GIAC GSEC Study Roadmap

Domain 1: Networking — TCP/IP, OSI, common ports, network devices, DNS/DHCP

Domain 2: Defense in Depth — Firewalls, IDS/IPS, network segmentation, DMZ design

Domain 3: Access Controls — Authentication methods, authorization models, MFA, privilege management

Domain 4: Cryptography — Symmetric/asymmetric, hashing, PKI, TLS/SSL, VPN protocols

Domain 5: Incident Handling — PICERL methodology, evidence collection, chain of custody, triage

Domain 6: Web Security — OWASP Top 10, XSS, SQLi, CSRF, secure coding practices

Domain 7: Windows/Linux Security — Hardening, patching, logging, endpoint protection

Domain 7: Cloud Security — IaaS/PaaS/SaaS security, shared responsibility, identity federation

Index Building: Create open-book index for exam day, organize notes by topic

Full Review: Practice exams, Index refinement, Weak areas, Exam logistics

Review and practice — Week 11

Review and practice — Week 12