GSEC Passed!

Passed the GSEC today with an 88. That had to be the most disappointing 88 ever. I was targeting a 90+ so I could be a part of the SANS Advisory Board. When I started I was at 90, then 92, then 96, then I got drilled with Linux questions and it steadily went down from there. At the end when it tells you how you did in each area, I definitely got killed by the Linux/Unix stuff. I'm contemplating on adding the Linux+ to my to-do list. I really need to get better with it.

My study plan consisted of watching the OnDemand after the course, then reading the books, then doing the index. I think the biggest problem was not diving straight into it after the class back in April. I got bogged down with my MSISA, and just over the past month really hunkered down with GSEC prep. So I have to take the blame for not nailing the 90. Live and learn.

As for what's next, I actually leave Saturday to go to SANS Virginia Beach to facilitate SEC503 with Mike Poor. I'm definitely going to do the opposite and go straight into prepping for the GCIA. I'm thinking of going straight into doing the index after the class so I don't have it hanging over my head while studying.

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cyberguypr

Congrats on the pass!

E Double U

Good job! Hoping to join the GIAC club soon myself.

BlackBeret

Congrats on the pass, I'm taking Sec503 ondemand now. I wish I could've had the chance to work through it with Mike in person, he seems like a great instructor.

zxbane

Congrats, I'll be at SANS VB attending Sec 511 myself.

SaSkiller

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I definitely got killed by the Linux/Unix stuff. I'm contemplating on adding the Linux+ to my to-do list. I really need to get better with it.

I wouldn't consider the Linux+ with your resume. feel free to practice and become more familiar with linux, but the cert is a waste of time.

5ekurity

Congrats on passing, still a strong score!

JoJoCal19

BlackBeret wrote: »

Congrats on the pass, I'm taking Sec503 ondemand now. I wish I could've had the chance to work through it with Mike in person, he seems like a great instructor.

How are you like the class/material? Taking your existing certs into consideration, how difficult do you find the material?

SaSkiller wrote: »

I wouldn't consider the Linux+ with your resume. feel free to practice and become more familiar with linux, but the cert is a waste of time.

You're right. I spent all last night perusing the Linux+ and RHCSA forum sections and I really don't care to have one more cert to maintain if I don't have to. Someone had mentioned the Linux Bible 9e and after reviewing it on Amazon, I bought it, as well as a pocket command guide. I think working through those, plus throwing up a VM will be more than enough.

BlackBeret

I like the material a lot. It's taking my network analysis deeper. I was fine with reading traffic after it had been decoded for me by programs like wireshark, but being able to decipher it at the bit level myself may come in handy at times. I'm having more fun with the IDS/IPS evasion section than I should. It's only a small part but it's interesting to me.

jamthat

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Passed the GSEC today with an 88. That had to be the most disappointing 88 ever. I was targeting a 90+ so I could be a part of the SANS Advisory Board. When I started I was at 90, then 92, then 96, then I got drilled with Linux questions and it steadily went down from there. At the end when it tells you how you did in each area, I definitely got killed by the Linux/Unix stuff. I'm contemplating on adding the Linux+ to my to-do list. I really need to get better with it.

My study plan consisted of watching the OnDemand after the course, then reading the books, then doing the index. I think the biggest problem was not diving straight into it after the class back in April. I got bogged down with my MSISA, and just over the past month really hunkered down with GSEC prep. So I have to take the blame for not nailing the 90. Live and learn.

As for what's next, I actually leave Saturday to go to SANS Virginia Beach to facilitate SEC503 with Mike Poor. I'm definitely going to do the opposite and go straight into prepping for the GCIA. I'm thinking of going straight into doing the index after the class so I don't have it hanging over my head while studying.

Congrats! I have to do GCED by October and am just now really buckling down and starting the index...definitely going to index and study ASAP for the next one which will also be GCIA

Robicus

Congratulations! Despite not nailing the 90+, I'm sure it's still a relief knowing that you're done.

I'll be taking the GSEC in a couple of months. How long did it take you to complete the exam?

Congrats again!

JoJoCal19

Robicus wrote: »

Congratulations! Despite not nailing the 90+, I'm sure it's still a relief knowing that you're done.

I'll be taking the GSEC in a couple of months. How long did it take you to complete the exam?

Congrats again!

Thanks! I finished in 3.5 hours. Would have been 2.5 but I was trying solely to hit 90+ so taking my time.

ccnpninja

Congrats!

loxleynew

Congrats! I was similar.. I passed today with 82, but I was hovering around high 80s until about 70% of the way through and got tired of sitting there so I decided to start doing reliable guesses on most the linux/policy stuff and it dropped me.

thelumberjack

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Thanks! I finished in 3.5 hours. Would have been 2.5 but I was trying solely to hit 90+ so taking my time.

Congrats. I passed the GSEC last week. I see you have the CISSP. How would you compare the tests?

JoJoCal19

thelumberjack wrote: »

Congrats. I passed the GSEC last week. I see you have the CISSP. How would you compare the tests?

Thanks! I see the CISSP and GSEC as apples and oranges. GSEC is very technical and the CISSP is very high-level, management oriented.

Robicus

I'm now about 3 weeks out from sitting my GSEC exam. I took my first practice exam yesterday and passed. I thought that the practice exam was pretty straight forward and I completed it in an hour and 45 minutes, with no index or notes.

How large was your index? Did you reference it much during the exam? I ask because I'm thinking of building maybe a 2-3 page one on the few areas I was weakest on.

Thanks-- and congrats again!

JoJoCal19

I think my index was around 33 pages. I used it mostly to check my answers although when I hit Linux questions I used it for selecting the answer.

Robicus

Fantastic! Thanks for the info.

TechGromit

I would be interested in hearing what score other people got on there practice tests and on the exam. I built a 30 page index, took the first practice test and scored an 81%, I added another 6 pages to my index and took my second practice test and scored 81% again. I'm wondering how other people did on there practice tests. My test is on Oct. 29, and can't help wonder if I'm really prepared for it.

Robicus wrote: »

How large was your index? Did you reference it much during the exam? I ask because I'm thinking of building maybe a 2-3 page one on the few areas I was weakest on.

Currently my Index is 36 pages. I'm building a separate spreadsheet just for programs and what they do/are for. I referenced the index for about half of the questions, some of which I knew the answers to, but wanted the reassurance before answering the question. I finished both practice exams with half an hour to spare each time. I figure I have time time, why not use it. I pretty much looked up every answer for the last 20 questions when I saw i had plenty of time remaining.

EngRob

I seem to remember I got 78% on my first (rushed) practice test and then 82% on my 2nd. I believe I got 89% on the final exam. Just keep studying and you'll be fine.

TechGromit

EngRob wrote: »

I seem to remember I got 78% on my first (rushed) practice test ...

Took my first practice test at work, after i started the test, they decided to test the fire alarm system, spent half an hour of the test listening to the fire alarm go off while trying to concentrate on the questions. The second test, two co-workers spent 15 minutes taking about a fiber issue right outside my cubicle, wanted to kill them.

fuz1on

Congrats! 88% is still a great score but I can understand having super high standards! Good luck on your future endeavors - does that still include Linux+? (3-for-1 deal is still nice

)

TechGromit

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I definitely got killed by the Linux/Unix stuff. I'm contemplating on adding the Linux+ to my to-do list. I really need to get better with it.

I'm weak on Linux as well, I would like to get a Linux+ cert in the future.

DAVIS NGUYEN

Congrats!