Certified Network Security Practitioner (CNSP): Exam Review and Questions
I’m here with an exam review — a little late, but you’ll find it packed with valuable information. I’ll be talking about the Certified Network Security Practitioner (CNSP) certification from The SecOps Group. I’ll keep it short and to the point, so let’s dive in.
What to Study
There’s no official course for this exam, so you might be wondering how to prepare. My advice? Stick to the basics. While advanced knowledge is great, understanding the fundamentals is more than enough to pass. Here’s a list of key topics to focus on:
- TCP/IP and networking basics
- OSI model
- IPv4 and IPv6 addresses (Especially Subnetting)
- Network discovery protocols (SNMP)
- Network architecture, mapping, and target identification
- Network scanning & fingerprinting
- Testing network services
- Cryptography (Symmetric, Asymmetric and Key-Exchange Algorithm names)
- Active Directory security basics and attacks (AD users and groups and authentication protocol in AD)
- Linux and Windows security fundamentals (File Permissions)
- Common vulnerabilities in Windows services
- Web server and framework testing
- Social engineering attacks
- Tools like Nmap and Wireshark (TCP and UDP ports)
- Open-source intelligence (OSINT)
- Database security basics
- TLS security basics (Certificates)
- Password storage (Windows & Linux)
My Exam Experience and Tips
My advice to you, “Take the mock exam” and especially “Practice Exam”. With the help of these mock exam and practice exam, you will get a plethora of questions for the preparation. All the topics I listed above are connected in some way, so having a solid basic understanding of them will help. BTW, I managed to score 87%.
If you want a higher score, definitely spend more time on additional research and at the end do solve the practice exam questions. For your convenience, I have shared a set of practice questions course.
Practice Exam: https://www.udemy.com/course/cnsp-exam-questions/?couponCode=CNSP70DISCOUNT
Sample Question:
Q. How many usable TCP/UDP ports are there?
A. 65536
B. 65535
C. 63535
D. 65335
Correct Answer:
B. 65535
Explanation:
The total number of usable TCP/UDP ports each is 65,535. This count includes ports ranging from 0 to 65,535. The port field is of 16 bit in the header. So, there will be 2¹⁶= 66536 ports. It will range from 0 to 66535.
Note: Port 0 is reserved and not considered part of the usable port range for regular network communication. So, total number of usable ports are 65535.
Practice Exam link: https://www.udemy.com/course/cnsp-exam-questions/?couponCode=CNSP_70
Note: Use the above link for the 70% discount for a limited time.
Final Thoughts
Good luck with your preparation! I hope this review helps you out. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me — I’m happy to help!