Passing the GSEC with no Bootcamp?

catheybp28

Hello,

So I am a senior in college and was recently accepted for a post grad position in cyber forensics. I have about 7 months until I absolutely must have the GSEC Sec401 passed to be allowed to work there. My boss said they will provide me some dvd's and online study material and my team members will help me when I start (3 months before i must pass the exam), but until then I am on my own and can not afford the bootcamp!

My concerns:
1. I have a very minimal classroom set of network and cyber security.
2. I have no experience with in-depth protocol and other network concepts
3. I have no knowledge of how to read tcp/ip and udp headers or of TCPdump
4. I may have to take the exam without the 6 sans textbooks
5. I must begin studying while still in school for three months (though my professor is a certified ethical hacker and may be able to help if I know what to ask.)
6. I have never taken a cert exam.

Please let me know any advice tips or experiences you have. So far until I get more information on what my work will do to help me pass I have purchased these books to help get a base of understanding:
Darril Gibson's "Security+: Get Certified, Get Ahead"
[h=1]GSEC GIAC Security Essentials Certification All-in-One Exam Guide[/h]I have taken basic networking and infrastructure courses and am enrolled in an infosec assurance course currently where we will play with wireshark and some burp suite and kali linux.

Again please let me know if I am doomed or what my plan should be. I need to pass this exam! Thanks.

TechGromit

catheybp28 wrote: »

4. I may have to take the exam without the 6 sans textbooks

I can pick up anyone off the street with half a brain, give them a set of current set of SANS 401 books that are well indexed and have them take the Exam. If they use the index to look up the answers, use all the time available, I'm sure they can get at least a 40% using the books with no IT or Security background at all. So you really only need to absorb enough material to get another 35% on the test to pass. In short you need the SANS 401 books to pass the exam, of course if your a genius it's possible to pass without them, but since the exam is open book, it's a resource not to be lightly ignored. I guess you could make indexes for other security related books, but since the tests are drawn directly from the material in the SANS 401 books, not having them is a disadvantage. If you could procure a current set of books, read them cover to cover, and make a good index, I'm sure you'll find the test much easier to pass.