Happy New year… Welcome to 2026.
I actually failed my blog aspirations for 2025.. I didnt post a single time. Work and real life issues took up my time in 2025. I also didnt progress much in the first 9 months study wise.
However, since October, I have picked up the habit of studying again. I still aim for the CCIE Security lab exam.
To that extent, I have booked a lab seat in Brussels in April. Flights and hotel are booked, so its game on! Even if I dont pass (which I dont expect, because this is like starting all over again) I do expect to learn a lot about my baseline knowledge and where i need to improve.
I have already identified the topics where i need to improve before my attempt in April. Those include the following:
- AMP.
- DNAC (Catalyst Center) & ISE.
- ESA.
- WSA.
- Umbrella.
- ISE Posture.
- Cisco TrustSec.
- Integration of services (Fx. ISE and Catalyst Center).
I have decided to tackle TrustSec first.
At the moment im going through INE’s material on TrustSec and i will lab on my 3650 switch which supports it. Connected to this switch is my lab laptop that i also use for MAB/Dot1x.
Thats the technology part - or more specifically for the implementation part of the lab exam. What concerns me more in the long run (for passing the exam), is the Design section. For that, I will primarily be reading the SAFE guides as recommended by quite a few people.
As for the practical way of studying, I have tuned in my body to wake up at 5am since the middle of December. This means i will have 3 hours to get some stuff done (not only studying though) before work sets in. After work, i will spend some time reading the SAFE guides and then lab during the evening. This should allow me to maintain a 2-4h study approach during week days.
During the weekends, i will be utilizing Practice Labs from Cisco (they dont work half the time), which is a 4 hour slot of time.
Thats about it for now.
Take Care!!
/Kim