Firewall-1. He is the former President and Program Director of the Windows NT Engineering Association, and is the founder and President of CPUG, the Check Point Users Group (www.cpug.org). In his lab, he has more routers and firewalls than he needs, but not as many as he wants. About The Exams:Q: What exams are included in the price? A. Right in the classroom, we offer and proctor the CCSA (Check Point Certified Security Administrator) and CCSE (Check Point Certified Security Expert) exams. Q: What is the passing rate on the exams? A. In the last nine instances of the course, 64 of 66 students (97%) passed the CCSA exam, and 61 of 65 students (94%) passed the CCSE exam. This calculation includes all students who attended the lectures and labs and took an in-class make-up exam if necessary. Q: What version of the product do the exams test on? A. The current versions of the exams offered by Check Point are: 156-215.1 Check Point Certified Security Administrator NGX Ver 1.1 156-315.1 Check Point Certified Security Expert NGX Ver 1.1 Skill, Experience, and Preparation Prerequisites For Students:Q: What are the skill and experience prerequisites for students wanting to take this course? A: See separate document “Students’ Required Preparations” Q: What are the specific preparations a student needs to complete before arriving at the course? A: See separate document “Students’ Required Preparations” Setting Students’ Expectations:Q: What else should students know before enrolling in this course? A: A few things:
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