Sans grem

zenlakin

I have recently received the study materials for the SANS GREM and have begun going through them in preparation for taking the exam near the end of October and I wanted to see if anyone has taken the exam? I have not tried the practice exams yet as I want to go through the books and labs some more but I am finding the material very good and Lenny I have to say is a very awesome asset to have in the IT Industry...

dynamik

No, but it looks awesome. I've watched the one-hour sample on Vimeo. I have a full remainder of 2010 and all of 2011, but I'm going to try to do that and GCFA in 2012.

Definitely let us know what you think.

zenlakin

I definitely will. And on a quick side note I am curious what you think of the OSCP so far? Are you studying the material that is provided or additional materials? That is probably going to be the next cert I tackle after this one is complete.

dynamik

It's great. You should have a solid understanding of *nix and networking along with a little Python. Having a GCIH I would presume that you'd be in pretty good shape.

I haven't touched it in awhile since I only have the v2 materials. I'll upgrade to v3 and hit it hard again once I'm done with a couple college classes (probably around October).

zenlakin

Awesome. Are you finding that the materials and lab access is sufficient or have you needed to use outside materials?

dynamik

The answer to that completely depends on your currently level of knowledge.

However, if you were to say start from scratch, they most certainly do not teach you everything you need to know.

I'd review the syllabus/objectives; it will give you a pretty good idea of what's expected of you in terms of prerequisites: http://www.offensive-security.com/documentation/penetration-testing-with-backtrack.pdf

I think anyone who is somewhat comfortable with those topics will do fine, even if it requires a little extra googling/research.

The only complaint I have is that the lab time starts immediately. I'd prefer to have it kick in a month later or so. With my schedule, I really didn't have time to even do anything the first month and felt like that was a waste.

joydecos

@zenlakin : Hi buddy, its nice to here that you have started on GREM, even i have ideas of doing that cert. initially i have started working in IDA pro ... do give me some tips on how to go about?

onesaint

I hate to be that guy, but my father in law, a Senior Forensics Investigator commented that it was one of the tougher exams hes taken. Just a heads up. I know he took the SANS workshop (paid for by his company), then took the exams a few months later, but I'm not sure of the study materials he used beyond that.

Good luck with your studies.