Linux Apache MySQL PHP/Perl

Ubuntu is a very popular distro for the LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP/Perl)/LEMP (Linux Nginx MySQL PHP/Perl) stacks many apps use. If you’re looking for a distro powerful enough for production use, but has a manageable learning-curve, Ubuntu may work for you.
Amazon Linux

With all the Linux distros out there, many may wonder if we need another — and what makes Amazon Linux different. From a nuts and bolts perspective, Amazon Linux AMI (and Amazon Linux 2) is basically Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) optimized to run on AWS. This idea here is simple: with Amazon Linux you get images that are performant, secure, and supported by AWS. From a business perspective, that makes Amazon Linux an attractive operating system.

There is plenty you can do for free with AWS and Linux. However, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Dual-booting, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), VirtualBox, and VMware WorkStation Player are just a few ways to get hands-on with Linux without looking to the cloud if Windows is your daily driver.

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What Is the CompTIA Tech Town Index

The data found in the CompTIA Tech Town Index can be extrapolated in a variety of ways. The idea behind the report is to provide IT workers, as well as professionals working in the business of technology, some guidance on where opportunity intersects with affordability and quality of life.

We do this by examining job posting data over a 12-month period (August 2019 to July 2020) in 20 metropolitan areas with populations over 250,000, where demand for tech workers is greatest. Then, the cities are ranked based on cost of living, number of postings for open IT positions and projected job growth over the next year as well as the next five years.

When you combine that cost of living and most in-demand IT job data with the CompTIA IT Salary Calculator, you have a recipe that delivers the best states and cities for tech jobs in 2021 and beyond.

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cybersecurity communication strategies

In the years preceding the pandemic we often talked about the challenges of keeping an increasingly remote workforce cybersecure. The pandemic forced us to make a quantum leap forward in our adoption of work-from-home technology. The cybersecurity concerns we now face have grown and expanded in unpredictable ways.

We can handle these new challenges, though, with the right methods.

Cybersecurity pros can help in the following ways:
Enact enhanced cybersecurity communication strategies to educate end users in easy-to-understand language about the types of threats they might encounter and how to avoid them.
Act on threat intelligence, and harden endpoints and cloud apps appropriately.
Develop new creative methods of mitigating ransomware attacks to make sure that end users aren’t forced into paying up and data remains unequivocally safe.

While these are only a few suggestions for stemming a ransomware epidemic in a panicked world, their common trait is that they rely on organized, thoughtful strategy. Granted, remaining calm has grown more difficult amid the crisis of the pandemic, but proceeding rationally is one of the most powerful tools we have in any crisis.

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Cloud Skills Can Help in Scaling Business

With proper cloud training, IT professionals can provide tremendous support in scaling business. In recent research, it was found that 80% of organizations have reaped the benefits of formal training in developing required skills. With well-trained employees, organizations can enhance their productivity as well as enjoy market advantages. Apart from cloud computing, a company can ensure a secure environment where they can perform their functionalities in a more efficient and cost-effective way.

You will need a skilled Cloud Administrator in your organizations to plan and manage your cloud environment. This person will be responsible for the effective operating of networks, databases, and systems.

A Cloud Developer’s main role is to develop and design applications for cloud environments. They must be well aware of different cloud environments in order to develop applications that support different vendors and cover major vendor standards.

A Cloud Architect is responsible for the building of the cloud infrastructure. He or she must have an understanding of the fundamental layers, as well as cross-layer functions, to build an effective and unique cloud infrastructure as per your organization’s needs.

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CompTIA’s IT Industry Outlook

Usually, the end of the year is marked by two sentiments. First, there’s a sense of completion when reflecting on everything that’s been accomplished. Second, there’s a sense of anticipation when considering new opportunities for the year ahead. This year, both of those feelings are somewhat complicated by the realities of 2020. It’s been a difficult year with many unforeseen challenges, some of which led to new opportunities and successes—just not the ones we were expecting. As far as next year goes, there is more uncertainty than any other time in recent memory, but also hope.


CompTIA’s IT Industry Outlook 2021, with the theme “Rebuilding for the Future,” acknowledges these circumstances. There is rebuilding because of the damage suffered in the past year; there is an view toward the future because the lessons we have learned will lead to something new. It’s hard to say that this is a good time for anyone, but being in the tech industry is one of the better places to be as digital transformation accelerates. For those in the business of technology, here are four ways to leverage the insights from the research when planning for the year ahead.

Understand the core trends.

End-of-the-year trends are often a bit flashy or futuristic. Especially in the past few years, there has been a focus on emerging technology as the IT landscape has been shifting. However, there are two reasons why the trends this year are mostly getting back to basics.

