All,
First off let me say I have no certifications other than my military
classifications, NECs in Navy speak. I am an Information Systems Technician
and my sub-specialties are LAN Administration and Network Security and
Vulnerabilities Technician. I have never pursued a cert because I felt it
was chasing paper (MS certs). I have 23 years experience in all facets of
computer operation, programmer and software engineering, hardware, networks,
LANs and WANs, crypto., information security..... you get the idea. I also
have earned a BS in Computer Science and will completed my MS in Networking
and Communications this year, all on active duty. My duty stations include
Aircraft Carriers, Amphibious Assault ship, forward deployed command and
control ships, large staffs, training and implementation, and an exchange
billet with the Belgian Navy teaching people to hunt mines.
Enough of my CV..... I have read many of your papers and they are quite
good. I have also meet Dr Cole and I am a true believer in SANS. All I can
say about the GIAC cert is have faith in the process. Even if the process
changes, nothing is being taken away from you all. You have published
papers and that is something to proud of. Keep publishing and posting to
SANS no matter the cert process. As far as the perceived dilution, I don't
see it. You still must master the presented material and prove this in some
way. I also present this, I have to write at least two 20 page projects and
make several smaller presentations every term. My dissertation is expected
to be no less than 70 pages of my work and will more than likely be about
100. The only thing is a grade. To prove I am not comparing apples to
oranges, look and the Mary Washington University Grad Certificate in
Information Assurance. The classes are SANS online courses and each one is
one class.
Have a little faith in the process, and think of this as shift to get more
people involved. I believe our mission as professionals is to make our
networks as secure as possible and the more people onboard the easier it is
for all of us. I feel that no matter what SANS does, the process will be
credible and challenging enough to keep out the quick easy dollar braindump
wannabee newbies and will remain a professional technical certification.
After my MS is complete, I will continue to pursue GIAC certification and to
keep myself as sharp and informed as possible, my users deserve nothing
less.
These are my personal thoughts and opinions submitted respectfully for
your consideration. Thank you.
V/r
Mike Bartha
Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy
Va Beach
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Miessler" <daniel@dmiessler.com>
To: "Aman Raheja" <araheja@techquotes.com>
Cc: <security-basics@securityfocus.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:01 AM
Subject: Re: GIAC Dilution
On Mar 24, 2005, at 9:39 AM, Aman Raheja wrote:
GIAC will probably becaome equivalent to the Security+.
Not a chance, guy. Despite the dropping of the practical (which I'm not a
fan of), the technical tests (plural) for the GSEC were still *very*
difficult compared to CISSP, Security+, MCSE, or any other test I have
taken. The stuff was quite technical and those without a strong background
will not do well on the tests as they exist today.
I am not sure how they match up on content or level of knowledge
required.
It's fairly stout stuff. Think CISSP, but technical.
I think SANS will keep a decent degree of respect in the certification
arena, just not as much as when they had the practical requirement. That's
my hope anyway...
--
Daniel Miessler, CISSP, GSEC
Email: daniel@dmiessler.com
Web: http://dmiessler.com
GPG Key ID: 316BC712
