Re: Your opinion about online courses

[Jon Kibler <Jon.Kibler () aset com>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Alex Fiuvertiz wrote:
> EHLO,
>
> What are your opinions about the online/on demand courses that are
> offered by Offensive Security, SANS, etc?
> I realize that it demands some kind of self-discipline when it comes
> to dedicate time and so on, but besides that, is it just a waste of
> money?
> Is it better to spend the money on books and the time on reading and nmap -iR ?
>
> I also realize that a course led by an instructor gives you much more,
> but this question is about the online courses.
>
> Thank you for your reply

No experience with SANS online. Instructor lead courses are generally great.

Offensive Security's online courses are fantastic, especially if you have basic
knowledge in the course area. I am currently working through the "beggarware /
donate to HFC" version of the Metasploit Unleashed course.
        http://www.offensive-security.com/metasploit-unleashed/

I have been using metasploit for several years, and I am amazed at how much I
did not know that I am picking up in the course. The instructions are excellent,
and even if you are not a metasploit user, there is little that you cannot
figure out on your own from the instructions.

THAT SAID, this is the "free" version of the course. Once MSF 3.3 goes from dev
to released, the course will be updated and will only be available for $250
(last price I heard), and that version will include PDF documentation and
videos, plus some online support through IRC.

Once I finish with the metasploit course, I plan to work on the OSCP
certification through the online course. I have no hesitation about recommending
the OffSec courses. Also, I will add that this year at BlackHat, I took the
OffSec "Pen Testing w/ BT4" course, and it was awesome.

The only "complaint" that I have every heard anyone say about any OffSec course
is that they make you THINK HARD and SWEAT THE DETAILS! This is consistent with
their two mottoes:
        http://www.offensive-security.com/images/zone.jpg
        http://www.offensive-security.com/tryharder.php

I hope this helps!

Jon Kibler
- --
Jon R. Kibler
Chief Technical Officer
Advanced Systems Engineering Technology, Inc.
Charleston, SC  USA
o: 843-849-8214
c: 843-813-2924
s: 843-564-4224
s: JonRKibler
e: Jon.Kibler () aset com
e: Jon.R.Kibler () gmail com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonrkibler

My PGP Fingerprint is:
BAA2 1F2C 5543 5D25 4636 A392 515C 5045 CF39 4253


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.8 (Darwin)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/

iEYEARECAAYFAkrnXm8ACgkQUVxQRc85QlN4tgCgirOSIq8na0WRBA69GKABNxrD
mCwAoI0m43qds9yax0m3QkZGsnU23PgW
=Kfip
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----




==================================================
Filtered by: TRUSTEM.COM's Email Filtering Service
http://www.trustem.com/
No Spam. No Viruses. Just Good Clean Email.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is sponsored by: Information Assurance Certification Review Board

Prove to peers and potential employers without a doubt that you can actually do a proper penetration test. IACRB CPT 
and CEPT certs require a full practical examination in order to become certified. 

http://www.iacertification.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------