SANS or Infosec?

Axeman21

The nature of my work has provided me with a number of projects in the past year that require SCADA/ICS security reviews. I need to learn more about this specific subset of cybersecurity. Hoping for advice on choosing between tow options:

SANS ICS410 course
Infosec SCADA/ICS Boot Camp

Both are expensive but I'm willing to suck that up. They appear to offer very a similar syllabus. the major difference is that the SANS course can be done live, in a classroom with a teacher and students. The Infosec is an on line live course. There is a notable cost diff between the two as well. Wondering if anyone has any experience with either of these courses or what the organizations generally and can offer their personal perspective. Thanks.

Infosec_Sam

Hey there, I'm the community manager at Infosec! While I don't have much insider info to give you on the SANS course, I can definitely share my Infosec live online boot camp experience. I took the Sec+ boot camp back in 2019, and I personally thought the level of student/instructor engagement was very close to what you'd see in an in-person setting. There was plenty of time reserved for Q&A and exam prep, and asking for clarification/elaboration was encouraged throughout the course. I can tell you I used to be a skeptic of online courses, but this one definitely changed my perspective.

If you're interested in hearing more about our SCADA boot camp specifically, we published a story on our website of a conversation with a boot camp alum.

Let me know if you have any questions for me - I'd be happy to answer.

Axeman21

Thanks for your response. I have spoken to someone on your account exec team and was impressed. Just looking for more data. Thanks again.

kempoguynz

I've done 2 SANS courses (ICS410 and ICS151) live and am working through the infosec SCADA Architect course. The content is similar, but infosec does not dive as deeply as SANS. The infosec course is a great refresher for me though and if you were looking for an idea of what's involved, infosec is a good place to start.
That being said, ICS/SCADA security is a lot deeper than any course will teach you. I have 20+ years of ICS engineering under my belt and this gives me a keen edge over most of the ICS security experts I meet. 

If you want to play the ICS security game, you need a good engineering background to understand what your customers process does - this is a key differentiator between good ICS guys and expert ICS guys.


Cheers,

Marty
 

Axeman21

Thanks Marty. I'm not now, nor ever going to be an expert - it isn't my core competence. I am certain I will always recognize when it is time to hire a sub with more experience and know how. But I want to know enough to be as knowledgeable as most in the room - none of whom will be cybersecurity guys, all of whom will be operators. Sounds like this is the right path. Appreciate your input.