Training Camp Runs First 5-Day CompTIA Security+ Boot Camp in the U.S.

PHILADELPHIA — 2002 — CompTIA’s new Security+ certification has its first official boot camp in the United States, run by Training Camp as an authorized CompTIA partner and built to compress weeks of security fundamentals into one focused week.

CompTIA introduced Security+ that year as a vendor-neutral credential for people stepping from general IT into security work. The exam spanned the basics an entry-level security worker needed, general security concepts, network infrastructure, basic cryptography, access control, and the operational side of keeping systems safe. Because it did not tie itself to any one vendor’s products, it travelled well across employers running different equipment.

The certification suited help-desk technicians, network administrators, and system administrators who had picked up security duties without a formal grounding in them. It was never meant to make anyone a specialist. The value was in setting a common floor, a shared vocabulary that a hiring manager could count on.

Training Camp’s answer was to take that broad body of material and teach it in five straight classroom days. Students worked through each objective with an instructor rather than alone with a study guide, then practiced against the question formats CompTIA used. For a working technician who could spare a week but not a semester, the pace fit the calendar.

“Most of the people in that first class already did security work. They just didn’t have anything on paper to show for it,” said Chris Porter, Chief Executive Officer. “Five days gave them the structure and the exam. That was the whole point.”

Security+ went on to become one of the most widely required certifications in the field, written into job descriptions and government hiring rules alike. It would later appear in the Department of Defense certification requirements as well, cementing its place at the entry level. The early move to a five-day format set the template for how Training Camp would teach the certification for years afterward.

About Training Camp: Training Camp delivers accelerated, exam-focused certification boot camps for IT and cybersecurity professionals, working with major certifying bodies to prepare individuals as well as corporate, government, and military teams.

Media Contact: Magnus Carter, mcarter@trainingcamp.com