Certification Courses - What, When and Where

Fas Jervice street do a computer and comunications course I just finished.
You get a level 6 FETAC award, and they pay for you to sit the A+ and Network+. You get paid the same as social welfare while you do it, so its a great alternative if you dont have the means for a university course. You cover a lot of stuff that isnt mentioned on the site, like Linux, novell, practical network administration, setting up server services. And theres a 3 month work placment. Here's the link, but if anyone want any more details feel free to PM me.

http://www.fas.ie/en/Training/Traineeships/Traineeship+Courses/Information+Technology/Computer+and+Communications+Technician+Traineeship.htm

I don't know if this is the right place for this as I'm not really recommending specific training vendors, but rather a quick overview of the courses offered by the big players in Information Security. I was going to put this in the Security forum but as a frequent reader there it is fairly quiet and not frequented by outsiders all that much, hehe. As it's such a hot topic lately I thought I would put it here. I'm a relative n00b and am currently working towards InfoSec where I work and so have been doing a silly amount of research on training and courses for the past while.

Information Security / Digital Forensics Courses/Certs

Digicore
Certifications: CSTA / CSTP / CWSA / CFIP / CMI / CSIS / CIIP / MSc Computer Security & Forensics /
They are Irish for a start! These guys are on the ball big time and know their stuff. Their courses are known for being hands on and very well received. They offer them in association with 7Safe (probably the biggest/most well known InfoSec trainers in the UK). I am planning on getting around to doing their Masters Degree in association with the University of Bedfordshire some day. They offer 7 different certifications in all areas of Information Security.

Offensive Security
Certifications: OSCP / OSCE / OSCE /
Not as well regognised or popular as others such as the CISSP, GSEC, and CEH etc. but this is one I'm planning to get before all of the big names as it is hands on and in order to get their certifications they actually force you to use what you've learned. For example, to get the OSCP you are given 24 hours to hack into their servers and complete assigned tasks. If you were to ask the advice of anyone in the InfoSec world who is a full time Penetration Tester/Ethical Hacker, this is the course they are going to tell you to get.

EC-Council
Certifications: CEH, CHFI, LPT (and lots more)
The EC Council are a bit of an odd anomaly in the InfoSec world. They haven't been around as long as some of the others but have very quickly gained recognition and steam as it were. I've looked at the CEH and some of their other courses and being honest, I wouldn't waste my time trying to get any of them. It might look good on paper but their course content is outdated and thrown together rather shabbily in my opinion. I'd urge anyone looking at EC Council courses to do extensive research on google into how they came into being and then decide if it's worth your time, effort and cash.

SANS
Certifications: GSEC, GCIH, GPEN (and lots more)
SANS are known for being the cream of the crop with regards to recogniton of their certifications and how good their courses are. They are also the priceyest but from what I've researched they are well worth it. In terms of certs, these are the certs that experienced InfoSec Engineers in all areas look at to understand whether the new guy knows what he's on about or not.

ISC2
Certifications: CISSP, SSCP
The daddy of InfoSec certifications, or is it? The CISSP is the one you are going to hear management types blabber on about and the one that the interviewer is going to gawk at if it's on your CV. In that respect it is something you want to work towards. This is the one all management types will be exected to have, or get. For the Engineers on the front lines though all of the others would improve their knowledge. The CISSP will give you a very good knowledge or a very high level overview of each area in Information Security, similar to the Comptia Security+ in some ways but the CISSP is more respected.

Comptia Security+
The Security+ is generally where anyone moving into InfoSec is advised to start. In terms of knowledge and content, think of it as the baby brother of the CISSP. I'm currently studying for this one myself.

In the Herald last Thursday I spotted a follow on course that any unemployed A+ or Network+ students might be interested in as a follow on, it was called the 'Jobs focused training in Windows Server 2008' and is running in the Ballyfermot IT centre in Dublin 10. I rang about it and it's running from the 10th November and has 3 different starting dates running into next year.

I hope this helps somebody.

Whoops, sorry about the double post, my browser froze on edit, can you delete one for me?