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What do cybersecurity consultants

The cybersecurity industry has been home to various job roles, and one of them is the ‘cybersecurity consultancy.’ A cybersecurity consultant builds a secure environment for any organization by being the mind of their security team. If you are someone planning to have a career down this path, here is an overview of everything you need to know.
What do cybersecurity consultants do?

A cybersecurity consultant, like any other consultant, works for many clients and attends to them as and when required. He is responsible for gauging the security measures of an organization and conditioning it with new and effective strategies. Let us have a look at the day-to-day responsibilities of a cybersecurity consultant.
The primary goal is to understand the client’s business and the risks associated with it.
Interviewing the employees to get a deeper understanding of the security concerns and issues they face.
Conducting a proper vulnerability assessment through rigorous analysis and composing a meticulous report.
Planning and designing a secure architecture for the company based on their key findings.
Listing down the changes or updates required for software/hardware.
Drawing an estimate of the expenditure and discussing the budget with the project managers.
Implementing proactive defense measures for the Blue Team and training them to respond during a breach or an attack.
Defining effective standards and policies for the company and providing professional supervision to all the teams.
Following up with the client regularly and consistently suggesting new strategies.

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want to take your career?

We’ve created a job survey to find out what your career ambitions are as an individual, as well as an employer supporting your business; how you endeavour to achieve them, and what we can do to support your growth.

We are all aware of how difficult the last 6 months have been. Working towards achieving our goals despite this tumultuous time; being surrounded by what were secure jobs, now being made redundant, it's a scary and arduous time to say the least.
That's why we have decided to create a job survey.
By completing the survey, you'll also be in the running to win a £50 Amazon voucher!

Take a look at the following article for further details of why Firebrand have decided to take part in this opportunity, and how we envision this journey with you.
Our cloud-expert and lead instructor, Mike Brown, speaks about this in great depth in his guest blog, reflecting on a few key necessities to support flexibility and adaptability - whether it's changing career paths or now having to work remotely.

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Cybersecurity risks

While currently experiencing very uncertain times, one thing that has remained certain is the use of internet. Now, more than ever, people all over the world are depending on the web for essential everyday duties. Some employers have been able to keep their doors open by transitioning to working online. However, there is a downfall to this alternative. The recent spike in online activity has led to an increase in cyber security attacks.

Earlier this month, Phoenix TS posted a blog about cloud security. The blog entitled, Head in the Cloud? Time to Face Cyber Security Reality, warns of the risks associated with using cloud. Some of these concerns include cloud advancements, connection problems and a lack of cyber security professionals. Yet, due to mandated social distancing, additional problems are emerging. Cyber attackers are using the COVID-19 epidemic to exploit teleworkers. Last week, Alyza Sebenius and Kartikay Mehrotra collaborated on an article for Bloomberg called, “U.S., U.K. Issue Alert on Growing Use of Covid-themed Hacks.” According to the article, “…phishing emails more than quadrupled over the month of March…” (Mehrotra and Sebenius). The article also cites other malicious activities such as espionage, ransomware, malware, (VPNs), scams and network intrusions. (Mehrotra and Sebenius) The article goes further to explain that the coronavirus has caused an “unprecedented” amount of cyber security challenges. (Mehrotra and Sebenius)

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Domains Covered in the comptia a+ certification Exam

Now, candidates should focus on the next important concern for refining the DP-300 exam preparation schedule. You cannot cram up random topics to study for such an important certification exam. Therefore, it is very essential that you find out all the topics covered in the DP-300 Administering Relational Databases on Azure certification exam. When you know about the exam objectives, then you can find out the appropriate learning resources for your preparation. In addition, the knowledge of the weighting of each exam objective can help you organize your preparation schedule. Here are the abilities that the DP-300 exam will test.
Planning and implementation of data platform services
Implementation of a secure environment
Monitoring and optimization of operational resources
Optimization of query performance
Performing automation of tasks
Planning and implementation of a High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR) environment
Performing administration through the use of T-SQL

Candidates should now aim at finding the weightage of each domain and the subtopics covered in them. It can improve the confidence of candidates about the difficulty of the path ahead. Let us find out the different subtopics in each domain of the DP-300 certification exam.

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Best Practices for CompTIA Security+ Preparation Guide

Every candidate must feel confused about the best answer on how to prepare for CompTIA Security+ certification. So, it is important to follow the recommended best practices by experts and qualified professionals for achieving the desired results in CompTIA Security+ certification. Here is an outline of the best practices that can help you pursue your preparations for CompTIA Security+ certification with ease and simplicity.

Know the Exam Content Inside Out

Whenever you start your CompTIA Security+ certification preparation, get your hands on the official study guide for the certification. Candidates must use official resources from the CompTIA website for this purpose to access reliable information about the existing exams in the CompTIA Security+ certification track.

The exam content on the official certification page not only helps you learn about the exam but also the formalities associated with the exam. The knowledge of the domains covered in the exam and type of questions can give you reliable support for starting your preparations.

