CompTIA offers free tool to assess IT security needs

Sometimes finding out about a cybersecurity vulnerability is like seeing a mouse in the kitchen. Before it happens, both businesses and home computer users tend to assume that their IT security is entirely shipshape. If you haven’t seen any problems, then why would you assume that problems exist, right? You only start asking questions after you …

What to expect when you’re expecting … Windows 10

In an article penned for Certification Magazine last month, I spent some time speculating about the next version of Microsoft Windows, the beta release of which was due out Sept. 30. In that article, I pieced together all of the rumors …

CompTIA Security+ SYO-301 Study Resources

Next in my series of CompTIA study guides is Security+ SYO-301. This is a pretty solid entry-level certification for IT professionals looking to get their feet wet in security. Along with a few other certs, this is a great entry on anyone’s resume. As with the other …

Dear CertMag: Why don’t U.S. firms pay IT pros what they’re worth?

 Dear CertMag  is a weekly feature that addresses common questions about certification and related IT issues. Have a question? Send an e-mail to editor (at) certmag (dot) com.

Dear CertMag: I keep reading about the shortage of tech workers, but what I actually see is a shortage of cheap tech workers. American companies don’t want …

Job Profile: So you want to be a network administrator

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Certification Magazine.

The ready availability of computers, the internet and computer networks has revolutionized the way we conduct business and communicate with one another. According to The Radicati Group’s Email Statistics Report, 2013-2017, released in April 2013, there were more than 3.9 billion email accounts worldwide …

Performance Testing Council pursues mandate to improve exams

There’s a running debate in certification circles as to whether it’s more effective to test certification candidates using traditional multiple-choice exams or performance-based tests that simulate (or duplicate) real world IT conundrums. Multiple choice tests are convenient, inexpensive and straightforward. Many have argued, however, that such tests 

IT community gathers for Interop conference and expo in NYC

Maybe something like this has happened where you work:  A couple of times a year, one of the IT guys, or possibly a coworker who’s particularly jazzed about technology, phones in sick for several days, or perhaps mentions something about heading out of the office for a brief career development sabbatical. There are too many possible destinations to …

The Internet of Things wants to connect you to the future

This feature first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Certification Magazine.

The term Internet of Things, or IoT, was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton. Ashton, a British technologist who co-founded the RFID-pioneering (radio frequency identification) Auto-ID Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), used the term to envision a world where the internet would …

Dear CertMag: How do I get started as a certified technician?

 Dear CertMag  is a weekly feature that addresses common questions about certification and related IT issues. Have a question? Send an e-mail to editor (at) certmag (dot) com.

Dear CertMag: I’m a certified technician and have recently completed CompTIA Network+ and Server+, but I have no job experience. What steps can I take to stick out to …

SpiceWorld 2014 tech conference under way in Austin

Going all the way back to at least the debut of Austin City Limits in 1976, the state capitol of Texas has been a ground zero for fun and interesting cultural events. The city is nationally famous for its many annual music festivals, from the jazz, blues, bluegrass and Texas twang of the Old Settler’s Music Festival to the …