eLearnSecurity 4-in-a-box promotion : what to choose?

Mike7

I am thinking of going for this
https://www.elearnsecurity.com/offers/4_in_a_box


Now I am deciding which 4 to choose. My current preferences are PTP and WAPT. Any suggestions?


The plan is to do eLearnSecurity first and OSCP later.

chopsticks

Maybe you want to have some mobile course in it too since mobile devices play a pretty much significant role these days.

UnixGuy

Damn that's a sweet deal!

Mike7

Thanks for the suggestion. I have up to end this month to decide.
Tentative options are PTP, WAPT, MASPT and either ARES or WAPTX.

Mike-Mike

this is very tempting

cyberguypr

First bad review I've seen for these peeps. Anyone else found them inadequate?

chopsticks

Probably because eth0 has OSCP that's why he felt that way. For the rest of us, I believe we can learn quite a bit of things from eLearnSec.

Mike-Mike

cyberguypr wrote: »

First bad review I've seen for these peeps. Anyone else found them inadequate?

I agree, most I see are pretty good reviews

UnixGuy

@eth0: boring and unreal?

UnixGuy

Delete. Never mind.

chrisone

The course material is ok, I did learn a lot. I had issues with labs because the course was running BT3 and I was on kalilinux. Some older tools from the course I had to build on kali. Not a major issue it just made it a little more challenging to research how kali restructured the file system , folder, etc. I did not pass the PTPv2 exam, I just ended up running into to many road blocks because I was using Kali.

PROS:
Good material for beginner to intermediate
Support was good

CONS:
Expensive
Clock for exam voucher expiration starts at moment of course purchase.
English could be a little rugged at times (eLearn is Italian based company.)
Customer support response can be delayed due to time differences US to Italy.
Course purchases do NOT update. (you will be stuck with the version you bought.)
Exam voucher prices and retake prices are ridiculously highly priced.
Certification is not really recognized in the pentesting field. Wont get you the HR eye test.

My main HUGE problem with the company was that I purchased two courses within two months and the clock started on my exam voucher for both courses! So while I was doing the PTPv2 course, which takes a couple months minimum. My exam voucher for the WPT course was ticking and I still had to go through that course material too. It was just a rough experience for me in all honesty. I DID learn but with the pressure and exam vouchers expiring, I just gave up on elearns exams and only valued the course for the material as a help for OSCP.

I have NO personal agenda against them, their exam format didn't really work for me. I felt I spent to much money on 4 courses! (PTS, PTPv2, WPT, ARES) 3k+ Yikes!

Mike7

Thanks for the feedback @chrisone. I am in more for the knowledge than for the certification. Hope they build the knowledge necessary for doing my OSCP later.

The 3K deal is tempting; 4 elite edition courses which means exam vouchers do not expire.

chrisone

Yeah if you can get 4 courses for that price without time limit restrictions its a good deal. I got suckered into a sales pitch add they had going on back in 2013 and bought courses as they came along. So I never got the their "ultimate" package I guess. I would rather spend all that money on SANS, ISC2, Eccouncil, Microsoft, Cisco, OSCP etc. I don't find the overall package of elearnsecurity to charge 1k per course.

Community is a little dead on the their forums too.

Honestly you can learn the same amount of info if not more than elearnsecurity courses with the hacking books that are out there on amazon. In the elearnsecurity courses they end up referring you to these books anyways. Granted the elearn solution has a lab already built and they lay out everything for you to do. Going the self study book route you are forced to build your lab but you learn more going that route, but it wont be easy.

If I were to do it all over again I would have saved my 3+ grand, bought some books and hardware and make my own hacking lab. There are some really awesome books out there on the same topics elearn courses teach.

Anyways good luck on whatever path you choose and hopefully you have a better experience than I did.

Mike7

I probably will think twice if each course is more than $1K. That is why 4 elite courses at $3K with no time limit is a good deal.
As for getting hacking books and building your own labs, I guess I am just lazy, do not have the time and do not know how to start. eLearnSecurity is meant to be a stepping stone toward OSCP and even possibly CREST.