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Identity and Access Management

To begin with, explaining use cases and purpose for frameworks, best practices and secure configuration guides
Subsequently, implementing secure network architecture concepts
In addition, implementing secure systems design
Further, explaining the importance of secure staging deployment concepts
Not to mention, explaining the security implications of embedded systems
Moreover, securing application development and deployment concepts
Furthermore, summarizing cloud and virtualization concepts
Consequently, explaining how resiliency and automation strategies reduce risk
Lastly, explain the importance of physical security controls
First thing first, comparing and contrasting identity and access management concepts
Secondly, installing and configuring identity and access services
Thirdly, implementing identity and access management controls
Fourthly, differentiating common account management practices
Starting off, explaining the importance of policies, plans and procedures related to organizational security
Secondly, summarizing business impact analysis concepts
Subsequently, explaining risk management processes and concepts
Further, following incident response procedures
Also, summarizing basic concepts of forensics
Moreover, explaining disaster recovery and continuity of operations concepts
In addition, comparing and contrasting various types of controls
Lastly, carrying out data security and privacy practices

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What Project Management Certification

All project managers, no matter the industry they work in, are tasked with completing projects successfully, efficiently, on time, and within their budget. The organizations they are part of, rely on them as trained professionals to generate and follow processes to accomplish organizational goals. With that being the case, project managers must be trained in the practices of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of their teams to achieve their specific goals and to meet specific criteria at specified times.

A project management certification is accepted worldwide in virtually every industry and provides greater career opportunities, credibility, and income for those that have it. It is a powerful tool in your professional tool belt!
What a Project Management Certification Can Do For You

There are a few key ways in which a project management certification can boost your career.
Credibility: By holding a project management certification, you show that you are a professional in that field of work. If you're searching for a job or looking to be promoted, holding this certification helps prove your expertise in project management. It makes you more credible on paper (i.e. your resume or CV) and helps you look good in the eyes of current or future employers and employees.

Professional Growth: There is a lot to learn to get your project management certification, and as you learn all of these new skills you expand your knowledge and grow in your field and personally. It is the perfect foundation for you if you want to see continued professional growth.

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Training for CompTIA CEUs & Certification Renewal

There are 2 paths of pre-approved training courses to earn CompTIA CEUs: Other CompTIA training and non-CompTIA IT Industry Certifications. If you earned a CompTIA A+, Network+, or Security+ certification after January 1, 2011 your certification has an expiration date of three years. You will have three years from the date certified to pass the latest version of the exam or complete the CompTIA Continuing Education program to earn re-certification. Here are the details and simplest ways to complete the CompTIA Continuing Education program.
How many CEUs do I need for CompTIA certification renewal?
CompTIA A+ requires 20 CEUs in three years
CompTIA Network+ requires 30 CEUs in three years
CompTIA Security+ requires 50 CEUs in three years
CompTIA Cloud+ requires 50 CEUs in three years
CompTIA CySA+ requires 60 CEUs in three years
CompTIA CASP requires 75 CEUs in three years
How can I earn CompTIA CEUs?

There are multiple ways to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) toward your ComPTIA certification renewal. This includes industry participation, work experience, CompTIA CEU webinars and even publishing. CompTIA's Certification Renewal Policy has more detail about those activities and their CEU value.

Industry related training and certification is the simplest way to renew your existing CompTIA certification, and also earn new knowledge to be added to your resume.

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Talent Poaching on the Rise

While a limited candidate pool will drive wage growth, channel organizations need to make sure that compensation levels are in line with market trends and sustainable for the long term.

Saxton stated, “A lot of engineers are able to freelance and do consultancy, which has a significant impact in terms of what they demand for salary and pay, and that’s something we’re working on... [But] it doesn’t stay sustainable. You can’t keep paying all of these salaries, so we find a blend that works for everybody.”

5. Create IT apprenticeship programs to build your own talent pipeline.

Some managed service/solution providers, vendors and distributors create IT apprenticeship programs to nurture their own talent for technician, developer, engineer and analyst roles.

“We’ve seen quite an uptick in the traction of talent in apprenticeships. Great way to bring in younger talent. We’re seeing lots of recruitment at entry-level roles,” Hansford said.

Robust apprenticeship programs offer accelerated IT professional training that few schools and colleges can offer.

Saxton noted, “We’ve been doing [apprenticeships] for seven years now. Fifty-seven percent of our apprentices come from our outreach schools. Of that 57 percent, 100 percent move into management. [Those] students and young people we’ve worked with over the course of a few years move directly to senior and management roles in the business.”

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Hiring for Entry Level IT Jobs

2020 has been a year of immense change, and there’s no exception for information technology careers.
While more safely insulated from the economic fallout of the pandemic than other industries, IT has still seen its fair share of downs to go with all of its many ups.

