GIAC Certifications in High Demand

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When Foote Partners, the Florida-based management consultancy, released its 2009 IT Skills Trends Report Update, three of the top 10 certifications were Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) offerings by the SANS Institute, specializing in computer security training and professional certification through GIAC.

Heading the list at number 1 is the GIAC Certified Incident Handler certification, 7 is the GIAC Certified Forensics Analyst (GCFA), and 8 is the GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst certification. The demand for these certifications has increased greatly over the past half-year, according to the index.

And these findings are backed up by hiring managers who continue to seek security practitioners for technical, hands-on positions.

"While hiring for security specific positions, I definitely look for GIAC certified individuals," says Martin C. Walker, Chief Knowledge Officer, Information Defense Corporation, an information security solutions provider based in New Jersey. "In a pile of resumes, they are pulled right out and given serious consideration."

GIAC certified professionals are not product centric, they have a better grasp of concepts and how to apply those, he adds.

Daryl Pfeil, CEO of Digital Forensics Solutions, a full service computer security and digital forensics firm based in New Orleans, says that she prefers to hire GIAC-certified individuals and, in a few cases, has even invested in SANS training for her employees. She finds the vendor-neutral training with focus on open source tools extremely helpful. Certified practitioners are highly capable and skilled to handle hands-on investigations and analysis.

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"Especially given the tight economy, we are seeing demand in hiring and job retention trends for the IT Security sector shifting sharply from soft security skills (policy, security awareness, compliance) to more hands-on security skills (technical incident handling, intrusion detection, system hardening, data forensics)," says Jeff Frisk, director of GIAC. This shift in demand drives the need for hands-on technical personnel. In turn, that demand heightens the need for certifications such as GIAC, which is recognized for its in-depth technical and quantitative security skills, enabling certified personnel to do their job effectively and add value within their organization.

Behind the Demand