GCIH - Final Thoughts

rwmidl

Just some random final thoughts after taking the GCIH bootcamp this past week.

1. Awesome course! I probably enjoyed it more than the GSEC.
2. Besides being awesome, it was also very frustrating at times for me (I have very little experience in scripting and programming).
3. It was a very eye opening course, as well as scary at times.
4. Bryce Galbraith was our instructor, and he was awesome! For both SANS courses I've taken, both instructors have been great.
5. CTF event. It was fun. I didn't win, but I had a fun time doing it.
6. I really need to start learning Linux and getting a better feel for it. I've downloaded BT4 and Ubuntu and loaded them in VM's - now just need to start playing with them.
7. My brain hurts. I think I'm going to take it easy the rest of the year.

Oh yeah, and I passed the test!

dynamik

That's awesome, congratulations!

What's up next after the break?

rwmidl

dynamik wrote: »

That's awesome, congratulations!

What's up next after the break?

I need to finish my MCITP:EA - I was originally planning on having it done by December of this year but I've had too much going on lately! I also want to to do the GCWN at Security West next year, if I can get work to pay for it/the trip. I may have to do that someplace on the East Coast/closer to the EC.

I'm going to keep playing around with Linux/BT this year as well as read Bryce or Ed's book so I can tie in and get better with the material I've learned in the classes.

dynamik

Have you applied to the work-study program?

That drops the course down to $800: SANS Work Study Program

I've applied for a couple at next year's Security East

veritas_libertas

Congratz! That really sounds like a blast

rwmidl

dynamik wrote: »

Have you applied to the work-study program?

That drops the course down to $800: SANS Work Study Program

I've applied for a couple at next year's Security East

Hmm...no. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the tip!

rogue2shadow

Well done man!

Paul Boz

Congrats man, that's awesome! I know what you mean by feeling like sometimes the material can be over your head. I felt the same way about some of the more in-depth programming topics.

rwmidl

Paul Boz wrote: »

Congrats man, that's awesome! I know what you mean by feeling like sometimes the material can be over your head. I felt the same way about some of the more in-depth programming topics.

Thanks! During the CTF event when I hit the Linux portion and started to bog down, I felt my frustration growing. When the instructor went over the CTF it made more sense. But he also added that results were predictable - those who have programming experience and/or PenTesting experience typically do better than those who don't. He also added those that have Win experience fly through the Windows portion and those who have Linux/Unix experience fly through those.

But what the class did do is open my eyes more and make me want to learn more!

dynamik

rwmidl wrote: »

But what the class did do is open my eyes more and make me want to learn more!

Yea, this stuff is like crack for some people. It feels like I was learning about TCP's three-way handshake yesterday, and now I'm playing around with assembly today. Just keep learning slowly-but-surely, and you'll be amazed at how far you can go in a year or two. It's easy to get overwhelmed and experience burn-out, so be sure to pace yourself.

I'm personally getting a lot out of SecurityTube - Watch, Learn and Contribute Computer Security Videos at the moment.

SephStorm

Did you do any study or prep prior to attending the camp?

rwmidl

dynamik wrote: »

Yea, this stuff is like crack for some people. It feels like I was learning about TCP's three-way handshake yesterday, and now I'm playing around with assembly today. Just keep learning slowly-but-surely, and you'll be amazed at how far you can go in a year or two. It's easy to get overwhelmed and experience burn-out, so be sure to pace yourself.

I'm personally getting a lot out of SecurityTube - Watch, Learn and Contribute Computer Security Videos at the moment.

I'm going to take it easy for the next week or so. My main goal is to get more comfortable with Linux and then I'll start playing with BT and go from there.

rwmidl

SephStorm wrote: »

Did you do any study or prep prior to attending the camp?

I've been doing security audits, policy creation, locking down boxes for a few years now, so I have experience/familiarity with the subjects in both the GSEC and to a lesser extent GCIH. But as for the test prep, I took the SANS course/bootcamp.

ITforyears

rwmidl, are you still active on this forum because I will take the GCIH soon and have some questions. I am working on those indexes but I am just tired of these four hour exams.