GIAC Index's

Ziocahn

Hi Guys,

I have a colleague who is interested in viewing my index for the GCFE.

I have seen people asking for index's here so I assume it is fine?

Thanks.

cyberguypr

Very personal decision. To me the indexes are an integral part of the SANS learning and exam prep experience. Indexing allowed me to bring home the few topics that I wasn't feeling confident in. Also, I omit a lot of stuff that I know by heart. For those reasons I don't share them.

I keep forgetting who it is but someone here posted this to show how he did his index. I also posted mine here for those who want some guidance.

azmatt

I 100% agree with cyber. There are so many issues (books constantly changing, how important creating them is to the study process etc.) I don't share them beyond pictures and explanations of my methods and thought process.

Ziocahn

Hi Guys,

Although I completely agree I am still wondering whether it is allowed or not by GIAC. I have not found any reference to this on the FAQ.

The colleague in question also understand that creating their own index will be infinitely more beneficial than copying my own.

Thanks for the quick replies as well.

docrice

I don't think GIAC minds sharing of indexes.

cyberguypr

That question comes up regularly on the GIAC advisory board. I don't recall if there was an authoritative answer from SANS folks but consensus was that sharing indexes was neither copyright infringement nor an ethics violation.

5ekurity

Another +1 for cyber; part of the learning process is doing the index. Yes, it takes a while. Yes, it really helps drive home the learning points. Areas I was stronger in I only referenced book/page number, no explanation - others, I had explanation / details. Using someone else's index does not necessarily equate to a 'pass'.

colemic

I asked for, and obtained, an index from someone for the GSLC exam, and although it has slipped a bit down the priority list (CISM in December, for example), I am using it to make my own index, omitting what I already know I have down pat, and for making sure that I don't miss any areas that could bite me when I am taking the exam. I would never recommend using someone else's index, as they are highly personalized to that individual, and could completely throw you off if they didn't include something that YOU need to reference. It's highly worth the time to make your own, but I see nothing wrong with using someone else's to validate and make sure you didn't miss anything.

Also - since I don't have the official course materials to reference page numbers, it's pretty useless if you just rely on that... when I made my own index for the 270001 exam, I literally had a binder with every topic I thought I needed to know, with an article/definition/explanation printed out. I don't know how valuable that will be for the GSLC, but for the 270001 it worked perfectly for me. Also, if you take practice exams, cut and paste the questions/answers in your documents somewhere, even the ones you got right. I found that to be quite useful; they weren't verbatim, but some of them were essentially asking the same thing, in a different way.

Sir Aaron

I used somebody else's index. I don't think I would have had the time to do one from scratch unless I did it as I went along in the books. I'd add to the index after doing my practice exam.

I found that tabbing the books and highlighting key points was as beneficial or more beneficial than an index. I mean most of the time, I knew which book I'd need to use to find the answer. I knew immediately Linux commands would be found in book six. Active directory would be in the book about Windows. The key was getting to the correct part of the book then getting you eye to the answer as quickly as possible. For example, I knew which book NIPS or HIDS would be in. But having it tabbed saved me far more time then having it indexed. I just picked up the book, tabbed over, and there it was. Using the index for that would have inserted an extra unnecessary step.

I found the index was very good for very specific terms that I wasn't sure where in a certain book I'd find it.

JDMurray

Note that the hand made index derived from of a set of SANS training books are useless without the corresponding books the index was made from. The index by itself does not contain useful information (unless you just want to see what topics are in the course material). Also, the content of the SANS books is updated at least one a year, so using an index created from a mismatched revision of books means some of the page numbers will be incorrect.

colemic

JD that's exactly what I am using it for. I can't swing the GSLC class cost for the books, so I am using the index I was given as a template for what I need to know, and to have an idea of what I need to print out to take with me, that I might not be as well-versed on as I should be (my own binder.) First thing I did was delete the page numbers column.

JDMurray

You are building your own custom set of SANS MGT 512 books to use in your exam? Sir, you are more industrious than I.

colemic

ROFL not exactly... not building the books, per se, so much as building a binder full of relevant material, printouts, tabbing other books (if necessary), etc. Definitely not reinventing the wheel here. It's an exam I want to take, but don't have the books, so I am improvising, relying on previous work experience (hopefully a lot) so I don't have an armful of books to take in. The benefit of using a previously-used index is that I have a good idea of what I need to cover, the downside like you said is the exam topics could change, but I am betting (hoping) that they don't change a whole lot.

This approach is very similar to what I used for the GIAC ISO-27000 exam.

GSLC-taker

Hi, I am trying to get a copy of the GSLC index. I have only the 2007 books and no funds to take the course again. I know there are a lot of topics that have changed/reorganized and that of course the page numbers are useless. What I could really use is the keywords or new topics that have been added, so that I know what to research. For example, what tools are currently being covered? what malware? Right now I'm guessing. Thanks.

colemic

I've been sidetracked on updating mine, and since I don't even have the coursebooks, I can't be of much help...sorry.

cyberguypr

We know you've been busy reviewing those CEH/CHFI books on a daily basis. LOL!!!!

colemic

cyberguypr wrote: »

We know you've been busy reviewing those CEH/CHFI books on a daily basis. LOL!!!!

Heh. I don't have a need to cry myself to sleep every night, LOL

tumblejerm

Yea tell me about it, this has been a nightmare.