Passed GCIH - my advice for people taking it
[FONT=&]So I just recently passed the GCIH. I had come to this site to see what other people’s advice was, and noticed that a few people asked for more detail and no one ever followed up with a sort of “Lessons Learned” reply. So I figured I would do that now.
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[FONT=&]Also I found that people who were responding weren’t exactly in the same shoes I was in, so I am hoping that will help give a little perspective from another Security Engineer’s side. Mainly what I mean by that is this:
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So what advice I would I give to people taking the test…simple. INDEX INDEX INDEX! Start early and keep it close. Mine was around 27 pages all in all, and I would say after taking the test it could have been longer. I think that, after studying hard and seriously, it is the biggest piece of advice I can give. Know your index![/FONT]
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My index broke down like this:[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The core index was basically the title of each new slide or concept, them if a major tool was talked about I added that here as well. When I took the practice test if a question I missed had a very specific answer, I added it here as well. Take this for example:
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[FONT=&]Virtual Network Computing Overview (VNC) 504.5 15
Secure = Connect through SSH
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[FONT=&]That reminded me that the best way to send a secure connection was over SSH. I found sprinkling things like that in my index was useful.
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[FONT=&]In my index I color coated white then Yellow, each separating a new idea. Certain sections I highlighted in a light blue for easy use because I knew they were going to be super important and I wanted to be able to find them fast. A few of those sections were Netcat, SQL Injection, Format String Attack.
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[FONT=&]The last thing I will say about the index is don’t be afraid to add topics/keywrods for stuff you are probably really familiar with. Thinks like DNS, TCP/UDP Headers, TTL. I wish I had added more of those in my index. Let’s face it, after setting for 3-4 ours on a test you start to get tired and can forget easy topics like those. Also it helps you to figure out what threat the exam is asking about if it only references things like stacks when it is talking about Buffer Overflows.
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[FONT=&]Hope that helps. I would be happy to answer other questions if you have them. This is a rough test, and I am super proud I passed it on my first go![/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Also I found that people who were responding weren’t exactly in the same shoes I was in, so I am hoping that will help give a little perspective from another Security Engineer’s side. Mainly what I mean by that is this:
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- [FONT=&]- [/FONT][FONT=&]I didn’t take a seminar. I did all of my work on the GCIH with audio files and the books from the class. This kind of puts me in a big disadvantage. I am a hands-on learner. I like to see it done and try it myself before I truly understand it. True understanding with reading alone is very difficult for me, even with the audio files.[/FONT]
- [FONT=&]- [/FONT]I have had 0 experience with Unix/Linux in the past. This was a little intimidating for me since I know there were going to be a good number of questions on it. In the end I would say roughly 15% of the questions related to Unix/Linux.
- [FONT=&]- [/FONT][FONT=&]My final score was in the 70s. I wasn’t insanely proud of that, but it was passing![/FONT]
So what advice I would I give to people taking the test…simple. INDEX INDEX INDEX! Start early and keep it close. Mine was around 27 pages all in all, and I would say after taking the test it could have been longer. I think that, after studying hard and seriously, it is the biggest piece of advice I can give. Know your index![/FONT]
[FONT=&]
My index broke down like this:[/FONT]
- [FONT=&]15 pages of pure index and tips[/FONT]
- [FONT=&]4 pages of Tools[/FONT]
- [FONT=&]2 pages of Windows commands that weren’t on the **** sheet[/FONT]
- [FONT=&]6 pages of the **** sheets[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The core index was basically the title of each new slide or concept, them if a major tool was talked about I added that here as well. When I took the practice test if a question I missed had a very specific answer, I added it here as well. Take this for example:
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Virtual Network Computing Overview (VNC) 504.5 15
Secure = Connect through SSH
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]That reminded me that the best way to send a secure connection was over SSH. I found sprinkling things like that in my index was useful.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]In my index I color coated white then Yellow, each separating a new idea. Certain sections I highlighted in a light blue for easy use because I knew they were going to be super important and I wanted to be able to find them fast. A few of those sections were Netcat, SQL Injection, Format String Attack.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The last thing I will say about the index is don’t be afraid to add topics/keywrods for stuff you are probably really familiar with. Thinks like DNS, TCP/UDP Headers, TTL. I wish I had added more of those in my index. Let’s face it, after setting for 3-4 ours on a test you start to get tired and can forget easy topics like those. Also it helps you to figure out what threat the exam is asking about if it only references things like stacks when it is talking about Buffer Overflows.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Hope that helps. I would be happy to answer other questions if you have them. This is a rough test, and I am super proud I passed it on my first go![/FONT]
