Congratulations on the pass.  You say you're not aspiring to be a pentester, so...what is your goal?  Just curious.

Congrats

Why don't you just knock GCED out of the way.

Congrats!

And nice of you giving the practice exam!

Maybe in a few years if I haven't gone insane from all this studying?


I actually just ordered WAHH and it's on my long back-logged to-read list.  I figure I'll need additional reinforcement of the subject matter as well as a different perspective / author's voice.


The GAWN and GPEN look more interesting, although I could certainly gain something from taking 501.  The problem is that the latter looks very much like another generalist course, similar to 401 and getting the GSEC.  I've always found the more specialized classes more interesting.


I await your email message, per the rules above.


After going through (I think) seven GIAC courses at this point, my general impression is that while one can certainly self-study the subjects and challenge GIAC exams directly, there are some things that the exams cover for which the information is well-noted in a specific SANS course.

Another way to put it is that since GIAC exams are pretty much based on the corresponding SANS material, you have a tactical home advantage with the SANS books in-hand.  There's some "specialized knowledge" in those books which may not be directly available in the pages at the bookstore, although at the same time it's not proprietary stuff either.  It's just that SANS packages a lot of things together and GIAC's coverage tends to be based on it.

I've never directly challenged GIAC exams without haven taken the relevant class first, although with some studying on the wireless side I could probably pass a GAWN attempt.  I very much enjoy the challenge of scoring above 90% (which I've been lucky to accomplish on all my GIAC attempts so far) so taking the course fulfills a gap which I think is more important that attaining the title, although it also helps pad my resume with more somewhat-useless alphabet.  That's a rant I'll save for another day.

We're fortunate enough to live in times where infosec books are a plenty.  Instead of chasing more acronyms, I think I'd gain more right now by reading non-certification books and applying the knowledge into actual practice.

Lame


I've actually seen the majority of the material because I've written some questions for the exam, and GCED is pretty serious. They actually don't even allow it to be challenged because they feel there's too much detailed information in the course material. I asked for an exception because I can't take it for two years after writing questions for it, but no dice...


I was thinking about calling you out on that, but I figured it was just OSCE brain-fry

Congrats dude..

Me too cleared GWAPT last month and was very happy about it.
i felt i have shelled out a bomb to SANS for sec542.. I now wanted to take GPEN. Can anyone suggest me the right course to take for taking this certification. plzz do not point me to SANS again.