How I passed GCFW

Munck

Dear friends,


As I recently passed the GCFW silver certification, I thought I would share my study strategies with you.

Even though SANS has changed the way GIAC certifications are awarded, I still think they are very valueable to a security professional. After having completed the 502 track, I can easily see myself attending other SANS tracks in the future.

I attended a LMP (Local Mentor Program) session, but there are other ways to approach this. The most common is attending one of their conferences. The month prior to starting the LPM, I read the book "Inside Network Perimeter Security" by Stepken Northcutt (ISBN: 0-672.32737-6). The content of the book is very similar to the curriculum of the actual course thus filling out areas I were weak in, in advance.

I studied doing the following:

First, I read about a particular subject in the textbooks. Then I heard the audio files (they are very good by the way) while going over the textbooks again. After completing a subject, I did the practical assignments if I felt I needed practice in a particular area.

The week prior to taking the exams, I read the textbooks cover-to-cover. That's about it actually Very Happy I used 4 of the 6 months available.

One final note: I will definitely go for the GCFW gold later this year. I have learnt more in the 4 months of studying for the GCFW, than I have learnt by doing any of my other certifications. I highly recommend this SANS course to anyone working in network/perimeter security.

crap I forgot my old pwd

Excellent job man! I haven't really explored the world of SANS yet, but I do hear that their certs are mighty tough to tackle. I was looking into GIAC myself. Thanks for your input!