Passed CHFI -

Another test I had to take against my will due to WGU MSISA. Based on feedback from the community I didn't waste my time studying for this. I just perused an old book I found on Safari Books. This has been hands down the lamest test I've ever taken. Let's just say that it made CEH look awesome. The material is completely outdated and it was plagued with grammatical errors. Also, I noticed something disturbing that I've never seen in any other test. If anyone passed this recently please PM me as I would like to see if you experienced what I did.

On top of the test sucking my testing center cancelled my appointment so i had to reschedule. When I went to the second appointment, the system was not allowing the center's admin to admit me. Had to wait 35 minutes while the lady called Pearson and got bounced through at least 7 phone reps. I know this is Pearson's fault but I still blame EC-Council. It makes me feel better

I am not sure how much this test cost but I just can't imagine paying for this. Putting my hate for all things EC-Council apart I see how CEH can have some value for some folks. Definitely don't see that with this test.

On to better things now, focusing on GIAC GCED coming up next month.

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Comments

colemic

Congrats on the pass... I think.

I took it in 2013, I'll send you a PM, curious as to what you observed.

JoJoCal19

Congrats on the pass. I passed it in August this year inbetween my CEH attempts (also a part of WGU MSISA). I feel your pain. I was so blah studying for it and just did one read through of the official EC Council CHFI books then took it and passed.

impelse

Really? In one moment I thought this certification would be good to get more basic knowledge in forensic.

cyberguypr

Interesting that you mention that. I forgot to comment on what a big disconnect I think exists between the course and the exam. The iClass (or whatever they call it) was good, way better than the CEH one. The trainer is more engaging and provides good personal insight that helps expand the material. If you are unfamiliar with forensics, there's a lot of value in the class.

The problem is that when you go take the test you will realize that something doesn't add up, as if the test was for a way easier, perhaps more introductory body of knowledge. It was surprising to see things I consider essential to forensics omitted from the test. Kind of if you take the CISSP and don't see a question about applying controls.

The other factor that I take into consideration when evaluating a cert is ROI. Keep in mind, this test is $500. I definitely expect it to provide some tangible benefit. My informal gauge is running the cert through a job aggregator. For example, if I run CEH through Indeed, doing a national search I get 1,700+ hits. CHFI just gives you 52 hits. That tells me all I need to know about potential ROI. Unless a job I am going for requires it, I just don't see myself ever paying $500 for a cert that will not put me closer to my goals. YMMV, but I find it hard to justify spending money on this. Heck, for $900 you can do a SANS Work Study course. That would definitely bring value to the table.