Norwich University MSISA Progress

Rumblr33

Update your current status in school, please!! I am currently dragging through the Information Assurance Management & Analytics course. I was dragging because I was studying for the GCIH exam during the first 7 weeks of the course. How is everyone else doing?

FSF150

So far vulnerability management is like a reward for the previous year's grind. I love the class. Labs every week, you have to put your work in.

fullcrowmoon

I have three weeks left in my final class, whoooo!

Vulnerability Management has been a ton of fun so far, and I'm really happy with the program. I can't wait to finish classes and do my June residency.

My current scorecard:
GI512 Foundations & Historical Underpinnings of Info Ass - A
GI522 Info Ass Tech - A
GI532 Human Factors & Managing Risk - A
GI542 Info Ass Mgmt & Analytics - A
GI562 Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing I - A
GI563 Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing II - TBD

fullcrowmoon

I just turned in my final lab for the final class. I'm completely done with the schoolwork portion of the degree and just have to wait until June to do my residency and get the piece of paper. Time to start job-hunting.

kurosaki00

Anyone who had also taken WGU classes can do a comparison of Norwich vs WGU? I took 2 classes on WGU and bailed. I did not liked them at all.
Norwich looks very interesting.

FSF150

fullcrowmoon wrote: »

I just turned in my final lab for the final class. I'm completely done with the schoolwork portion of the degree and just have to wait until June to do my residency and get the piece of paper. Time to start job-hunting.

Congratulations! I'm working on the final lab for Vuln 1 now. Not exactly a gimmie.

How was Vuln II? Did you expand the skillset in Kali/MSF as well as the writing/design phase?

FSF150

kurosaki00 wrote: »

Anyone who had also taken WGU classes can do a comparison of Norwich vs WGU? I took 2 classes on WGU and bailed. I did not liked them at all.
Norwich looks very interesting.

I'd say that the core of the Norwich MSISA is a year-long writing clinic focusing on the CISO's job practice areas.

I haven't taken classes at WGU but among peers who did I think they had an overall positive experience. I think WGU is big on giving you as much credit for your experience and certs so that they can award you a degree ASAP, which fits very well for some students. As for the class structure vs. Norwich, couldn't say. I wanted Norwich due to the military history of the school so I didn't shop around very much.

If you left WGU due to not liking the admin staff or anything like that, I've been very happy with the student services side of Norwich.

FSF150

Done my final for Vuln 1. I've been waiting for final exam like this for my entire academic career.

Congrats to all, another class down.

fullcrowmoon

Got my final grades and I am done, baby, done!

Except now I have to wait until June to do the residency and get my actual piece of paper!

Final Scorecard:
GI512 Foundations & Historical Underpinnings of Info Ass - A
GI522 Info Ass Tech - A
GI532 Human Factors & Managing Risk - A
GI542 Info Ass Mgmt & Analytics - A
GI562 Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing I - A
GI563 Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing II - A

Rumblr33

On to Vulnerability Management....about time. I decided to join the honor societies we get invited to. I will see everyone in June. Looking forward to that, even though it will be during my last class and I won't get that piece of paper until September. Congrats everyone for pushing through and get this done.

FSF150

Rumblr33 wrote: »

On to Vulnerability Management....about time. I decided to join the honor societies we get invited to. I will see everyone in June. Looking forward to that, even though it will be during my last class and I won't get that piece of paper until September. Congrats everyone for pushing through and get this done.

I did that as well. Cost wasn't too bad, and frankly qualifying for any honor society is a new thing for me

I've greatly enjoyed the first VM class, I'm sure you will too. It's a bit dated, but not too bad, and you'll gain useful experience researching vulnerabilities & navigating Kali and MSF either way. Some of the lab prompts definitely require you to go off and research on your own. I'd recommend reading the tutorials on Offensive-Security.com for each tool you use in a lab, they're well done.

FSF150

Week 6! Halfway done with another one.

Vunl II hasn't been too bad so far, but less technical than I was hoping. Wanted to jump right into attacks that made the Vuln 1 final look like kindergarten, but now we're exploring some management and essay type stuff.

Everyone sign up for the hackathon? See you at the airport!

FSF150

Congrats to all on another class down. For those who are done - see you in a couple weeks!

MickyDee

Reviving this thread for anyone interested as this forum was the main reason I chose Norwich. I currently have a few weeks left in Vulnerability Mgmt I and then on to the final class, Vulnerability Mgmt II (Whoo-Hoo!). I currently have a 4.0, so I am hoping I can maintain it.

