SEC503: Network Monitoring and Threat Detection In-Depth Online Training

GIAC certifications are expensive, challenging and time-intensive – whether or not they're worth it for you depends a lot on your career goals. That said, GIAC certifications are very well respected because they thoroughly cover levels of depth that many other cybersecurity certifications don't. The Certified Intrusion Analyst Certification (GCIA) in particular is one of the best traffic analysis and intrusion detection certifications available: it's often worth it for system and security analysts, network engineers and security managers.

GIAC certifications aren't cheap, and the GCIA is no exception. GCIA's one exam, SEC-503, costs $949 to attempt. If you can't pass it on your first attempt, subsequent retakes will cost $849. If you need a little more time between failing and retaking, you can purchase an attempt extension for $459. Unofficial practice exams for GCIA certifications are hard to come by, and official practice tests cost $399.

The SEC-503 has been called by some one of the most challenging cybersecurity exams they've taken. Earning the GCIA and passing SEC-503 requires an in-depth familiarity with threat identification and mitigation. The exam is 4 hours long and dives deep into how network protocols work to better understand how network threats and attacks surface and operate. The test also includes challenging critical thinking portions which focus on your ability to make good judgment calls with limited information.

Yes, GIAC certifications (and that includes GCIA) expire after four years. In order to maintain an active GCIA, you'll need to maintain a certain number of continuing education credits (which can be obtained in a number of different ways) and pay the renewal fee. There are many different ways to demonstrate your ongoing proficiency and earn the credits you need to renew, from other cybersecurity certifications to college courses and online seminars provided by GIAC.

The learning objectives for SEC-503 are on GIAC's website, so you could just study each topic on your own. What's recommended, though, is to take an online course modeled off the GCIA exam itself. Not only does a SEC-503 course provide the information you need in the way that's easiest to learn, but it should come with virtual simulations and practice environments to learn the real-world skills that employers actually want you to have.