Observations of Instructor Led Training with Real Hardware

TechNow has heard many students talk about virtualized/remote training that TechNow Does Not Do.  While training our most recent offering of PA-215: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Essentials FastTrack a student told his story of how he endend up in our course.  His story we have heard for other technologies like Cisco, VMware, BlueCoat and other products.

A large percentage of training is moving to the virtualized/remote lab environments.  Students are asked to use some variant of remote access software and remote into the training company's lab environment. Our student in our Palo Alto Networks Firewall course informed us that he went to a very costly offering of that course from the vendor and was not able to perform any labs.  There were either network connectivity issues, or issues with the remote access software, or other problems.  The whole training experience was very frustrating and not productive.

We keep our labs open to students if they would like after hours, or before hours access.  Repeatedly going through a lab engrains that knowledge for later recall.  Touching hardware is so critical in understanding the problems that arise when a cable comes loose, or a cable gets plugged in the wrong port.  There are other scenarios such as just pulling the power cable, or turning off a power strip, or accidently overwriting a configuration.  These disaster scenarious requires hands-on physical access to hardware.  Preventing and recovering from disasters is what it's all about, and that requires hands-on, instructor led, real hardware.

CT-225: Network+

 

Course Overview:

CT-225: Network+ is a five-day course that teaches students the fundamentals of networking. Through hands-on training, students learn the vendor-independent networking skills & concepts that affect all aspects of networking, such as installing & configuring the TCP/IP client. The course also helps to prepare students for three popular certification examinations: CompTIA Network+, Microsoft Networking Essentials, and Novell Networking Technologies.

Attendees to CT-225: Network+ will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

Date/Time Event
08/03/2026 - 08/07/2026
08:00 -16:00 		CT-225: Network+
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
11/02/2026 - 11/06/2026
08:00 -16:00 		CT-225: Network+
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX

Duration 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Identify basic network theory concepts and major network communications methods
  • Describe bounded network media
  • Describe unbounded network media
  • Identify the major types of network implementations
  • Identify TCP/IP addressing and data delivery methods
  • Analyze routing and switching technologies
  • Identify the components of a TCP/IP implementation
  • Analyze network security
  • Implement network security
  • Identify the components of a WAN implementation
  • Identify the components used in cloud computing and virtualization
  • Identify the components of a remote network implementation
  • Manage networks
  • Troubleshoot network issues

Prerequisites:

Comments

Latest comments from students

User: hanbri9

Instructor comments: Great instructor.

Facilities comments: BEST HOTEL!!!!!!! AMAZING LOCATION, GOOD FOOD, NICE SPACE. The location of the hotel is what is almost the best about it. Driving up hwy 10 in the morning is absolutely awful.

 

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TN-425: Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (C|OASP)

Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) validates the competencies required for practitioners who need to demonstrate offensive AI security skills, emulating adversaries, validating defenses, and leading red-team/blue-team exercises to keep AI resilient, reliable, and auditable

The Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) equips you to identify and neutralize AI-specific threats before attackers do. And Bridges security, engineering, and data science so controls exist across the full AI life cycle.

Participants will gain hands-on experience to perform end-to-end adversarial testing and deliver defensive validation evidence including the ability to simulate adversarial AI kill chains, Harden AI architectures by secure system prompts, context windows, tool integrations, RAG pipelines, and agent memory, Conducting AI security assessments aligned to MITRE ATLAS, OWASP LLM/ML Top 10, NIST AI RMF, and DoD Test & Evaluation practices , This course covers how to build SOC-ready capabilities for AI-focused detection logic, incident playbooks, and forensic procedures , & how to execute prompt injection, adversarial prompting , Assess AI supply-chain risk , Implement defensive engineering controls and Produce assurance and compliance artifacts.

By the end of the course, learners will be well-prepared to take the Certified Offensive AI Security Professional (COASP) exam and demonstrate the ability to exploit vulnerabilities in LLMs and agents, and build defense that survive real world attacks, learners will master offensive techniques that break AI before the attackers do.

 

Course Outline: 

01. Offensive AI and AI System Hacking Methodology

02. AI Reconnaissance and Attack Surface Mapping

03. AI Vulnerability Scanning and Fuzzing

04. Prompt Injection and LLM Application Attacks

05. Adversarial Machine Learning and Model Privacy Attacks

06. Data and Training Pipeline Attacks

07. Agentic AI and Model-to-Model Attacks

08. AI Infrastructure and Supply Chain Attacks

09. AI Security Testing, Evaluation, and Hardening

10. AI Incident Response and Forensics 

 

Prerequisites: 

AIE

 

Dates/Locations:

No Events

N-505: CISCO DoD Comply to Connect (C2C)

Course Overview:

 Cisco DoD Comply-to-Connect (C2C) course teaches you how to implement and deploy a Department of Defense (DoD) Comply-to-Connect network architecture using Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). This training covers implementation of 802.1X for both wired and wireless devices and how Cisco ISE uses that information to apply policy control and enforcement. Additionally, other topics like supplicants, non-supplicants, ISE profiler, authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) and public key infrastructure (PKI) support, reporting and troubleshooting are covered. Finally, C2C specific use case scenarios are covered.

