Explore Certification Focus Areas
Easily explore the certification focus areas to find what will take your career to the next level.
New GIAC Certifications
News and Resources from GIAC Certifications
Exam Prep & Help Getting Certified
The SANS Institute is GIAC's preferred partner for exam preparation. SANS training can be taken in three different formats: OnDemand, Live Online, and In-Person. Find a training format that best fits your schedule.
SANS and GIAC are here to help you along your certification journey. Review our handy step-by-step guide and tips for success.
Getting Certified and Staying Certified
GIAC Exam Overview
GIAC’s dedication to exam quality and relevancy is unparalleled. Our team of exam developers is made up of experts who have devoted their professional lives to infosec - both at GIAC and as practitioners in the field. Every detail of our exams is rigorously evaluated by a psychometrician to ensure fairness and accuracy.
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CyberLive Practical Testing
GIAC’s CyberLive exams are practical virtual machine exams in a lab environment requiring test takers to perform hands-on tasks mimicking what they might find in their daily work. CyberLive testing sets GIAC apart as a leader in infosec skill validation.
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Stay Certified
Keeping your certification active is critical to stay relevant in the cyber security workforce. Renewing ensures your place at the front lines against bad actors – and ensures job and enterprise security. To stay certified, collect 36 CPEs over the four years your cert is active or choose to retake the certification exam.
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An extreme shortage of qualified cyber security professionals is placing a burden on employers to fill critical security roles. SANS and GIAC provide assessments and tools to help human resource professionals and recruiters place well-qualified, pre-assessed professionals into critical cyber security roles.
Sample Cyber Security Job Descriptions
Use these editable sample job descriptions that were provided by leading, managing information security professionals that will help you seek the right cyber security professional candidates.
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CyberTalent Assessments
SANS offers nine web-based assessment tools that provide cyber security managers with information and data to better manage their team’s skills and performance, improve their hiring efforts, and make their training investment more productive.
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Interactive Work Role Mapping
In alignment with the NICE Framework, GIAC's interactive work role mapping tool helps you identify the courses and certifications you need to advance your career.
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