markofu’s blog

Quite recently, my GSE was up for renewal. I'm currently in the middle of transporting my family to another continent and I've slightly more responsibilities work-wise in 2016 versus 2012. However, given the effort and study that it took to get the cert the first time (and to a lesser degree the expense), I figured it was a no-brainer to renew. For me, I've always been a huge fan of the GSE and considered it the epitome of InfoSec certifications, much like the CCIE for (Cisco) networking. Personally, I learn better by "doing" and consider it as the evidence that someone knows their stuff so the "2-day lab" element in the GSE was a both a huge goal and challenge that I was excited about. I talked about the value of "doing" when trying to learn about yourself previously here with the infamous Security Ninja and here on my own blog so there's no point in repeating myself. When I did the GSE, I absolutely loved the hands-on lab mo...

So, as many folks know, I went to Orlando towards the end of March to attempt the GSE lab. Both before and afterwards, I received several questions about the GSE :) Therefore, instead of destroying my fingers and typing multiple individual respones, I figured I'd write a short blog on my experiences with the lab section, whilst my thoughts on the written section can be found here . Apologies, this post started off short. Firstly, let me say, that once I overcome the initial nerves (I was bricking it on the first morning), I had a great time. @Chris_Mohan and @asho_relaxo both told me that I'd have fun but I didn't believe them (in fairness, they're not trustworthy characters). Most folk enjoy the first day the most, but I loved the second morning, it was a blast, especially when you come back to that problem that you couldn't figure out and then you nail it :)

This post is intended to summarise what I've learnt about the GIAC GSE certification so far so I don't lose my own notes and to help others make their decision. I'll try to post some updates as I study! So early in 2011, I made the decision to take the plunge and go for the GIAC GSE certification . I wasn't sure for a few reasons - I didn't think that I was good enough. The list of folk that hold the GSE is pretty elite. The amount of work that I thought would be involved scarred the sh*t out of me. I was unsure of the consequences of the amount of study involved, on my family, work and active, sporty lifestyle :)