The core classes are rather time consuming because they require LOTS of writing. The structure of the program tends to be aimed more towards those that are, or strive to be, a CISO or CIO; however, I am neither and have no plans on becoming one, so it isn't a show stopper if you don't fall within those categories. The Vulnerability class that I am currently in has been excellent so far, with training in Kali, Nessus, Metasploit, Armitage, etc. I come from a less technical background (financial systems), so the labs have been very informative for me; they have also required tons of research on my part to figure out why certain exploits do and don't work, etc. If you have experience with using said tools, I feel like the classes may not be as difficult if you know your way around them and their functionalities.

As I said earlier, for those interested in this program, be prepared for a lot of writing in the core classes, as you will be doing a lot of it. I've enjoyed the classes so far, and even though some of the assignments have been very time consuming, it is still possible to accomplish with even with family duties and full time work. Overall, I recommend the program and I will be ecstatic when I no longer have school assignments (4 more months left).

j.petrov

MickyDee,

Thanks for keeping this thread alive. Would you mind sharing if you are doing the employer case study or industry case study? I'm a little nervous about this as I work for a large financial and they may not allow me to conduct the case study. I'm hoping that the assignments are high-level overall which may let me conduct the case study at my employer. The Norwich program definitely looks good for my particular goals, I already have a good amount of technical skills and am looking for a management track down the road.

Keep up the good work, hope you can maintain the 4.0. How have the labs been for vulnerability assessment? I'd be looking to do that track as well.

LSagee

I am finishing the Norwich BS in Cyber Security next session. I have done the Vulnerability Assessment classes and Cyber Investigation classes at the BS level. I am noticing the exact same reading material is being used for these specialization tracks for the MS and the same topics are being covered. I am wondering if they literally are the same classes w/ perhaps a bit more reading but worth 6 cr instead of 3 cr. I was thinking about doing the MSISA next but now I am considering a different school to branch out a little more. I am guessing the Information Assurance GI522 or GI542 classes goes over the entire Computer Security Handbook Vol 1 and 2. Can anyone confirm? I have no inclination to read that 9 lb. monstrosity again.

I like Norwich and have learned a lot doing the BS, so much so that I have been able to knock out certs with relative ease, but I do not want to literally repeat my BS for a MS and miss out on expanding my skillset (though it would be pretty easy since I would have done the assignments already.)

j.petrov

I just got accepted to the MSISA program. Now to make a decision

j.petrov

The only thing that has me worried about this program is that I'm not sure my employer would agree to let me conduct a case study. How in depth does the case study go? Any of you guys do one of the other options?

Thanks in advance.

FSF150

j.petrov wrote: »

The only thing that has me worried about this program is that I'm not sure my employer would agree to let me conduct a case study. How in depth does the case study go? Any of you guys do one of the other options?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for missing this way back when. Better late than never?

The "case study" really just gives you a jumping-off point for your papers. I actually picked the employer case study, changed employers during the degree, and planned to change to "industry" case study, but actually kept with the employer theme as many of the papers were similar subject, slightly different lens. Don't overthink it, I doubt you'll need to go in depth past what your employer is comfortable with.

How is the program going for you?

j.petrov

Just started my 4th class, GI542. Program is pretty good, you guys weren't kidding when you said there was A LOT of writing. Its not a challenging program, but it is time consuming. I setup a slack channel with my other classmates so we could commiserate in real-time. Its been helpful to all of us. I'm definitely looking for this class to be over so I can move onto the VM concentraion and get my hacking on. I doubt it will be much of a challenge, due to some of the certification I have gotten, but I'll take it! This has truly been a non-stop grind...

FSF150

Enjoy! The VM concentration is a breeze compared to the core as long as you enjoy that kind of thing. Basically two classes of Metasploit.

It is challenging but not grindy. Biggest gripe was unclear directions for a couple of assignments & labs, but I think the VM faculty was working on that.

I breathed quite a sigh of relief when I submitted my final paper for the core.

ETA: Just saw you had OSCP already. Totally set.

j.petrov

Yea, figured with the OSCP and GPEN it would be a breeze. I'm hoping to squeeze in the GXPN this year, but waiting on approval to take the class. After the current level of grind I'm looking forward to sitting back and enjoying life a little more when the last third of this program starts.