SANS London 2011 training
Andrew Smith is the Managing Director, EMEA, for the SANS Institute. In this interview he discusses the SANS London 2011 training event and offers insight into what exactly you can expect if you decide to expand your information security knowledge this December.
SANS London is Europe’s biggest information security training event. What courses do you offer this year?
We offer 13 Long courses:
- AUD 507: Auditing Networks, Perimeters, and Systems
- SEC 401: SANS Security Essentials Bootcamp Style
- SEC 501: Advanced Security Essentials
- SEC 502: Perimeter Protection in Depth
- SEC 503: Intrusion Detection In-Depth
- SEC 504: Hacker Techniques, Exploits & Incident Handling
- SEC 505: Securing Windows
- SEC 542: Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
- SEC 560: Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
- SEC 600: Advanced Penetration Testing, Exploits, and Ethical Hacking
- FOR 508: Advanced Computer Forensic Analysis and Incident Response
- FOR 558: Network Forensics
- (ISC)2 CSSLP.
and 3 short courses:
- MGT 442: Information Security Risk Managment
- SEC 464: Hacker Detection for Sys Admins with Continuing Education
- SEC 546: IPv6 Essentials.
How do you choose what courses to present?
There are many factors, let me share a few. SANS has always been prepared to lead where necessary and our short course selection demonstrates this. IPv6 is here today, so we have added a one day course. We see major trends in cyber savvy companies, approaching and engaging us in onsite training in Risk management, we therefore made this course available so individuals could attend it in London and still benefit from a long course. Similarly it is the Sys Admins who potentially could see a threat first, if they know what to look for, so we added our Hacker detection class.
We then add the core courses many of which sell out every year, like our Security Essentials (SEC 401), our number one selling course for many years. Having ‘Essentials’ in the title sometimes confuses the Europeans, ‘Essentials’ in the US has a meaning closer to all encompassing, the students and professionals who choose this course walk away with a fresh idea of ‘Essentials’, it is wider and deeper then any security course on the planet.
Finally we listen to our customers, we are bringing the Advanced Security essentials (SEC 501) to London for the first time, at the request of students who have previously taken SEC 401, who need to increase their knowledge but stay in a broader environment. Another big request this year is Web App Penetration Testing ( SEC 542), I think this is in part to students wanting to get ready for next years launch of SEC 642 – Advanced Web App Penetration testing.
Who are the instructors? How are they chosen?
Becoming a SANS certified instructor is without doubt the ultimate accolade on a security professionals CV. The instructors are so good and making the selection is both easy and hard. The Easy part is that you know they will bring the SANS experience to each and every student. Its hard as they all want to be at the London event.
This year we have a great balance between Europeans and Americans and they all love joining in with the students at the social events.
How many attendees do you expect?
We keep a limit around 400 students, this does leave some students disappointed but ensures those that made it, have a truly great experience.
What networking opportunities are available in the evening after the courses are over?
This question covers half the SANS London experience. In addition to the worlds best security training money can buy you have 12 SANS instructors giving briefs on their pet subjects at night spread over the week, you can witness Steve Simms scripting live attacks one evening, knowing that the following day he makes learning as easy as your ABC’s. We also run the HEX FACTOR Game in the local pub throughout the week.