Explore KSACs by Pathway

In late 2025, the Partnership pulled together members of industry from across tech to share how the in-demand skillsets for entry-level roles in their fields have changed in the last two years. The Knowledge, Skills & Abilities and Credentials (KSACs) below reflect their feedback on entry-level expectations, especially in a tech workplace increasingly shaped by AI.

2. Protocols

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Label KSAC Description Bloom's Taxonomy Level
a Explain the DNS protocol. knowledge 2
b Define DNS Cache. knowledge 2
c Define Root DNS Servers. knowledge 2
d Explain DNS security concepts, including encrypted DNS knowledge 2
Use network traffic analysis tools to inspect and interpret packets (e.g. Wireshark, tcpdump, Splunk, Elastic) skill 2
e Use tracer tool to explore protocols. skill 1
f Interpret what a router is and how it functions, including how routing decisions are made (at the HS level). knowledge 2
g Explain the role and function of network switches, including MAC address forwarding and VLAN concepts at an introductory level knowledge 2
h Apply secure network Protocols and identify when encryption is required (e.g., IPSec, SNMP, SSH, DNS, TLS, SSL, TCP/IP, FTPS, HTTPS, SCP, ICMP). ability 2
i Identify and apply Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) applications and services (e.g., rlogin, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [SMTP], Telecommunications Network [Telnet], File Transfer Protocol [FTP], Domain Name System [DNS], Network File System [NFS], Voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP], Internet Control Message Protocol [ICMP]). skill 2
j Explain the relationship between ports, sockets, IP addresses and network services. knowledge 3
k Compare dynamic and static routing configuration. knowledge 2
l Explain the purpose of basic networking utilities (e.g. Netstat, Tracert, Traceroute, Ping IPConfig, IFConfig). knowledge 2
m Explain how routers forward traffic and the purpose of routing protocols knowledge 2
n Identify common wireless networking standards and naming conventions (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax and Wi-Fi 6/7) knowledge 2
o Describe common wireless security protocols and their purposes (e.g., WPA2, WPA3, 802.1X) knowledge 2
p Explain the purpose and basic operation of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), including encryption tunneling concepts and common use cases (remote access, site-to-site) knowledge 2
q Describe the purpose of network monitoring and logging tools (e.g., SNMP, Syslog, NetFlow), and how they support network performance and security monitoring knowledge 2
r Discuss remote desktop services. knowledge 1

Credentials

  1. CompTIA IT Fundamentals
  2. CompTIA A+
  3. Linux Essentials
  4. Network +
  5. LPIC-1
  6. CompTIA Cloud+
  7. Microsoft Operating System Fundamentals