GIAC Dilution

["Andy Cuff [Talisker]" <lists () securitywizardry com>]

Good Evening,

<rant>
Am I alone in thinking that SANS have greatly reduced the value of a GIAC
certification?  For those that are not aware SANS no longer require the
submission of a paper in order to pass but merely an exam.  They claim that
too many people were unable to complete GIAC certification due to the hard
work involved in doing so. As one of the many individuals that have attended
a SANS track and was unable to find said time, I feel justified in my
condemnation as I would actually benefit from this change.  I use GIAC as a
metric to reduce the time it takes to gauge the effectiveness of holders to
fill security positions. This latest move will make it as effective as
CISSP, MCSE etc, Something for management to quote but attainable by the
masses and not a true indicator.  GIAC as was, required the analyst to have
passion for what we do, the time taken to achieve the certification kept
those that were attracted by the potential of higher salaries at bay.

Finally, how must those individuals (and their neglected families) that did
commit so much effort to achieving said certification feel.

</rant>

That said, if you can't beat them join them, I'll be doing the exam as soon
as I can and ride on the wave! 

   Regards
Andy Cuff
Chief Technology Officer
Computer Network Defence Ltd
http://SecurityWizardry.com
Phone (+44) (0) 7989 978538