This training also earns you 32 Continuing Education (CE) credits toward recertification.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 days

 

Course Outline: 

Section 1: C2C Fundamentals

  • Comply to Connect Overview
  • From C2C to ZTA
  • Steps to Implement C2C

Section 2: Cisco Identity-Based Networking Services

  • Cisco IBNS Overview
  • AAA Role in Cisco IBNS
  • Compare Cisco IBNS and Cisco ISE Solutions
  • Explore Cisco IBNS Architecture Components

Section 3: Introducing Cisco ISE Architecture

  • Cisco ISE as a Network Access Policy Engine
  • Cisco ISE Use Cases
  • Cisco ISE Functions

Section 4: Introducing Cisco ISE Deployment

  • Cisco ISE Deployment Models
  • Cisco ISE Licensing and Network Requirements
  • Cisco ISE Context Visibility Features
  • New Features in Cisco ISE 3.X

Section 5: Introducing Cisco ISE Policy Enforcement Components

  • 802.1X for Wired and Wireless Access
  • MAC Authentication Bypass for Wired and Wireless Access
  • Identity Management
  • Active Directory Identity Source
  • Additional Identity Sources
  • Certificate Services

Section 6: Introducing Cisco ISE Policy Configuration

  • Cisco ISE Policy
  • Cisco ISE Authentication Rules
  • Cisco ISE Authorization Rules

Section 7: PKI and Advanced Supplicants

  • Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
  • TEAP in Comply to Connect (C2C)
  • Secure Client ISE features and Configuration for C2C

Section 8: Introducing the Cisco ISE Profiler

  • Web Access with Cisco ISE
  • ISE Profiler
  • Cisco ISE Probes
  • Profiling Policy
  • Custom Attributes in Profile

Section 9: Introducing Cisco ISE Endpoint Compliance Services

  • Endpoint Compliance Services Overview

Section 10: Configuring Client Posture Services and Compliance

  • Client Posture Services and Provisioning Configuration

Section 11: Introducing Profiling Best Practices and Reporting

  • Profiling Best Practices

Section 12: C2C Use Cases

  • Cisco CX ISE Reporting Tool
  • ISE Reporting
  • ISE Hardening
  • Profiling Best Practices for C2C

Section 13: C2C Third-Party Integrations-Tenable

  • Tenable Use Case
  • Tenable Overview and Capabilities
  • Tenable Integration Prerequisites
  • Tenable Integration Configuration
  • Policy Design
  • Policy Enforcement
  • Enforcement Verification

Section 14: C2C Third-Party Integrations-MECM

  • MECM Use Case
  • MECM Overview and Capabilities
  • MECM Integration Prerequisites
  • MECM Integration Configuration
  • Policy Design
  • Policy Enforcement
  • Enforcement Verification

Section 15: C2C Third-Party Integrations-Trellix

  • Trellix Use Case
  • Trellix Overview and Capabilities
  • Trellix Integration Prerequisites
  • Trellix Integration Configuration
  • Policy Enforcement
  • Enforcement Verification

Section 16: Troubleshooting Cisco ISE Policy and Third-Party NAD

  • Cisco ISE Third-Party Network Access Device Support
  • Troubleshooting Cisco ISE Policy Configuration

Section 17: Exploring Cisco TrustSec

  • Cisco TrustSec Overview
  • Cisco TrustSec Enhancements
  • Cisco TrustSec Configuration

Section 18: Working with Network Access Devices

  • Reviewing AAA
  • Cisco ISE TACACS+ Device Administration
  • Configuring TACACS+ Device Administration
  • TACACS+ Device Administration Guidelines and Best Practices

 

Course Prerequisites: 

There are no prerequisites for this training. However, the knowledge and skills you are recommended to have before attending this training are:

  • Familiarity with 802.1X
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems
  • Familiarity with Cisco IOS CLI for wired and wireless network devices
  • Familiarity with Cisco Identity Service Engine

TN-949: Certified Firewall Analyst Course

Course Overview:

This is a hands-on course that covers many of the concepts of securing the perimeter of an organization. This includes concepts such as intrusion detection, packet filtering, and central logging.

A skills focus enables the student to better absorb the subject matter and perform better on the job.   This is not death by power point. The course is aligned with information assurance operators and executing hands-on labs. Lecture and labs walk the student through the knowledge required to truly understand the mechanics of Firewalls.

This course is an excellent precursor to PA-215 Palo Alto Firewall Essentials FastTrack.

Attendees to TN-949: Certified Firewall Analyst Prep will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Analyzing Network and Wireless Design
  • Creating and Auditing a Rulebase
  • Firewall Assessment and Penetration Testing
  • Host-Based Detection and DLP
  • Incident Detection and Analysis
  • IOS and Router Security
  • IPv6 and ICMPv6
  • Log Collection and Analysis
  • NAT and Proxies
  • Netfilter IPtables
  • Network Access Control
  • Network-Based Intrusion Detection
  • Packet Filters and Inspection
  • Packet Fragmentation
  • Perimeter Concepts and IP Fundamentals
  • Securing Hosts and Services
  • TCP/IP Protocols
  • VPN Design and Auditing
  • VPN Implementation

Course Prerequisites:

  • GSEC or equivalent experience
  • UNIX, Windows, networking and security  experience
  • This is a hands-on skill course requiring comfort with command line interaction and network communications

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