Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions!
**************************IMPORTANT NOTE: MAC HARDWARE IS REQUIRED*************************************
A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will likely leave the class unsatisfied because you will not be able to participate in hands-on exercises that are essential to this course. Therefore, we strongly urge you to arrive with a system meeting all the requirements specified for the course.
It is critical that you follow the pre-class Mac System Setup Guide for your Mac. The guide is available at http://sans.org/security-resources/FOR518-laptop-setup-guide-v2.pdf. It is crucial that you read and follow the instructions in this pre-class Mac system setup guide before attending class the first day. The guide is a detailed step-by-step walk-through of a variety of downloads and configuration steps needed to prep your system for an in-depth and exciting week of Mac and iOS forensics. Please follow all of the steps correctly, otherwise your enjoyment of the class could be impacted. We recommend setting up your system at home, as hotel Internet might not be adequate to finalize the setup before class. Please do not wait until the night before class to go through the setup guide.
A properly configured Mac system is required for each student participating in this course. Before coming to class, carefully read and follow these instructions exactly.
MANDATORY FOR518 SYSTEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:
- Apple Mac laptop with the following minimum configuration:
- MacOS 10.13 (or newer)
- CPU: Intel Core i5/i7 Series (a high-end Intel 2.8Ghz+ Core 2 Duo may also suffice)
- Wireless 802.11 capability
- 8GB RAM or more is recommended
- At least 250 gigabytes of free space on your system hard drive or on an external hard drive.
- USB 2.0 port(s) or higher (Please bring your USB-C to USB-A adapters for the new Macs!)
- Students should have the capability to have Local Administrator Access within their host operating system. Some monitoring and AV software may interfere with some exercises, so please be able to turn these off when needed.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: MAC HARDWARE IS REQUIRED
Your course media will now be delivered via download. The media files for class can be large, some in the 40 - 50 GB range. You need to allow plenty of time for the download to complete. Internet connections and speed vary greatly and are dependent on many different factors. Therefore, it is not possible to give an estimate of the length of time it will take to download your materials. Please start your course media downloads as you get the link. You will need your course media immediately on the first day of class. Waiting until the night before the class starts to begin your download has a high probability of failure.
SANS has begun providing printed materials in PDF form. Additionally, certain classes are using an electronic workbook in addition to the PDFs. The number of classes using eWorkbooks will grow quickly. In this new environment, we have found that a second monitor and/or a tablet device can be useful by keeping the class materials visible while the instructor is presenting or while you are working on lab exercises.