Rating: 
Summary: sucks
Review: I just took the test. I read this book and Sybex by Michael Pastore and failed the test horribly 620-900. Don't waste your time with these books. The test is designed to go in depth about the general concepts. In which you won't find in these books.And there alot of mistakes, and not enough information in both of these books.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of the better Sybex books
Review: I read this book along with a couple of the others to study for the exam, and I don't think this book is of the same quality as many other Sybex study guides, which I usually like very much. The book doesn't stink, it's just not that good. A lot of the explanations of important topics are too cursory. They aren't necessarily wrong, they just aren't enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Eye-Opening, Practical and Authoritative
Review: It is clear that Mr. Pastore has done his homework. What I liked about it was that it addressed a wide range of issues at just the right level of detail to make it compelling as well as understandable. The illustrations were straightforward and clear, the narrative tracked well with the illustrations and topics were nicely organized. Another feature I liked was that many of the chapters are readable on their own, so that the reader can pick the topics of interest without struggling throught a lot of peripheral information. Mr. Pastore's style is direct and clear - rare attributes in competing computing security books - and invites the reader to stay engaged. I highly recommend this book, not only for computing professionals, but also any computer users, at home or at work.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as all that!
Review: Make sure you have Network+ first then read, re-read and re-read again before the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Making Security+ attainable.
Review: Sybex is a leader in certification technical study guides and once again they have released a first rate effort for the Security+ exam. Pastore tackles each exam objective with clear and detailed information which is right on target with the newest CompTIA release. Pastore has broken down the exam into 10 chapters; each chapter builds a foundation that will give a great chance of passing the exam on the first try. I like the idea of having the notes and warnings spread out throughout the book, this gives the reader some real world experience to work with. Chapters 5 & 6, which deal with network security, are excellent guides not only for the exam but also for the real world. Pastore has done an excellent job of taking apart the exam with this book. Each chapter has practice questions and the cdrom included has practice test in various formats. Whether you are trying to break into the security field or have several years of working experience, this book has something for everyone. Overall this book would rival any others on the market today. One thing that I think adds tremendous credibility to this book is that the technical editor is David Groth. Together they have added another success effort to Sybex's already extensive library.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy
Review: Terrible book... don't waste your money. Lot's of errors.
Rating:
Summary: The Frustrations Continue...
Review: The content of this textbook is ok, but it's not very clear how subjects are spread out over multiple chapters. For example, the coverage on wireless protocols is so disjointed that after a while, I started preparing my own notes in an MS Word document to that I could cut & paste it all back together in a logical arrangement. After you've come across the same topic three or four times, it's very confusing to remember what the current context is (and distinguish how the present chapter fits with material in previous chapters).
The opening paragraphs of Chapter 6 state that following topics were "introduced in earlier chapters, but they're tied together coherently here." The author's re-coverage subsequently adds virtually nothing new to previous coverage of material...the redundant material simply adds to the confusion
The author tries to dismiss this by stating that overlapping material in the textbook reflects overlapping objectives in the exam...however, this is really not a very good excuse for poor editorial style
Here's another specific example of what you can expect... Chapter 8, Cryptography Standards:
Page 326: "Since its release, PGP has become a de facto standard for e-mail encryption"
Page 330: "MIME is the de facto standard for e-mail messages"
Perhaps Sybex will prepare a Third Edition of their book, with corrections of errata described by other reviewers and a coherent arrangement of material.
Rating: 
Summary: USE THE FLASH CARDS
Review: THE FLASH CARDS ARE VERY HELPFULL IN HELPING PREPARING FOR THE EXAM AS FOR THE OVER ALL BOOK, USE THIS BOOK AS A SUPPLEMENT.
Rating:
Summary: Great review book!
Review: This was the only book that I read prior to taking the test and I passed with flying colors! The descriptions were informative and overall, this was a great book to study from. It does have some errors, but I've never read a computer book that dosen't(even some of the ones written by Microsoft) so I'm not going to change my rating because of that. Overall, this was a great book and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to take the security+ test.
Rating:
Summary: Erroneous data - Don't Buy
Review: Upon quick review I stumbled upon Pastore's definition of a digital signature and how it works. It's WRONG ! The sender's private key is used for signing. In this book it says the public key is used for signing.(pg 328 - Digital Signature Processing Steps).
Based on that, I didn't bother reading the rest because I wondered what else is erroneous.
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