If that latter part seems bad, here’s a little more good for you: In comparison to the national unemployment rate of 7.9%, unemployment for information technology careers is just 3.5%.

But if you’re a job seeker, these statistics don’t paint the full picture. Exactly what companies are hiring right now, and for which specific roles? Has the new emphasis on remote work changed companies’ hiring processes? Has it changed what they’re looking for in their candidates?

To get a better sense of the hiring outlook in IT right now — specifically for entry-level IT jobs — we spoke with a pair of our employer partners. Read on for their expert insight on information technology careers, delivered straight from the other side of the interview table.

We’ve experienced surges within cybersecurity in industries like healthcare, government services, and financial services,” Angela says. “Clients have taken a new approach to hiring where they have flexibility in interviewing and acquiring new talent. We are on Zoom calls and video conferences. Virtual hiring fairs have become the new normal.

“We are also adjusting to an environment where working from home has been key to continuing every day activities. Think about everyone who is working remotely needing to call into a helpdesk or service desk for assistance. That brings so much opportunity for companies to onboard more entry-level talent to help with the unforeseen demand.”

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CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501) exam

CompTIA Security+ certification is appropriate for security professionals and IT administrators as it covers a wide range of areas such as identity management, network security concepts, access control, cryptography, and threats and vulnerabilities. It acts as a global benchmark for the best practices in IT network and operational security which is one of the fastest-growing niches in IT.

CompTIA Security+ certification has become a crucial asset in getting selected for jobs such as Junior IT Auditors, Security Administrators, penetration testers, systems, and network admins. It validates the learners’ ability to:
Understand how to install, configure, and control identity and access services.
Identify various vulnerabilities and threats and get an idea of how to utilize vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.
Alleviate business impact by implementing the best risk management methodologies.
Implementation of secure network architecture.
Understand how to access and troubleshoot security threats and learn the right way to install, configure, and deploy network security components.
Clearing the CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501) exam is required to earn CompTIA Security+ certification which doesn’t have any prerequisites. However, CompTIA suggests this certification course best-suited for professionals who have earned CompTIA Network+ certification and have experience in IT administration with a security focus.

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Switching Basics for Cyber and Network Security

If you are truly invested in understanding the core tenets of cyber and network security, then you must first gain knowledge regarding the endpoints that you will need to secure. Every IT enterprise environment comprises of two such critical endpoints i.e. switches and routers. Together, these two form the backbone of inter-connectivity between internal systems and networks.

For a cybersecurity professional, understanding the actual functionality of these critical networking components as well as knowing about their status in the network security environment is critical before they can move on towards building strategies or following existing methodologies to secure them form attacks emanating from the outside.
Switching Basics

A network environment can comprise of many different machines or computers that need to communicate with each other in an integrated manner. This inter-system connectivity is what a network switch aids. It regulates the flow of information between any two system resources and acts as a bridge through which data packets are received and analyzed before they are sent to the receiving machine on the other end.

Switches are crucial towards fostering business productivity as they allow seamless flow of information that aids the business in terms of heightened efficiency and productivity derived from network processing.

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Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

With demand for Microsoft Azure specialists on the rise, more and more IT pros are choosing Microsoft’s new Azure role-based certifications. The Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential is featured here because an increasing number of enterprises are trying to find experienced cloud solutions architects who can work on the Azure platform.

The Azure Solutions Architect Professional certification validates the power to deploy and configure compute, network, and storage infrastructure on Azure, secure systems, applications, and data, develop and deploy apps, establish workload requirements, and style solutions for the Azure platform.

To earn this credential, candidates need to qualify for two exams: AZ 300 (Azure Architect Technologies) and AZ 301 (Azure Architect Design). In order to qualify, they can do preparation through free online training and paid instructor-led classroom training, Microsoft Official Practice Tests, Microsoft certification support forums, and other learning resources.

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Cybersecurity Needs to ‘Catch Up’ to Protect Remote Workers

Transitioning a workforce from a central location to many brings about all kinds of remote work cybersecurity challenges. It’s also attractive to threat actors. According to one study, 46 percent of global businesses endured at least one cybersecurity incident since moving to remote work.
Those scares occurred because there were security gaps, so to “catch up” and not be on a hacker’s radar, your organization needs to revisit security practices and invest in new solutions.
Building a Robust Cybersecurity Plan for a Remote Workforce
To develop the best defense for cybersecurity threats, you should focus on these areas:
Device Security
When your employees are on one network, your IT team can easily watch network traffic and use a host of approaches to thwart attacks. Now, you’re dealing with hundreds or even thousands of networks.
The onus of keeping a network secure is solely on the employee, who more than likely isn’t being vigilant as you’d like. Many organizations are continuing to use VPNs (virtual private networks) to allow users to join enterprise networks. But this is just a band-aid that’s not really sustainable long-term.

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