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p0et

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SANS GCIA

« on: November 19, 2006, 11:29:57 PM »

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.


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oleDB

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2006, 04:54:21 PM »

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.


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p0et

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2006, 09:12:40 AM »

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.


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oleDB

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2006, 10:45:41 AM »

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.


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p0et

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2006, 01:37:10 PM »

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.


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Andrew Hay

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2007, 05:59:49 PM »

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.


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Andrew Hay
NSA, CCSE Plus, CCNA, Security+, RHCE, GCIA, GCIH, SSP-MPA, SSP-CNSA
blog: http://www.andrewhay.ca
email: andrewsmhay || at || gmail.com

securinate

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2007, 09:52:05 PM »

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.


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p0et

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Re: SANS GCIA

« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2007, 09:36:40 AM »

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. Grin

Thanks guys!


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