Anyway, still have up to end this month to decide. Thanks for the feedback.

chopsticks

I have been lax on eLearnSecurity lessons. I think it's time to buck up in the coming new year.

chrisone

Mike7 wrote: »

eLearnSecurity is meant to be a stepping stone toward OSCP and even possibly CREST.

In all fairness I cannot come to that assessment since I never took OSCP. So it is not fair to say elearn is a stepping stone to oscp. I only mentioned using the material learned in elearn to help me on other pentesting certs like CEH or OSCP because of my own personal experience with the timing etc. I cannot justify spending $400 on another exam voucher to take an outdated exam since they are now on newer versions of courses and exams and I only have the outdated course work. So why spend $400 on an exam voucher for a new test when I only have the old course materials. Even worse, why spend $400 on an outdated exam when there is a new exam.

Like I said I learned plenty but the testing timing format did not work for me.

Like I stated before material and labs were good and you will learn. Support and professionalism was always present with this company. I have nothing bad to say about the material or how the company conducts themselves. As you can tell Armando is a good guy and very professional. It would be cool if there were options for past students wanting to take the newer certs with the old courses to purchase a $400 exam voucher and have there current courses updated to the newer course. Some form of update plan I suppose.

Good luck Mike the elearn 4 course deal is nice!

elearnsecurity

Again a bit of incorrect info to be clarified.
A new voucher for an existing student is $200 (not $400).

Each voucher contains 2 attempts.

Thanks

Mike-Mike

if you had some type of payment plan for the 3k, I would be down. Can't seem to get my employer to pay, and I can't drop 3k at Christmas

supasecuritybro

I am currently running through the PTSv3. I am new to PenTesting and I first went the CEH route since I was trying to my work requirements but I was very disappointed with the material to actual working hands on experience. I am aware that having the time to do your own lab work is key but it would be nice to have it at one place. Any case, if you have seen any of the conversations on the CEH posts you will see the current mess (re: CEH version changing without notice) I didn't pass. I was looking for more options to practice the real deal things and found nothing other than the ECC cyber range but I was not feeling like giving them more money. Needless to say I am going the eJPT instead of the CEH since I realized how little the CEH provides other than just information than true practical knowledge.

I currently works as a Net Defense Analyst so I have hands on experience but I would like to have more of a background in the pentest part of this field. I found eLS method and website to be pretty great for what I wanted from the CEH. Its putting the peices together in a manageable way. It has also inspired and developed a desire to research more topics through the labs and reading I have been doing. Is it the best or the only way? No, but I see the value in their coursework. If it was more in-depth it wouldn't be good for me since I am new and starting. Not everyone has all this background knowledge to need some more in-depth lessons.

If you are in this field you will need to get your knowledge from multiple sources at what you can afford. They are well priced for what they offer and I am very happy with it.

The pack is good for their price. I might do the eCPPT before the OSCP to make sure I cover as much as possible. Thanks @elearnsecurity

UnixGuy

I'm doing the eLearn PTS3 too and I have nothing but great things to say about it!

Mike if you don't want 3K, there is always PTS3 or PTP3, either one is a great option and cheaper.

Mike7

Having read the eCPPT and OSCP reviews on this forum, I believe I have a pretty good idea on how easy or difficult each of them is. With all due respect, PTP to me is an intermediate level between CEH and OSCP. I have tried the PTP demo access and enjoyed it. As @supasecuritybro mentioned, eLS put things in a manageable way that makes learning easy. I already have CEH and find it to be introductory entry level.

Another reason for doing eLS is that I will be moving to a MSP, and offensive security is one area I think will be useful to my new job role. It is easier to demo ethical hacking than to talk about how a vulnerablity can lead to data breach.

The 4 in one pack is good value for money though I do not mind further discounts.

UnixGuy

@Mike7: I read the reviews as well, and to me getting both PTP & OSCP seemed like a great idea. It's like getting more experience...and then building real world experience on top of that, I don't see that hurting anyone's career I want to do that, but my life is SO busy at the moment.

Mike7

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.
I just signed up for the 4 in one and Armando(@eLearnSecurity) handled the registration.

Wishing everyone Merry X'mas and Happy New Year!