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UnixReview.com
August 2005
Certification: Prying into Cisco's CCIE Security Lab Exam
by Emmett Dulaney
Last month, I introduced the CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) certification
in general, and the security track in detail. To obtain this certification,
you must first pass a "written" exam (2 hours long, 100 multiple-choice
questions through VUE or Prometric testing centers) and then an intensive lab-based
exam. The topic areas on the written exam were covered last month. This month,
I'll look at the topics covered in the lab exam, which must be attempted within
18 months after passing the written test.
Lab Exam Overview
This 8-hour marathon can be registered for only after you've successfully passed
the written exam. The cost is $1250, and you must complete the assigned tasks
with at least 80% accuracy. The accuracy of your solutions is determined by
the proctors, and you will not find out whether you passed until approximately
48 hours after the exam. Only a few locations offer the lab exams; a list of
those locations can be found here.
To say that the lab exam is a superset of the written exam is something of
an understatement. While the written exam is focused — to a degree —
on security, the lab exam requires you to know how everything fits together
in the big picture. Thus, you must know not only security but all other aspects
of networking as well, because a change in security can have a detrimental affect
on something else in the network.
If you fail the lab exam, you may retake it but must wait 30 days between attempts.
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