First off, obviously, if you're going to be, or can be in the area, ChicagoCon would be the ultimate place to take some courses 

As far as boot camps go, I've only done one.  I took the CISSP bootcamp from Vigilar Intense School, for whom Clement DuPuis is an instructor and helped develop the course.  I was very intimidated going in, knowing that with the 85-70 requirements there would be a lot of seasoned pros in there that just needed the cert to keep their jobs.  That was the case, but as oleDB stated, that was probably the best thing for me.  It was like having one instructor for the test and about 20 instructors for the real world.  As a matter of fact, I've had a couple of job opportunities come along from those fine folks.

The best advice that I could give would be to study as much as possible prior to attending a course, then question, question, question.  The worst thing you can do is waste your money by just sitting there while stuff flies over your head.  I asked a couple of what I thought were stupid questions only to have a bad ass Navy CISO thank me for doing so afterward because it helped him.

If you do go for the CISSP, CISA or CISM, Vigilar seems to be a great way to go, especially if you can get Clement or Larry Greenbladt as your instructor.

Good luck!

As has been stated, the best advice and hardest to follow is to relax and get a good night's sleep.  The night before my CISSP, I forced myself to lock away the study materials and treated myself to a great steak dinner at a fancy restaurant with a fantastic glass (or three) of wine.

It worked.  Hell, if you don't know it by now, there's no sense trying to cram it into your head at the last minute.  The human brain can only hold so much before it starts pushing other stuff out of the way...like remembering your name 

Best of luck, and let us know how you do!

Mentioned on Andrew Hay's website in his weekly "Suggested Blog Reading" feature.

Kevin,

That's not exactly the case.  There was a time when all you really needed was for a CISSP to vouch for you, but in trying to keep the credential competative, the requirements have become much more strict.  You can check them out here.

Basically,

I can't speak for Mile2, but Intense School is great (at least for the CISSP and Cisco courses...hell, Clement Dupouis is one of their instructors).

The one thing I'd recommend with any of them is asking who the instructor is and for access to their former students' feedback.  Most of the good instructors out there can be researched fairly easily.

And now that we're off topic....time to try out that practice CCE test 

I'm going to go ahead and agree with most that the Sec+ is a good way to start.  As Landothor mentioned, it is good primer for the C|EH, but also for the CISSP.  I recently took the latter exam (and passed thankfully), but found that my previous studying for the Sec+ was a huge help.

The Sec+ is slightly more technical than the CISSP, but for the most part is a watered down version of it.  Plus, getting the Sec+ takes a year off of the required OTJ experience for CISSP certification.

Sorry, Boney.

As I stated the last time you asked, this is the ETHICAL hacking community.

In addition, the (ISC)² code of ethics prohibits me from doing so.  I worked very hard to pass this exam and have no intention of jeopardizing the fruits of my labors.  Plus, giving out the questions immediately lowers the value of the certification.

So, Boney, start reading.  Read the Shon Harris All-In-One, the (ISC)² Official Guide to the CBK, and anything else you can get your hands on.  I studied for almost a year for this thing, then took a boot camp, and still didn't know how I did when I walked out of there.

I worked hard, why shouldn't you?

Any news yet?  I can't wait to see this!

Next is taking a much needed break. 

I got the wife pretty good last night.  She walked in the front door, and I told her "Baby, I got some bad news."  She just looked at me, sighed and said, "Oh, no"

"The bad news," I told her, "is that I spent way too much money on this bottle of champagne to celebrate that I PASSED THE CISSP EXAM!!!"

Just got my results, and....I PASSED!!!

Thanks to all of you guys, Joe McCray, and Larry Greenblatt!

I'm now officially an Associate of (ISC)2, just about 6 months shy of the experience requirement for full CISSP accreditation!

Fantastic!  Thanks, Bill.

-Brian

Negrita,

Any updates on your research?  Can we expect to see your name on a patent anytime soon?

-Brian

I just felt that this thread needed a bump.

I'm relatively new to the security field, and IT in general.  This site as well as LSO, and the forum members of both, have greatly helped in my education. 

Thanks to Don, Negrita, Chris, Craig, BillV, jimbob and everyone else who I continue to look to for their experience and guidance.

Don, I just had a boot-camp with Vigilar (as you may remember) and made sure to let everyone know about your endeavors.

-Brian

For your third question, I'll have to recommend Learn Security Online.  I'm a regular visitor to their site, and it's run by EH Net's own Chris Gates.  (there's my obligatory plug, Chris).

Chris and Joe McCray have put together some nice references for the beginner along with some hands-on tutorials.  You'll find that quite a few of us are members of both forums.

It's those damned Miata drivers!  Everyone thinks it's the Illuminati or the Masons, but we know better, don't we?

In all seriousness, you've raised a valid question.  The same thing happened to me last night (I'm not gonna lie, probably was looking at a bad website   )

The fact that they're admitting that it was the advertising department suggests some shady dealings, just in the fact that it's the ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT.  (My wife's in advertising...I know how shady they can be.)