Ethical Hacker Community Forums

Has anyone taken this cert before?  Not a lot on the web about it, no forums that I found.  Just their website and that's about it.  No practice exams either, so feeling a little nervous about writing it when I don't know what kind of exam it'll be.  Not sure if it's scenario-based mainly, or "know your tools and their syntax" type, etc..  I volunteered for the GCIH (Incident Handler & Hacker Techniques) cert.

Thanks.

Have you already taken the class or are you doing the @home option?

I passed the GCFA back in the spring with a near perfect score, so I don't think the GCIA will be that difficult either as long as you've gone over the courseware. They don't ask anything except whats from the books. What I did to prepare is to simply review the books and make little tabs on areas that I thought was weak so I could find them quicker. Also you get 2 free practices tests after you signup in the SANS portal. After taking those you will have a good feel for the level of detail they are expecting and all the questions are multiple choice.

So you didn't find it too hard, eh?  Good to hear.  In my SANS portal, I don't have any Practice Exams. They said they would show up 7 - 10bus days after the conference. So far it's been 8 business days, so I'll wait another couple. Made a mistake, I meant just the SANS GIAC certifications in general.  The conference I just atteneded was the GCIH (Incident Handler & Hacker Techniques). When i get home after work, I just have no idea what to study or how to study.  Guess I'll just skim through the books a bit more.  I know I was having a hard time with buffer overflows.

Thanks.

With as much as they charge, they better get you the practices tests. They help out immensely, as I saw my score go up alot after taking the first practice one.

I just received access to the Practice Exams.  We are allowed only 2 Practice Exams for each certification exam.  The GCIH is a 2 part exam, so 2 practice ones for each part.

Having passed both the GCIA and the GCIH I can honestly say that I found the GCIA more challenging due to the complexity of the content.  That being said I self-studied for the GCIA and used the SANS OnDemand method for my GCIH.

This was the most intense test I've taken.  Know your snort, packet headers, and common attacks and what protocols they utilize.  It's a good feeling once you pass considering how much work that goes into passing this certification exam.  Good luck, I'm on the GSEC test 2 now, def. a lot easier then the GCIA.  Let us know how you did.

P.S.  Tab your book out so you know where to find the information IRT the question being asked.

Going back and reading my posts on this thread, I had to laugh!  I accidently had this aimed at the GCIA, but in fact it was the GCIH that I was writing and meaning to ask about.  I ended up with a near perfect score on both exams and now on the advisory board for SANS.  It was a great feeling to do so well with a SANS cert like this.   ;D

Thanks guys!