I think since vijay2 is about the only person that has been to this class both, I do have to ask, how does this class compare to OSCP? Come on vijay2, spill the good, bad and ugly....

What type of knowledge are you looking to gain and what do you want to accomplish? If you want to specifically learn how to use BackTrack and a variety of the tools it contains, go with OSCP. If you want a more broad look on network penetration testing (including legal agreements, methodologies, etc) then go with GPEN.

The cost is significantly different. You're looking at a few hundred for OffSec and a few thousand for SEC560.

BillV

TonyG,

I would say both course are the 'best' in their own right. It all depends what are  you looking for. GPEN is a 6 day intense course and deals will all the aspects of pen testing. This includes the methodology, legal issues, and a lots of theory and explanation of why and how to do stuff, and a lots of tips and tricks from professional pen testers. It does not merely teaches you tools but goes beyond telling you how to optimize it for yr situation. Its a complete course with very few gaps.

On the other hand OSCP is more on the practical side, if you can pass the OSCP challenge, that tells that you know how to conduct the pen test not just theory.  This is not easy and you need to know a lots of theoretical knowledge to understand the contents of the course. Its only about 7 hrs of instructions and it assumes that  you have prior knowledge of all the concepts. But the challenge is amazing

Again, the 2 courses are different, it all depends on what your goal is and how much you are willing to spend.

Hope this clears a few doubts. Let me know if you need more infi.

VJ