GIAC Certifications: Exams, Costs and Requirements

GIAC Certifications Compared

13 profiled

Certification	Level	Exam	Exam fee	Validity
GCLD GIAC Cloud Security Essentials	Entry	Multiple choice	$999	4 years
GSEC GIAC Security Essentials	Entry	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GAIPS GIAC AI Platform Security	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GASAE GIAC AI Security Automation Engineer	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GCFE GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GCIA GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GCIH GIAC Certified Incident Handler	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GICSP Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GMON GIAC Continuous Monitoring Certification	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GOAA GIAC Offensive AI Analyst	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GPEN GIAC Penetration Tester	Intermediate	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years
GSLC GIAC Security Leadership	Intermediate	Multiple choice	$999	4 years
GCFA GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst	Advanced	Multiple choice and performance-based	$999	4 years

Other GIAC Certifications

45 total

Certification	Focus
GAIPT GIAC AI Penetration Tester	Penetration testing of LLMs, RAG pipelines, and agentic AI; sold only with an affiliated course until general purchase opens on February 9, 2027.
GASF GIAC Advanced Smartphone Forensics	Forensic examination of mobile phones and tablets, including file system analysis, application behavior, and mobile malware; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GAWN GIAC Assessing and Auditing Wireless Networks	Security assessment of wireless networks and their security mechanisms; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GBFA GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition	Data collection, acquisition, and rapid triage across a wide range of data storage; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GCAD GIAC Cloud Security Architecture and Design	Secure cloud architecture: workforce identity, conditional access, network controls, and centralized logging.
GCCC GIAC Critical Controls Certification	Implementing and auditing the CIS Critical Security Controls; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GCDA GIAC Certified Detection Analyst	SIEM-based detection using network, endpoint, and cloud data sources.
GCED GIAC Certified Enterprise Defender	Defensive network infrastructure, packet analysis, incident handling, and malware removal, building on GSEC topics.
GCFR GIAC Cloud Forensics Responder	Incident tracking and log analysis across the three major cloud providers.
GCIL GIAC Cyber Incident Leader	Managing cyber incidents and leading an incident management team; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GCIP GIAC Critical Infrastructure Protection	NERC CIP regulatory requirements and practical implementation strategies for critical systems; 75 questions in 3 hours.
GCPN GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester	Penetration testing of cloud systems, networks, and architecture.
GCSA GIAC Cloud Security Automation	Cloud native toolchains, DevSecOps, and security controls in CI/CD pipelines.
GCTD GIAC Cloud Threat Detection	Detecting and investigating suspicious activity in cloud infrastructure; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GCTI GIAC Cyber Threat Intelligence	Strategic, operational, and tactical threat intelligence, including intrusion profiling and reporting.
GDAT GIAC Defending Advanced Threats	Prevention, detection, and response against advanced and APT-style attacks, covering offensive and defensive domains.
GDSA GIAC Defensible Security Architect	Designing network-centric and data-centric controls for defense in depth.
GEIR GIAC Enterprise Incident Response	Enterprise-scale incident response and threat hunting across multiple operating systems.
GFACT GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies	Foundational computing, technology, and security concepts for people starting a security career; attempt priced at $399.
GIME GIAC iOS and macOS Examiner	Forensic analysis and incident response for Mac and iOS systems; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GISF GIAC Information Security Fundamentals	Security foundations, networking, and introductory cryptography; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GISP GIAC Information Security Professional	Covers the eight ISC2-defined domains of cybersecurity knowledge that form part of the CISSP exam; 150 questions in 4 hours.
GLIR GIAC Linux Incident Responder	Linux incident response: triage, evidence collection, and tracing attacker entry and movement.
GMLE GIAC Machine Learning Engineer	Applying data science and machine learning to threat hunting, security monitoring, and tooling.
GMOB GIAC Mobile Device Security Analyst	Assessing and managing mobile device and application security, including malware and stolen devices; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GNFA GIAC Network Forensic Analyst	Analysis of network forensic artifacts from logs, packet captures, and network metadata.
GOSI GIAC Open Source Intelligence	OSINT methodologies and frameworks for data collection, analysis, and reporting; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GPCS GIAC Public Cloud Security	Securing AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform in public and multicloud environments; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GPYC GIAC Python Coder	Writing and analyzing Python code for security tooling, system data collection, and test automation.
GREM GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware	Reverse engineering of malware targeting Windows and web browsers for forensics and incident response.
GRID GIAC Response and Industrial Defense	Active defense, network security monitoring, and incident response for ICS networks.
GRTP GIAC Red Team Professional	End-to-end red team engagements, including adversary emulation plans and C2 infrastructure.
GSOA GIAC Strategic OSINT Analyst	Advanced OSINT, including Python automation and investigations across social platforms, darknet forums, and blockchain activity; 82 questions in 3 hours.
GSOC GIAC Security Operations Certified	Blue team incident response tools and techniques for running a security operations center; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GSOM GIAC Security Operations Manager	Managing a SOC team and aligning SOC operations with business goals and security requirements; 75 questions in 2 hours.
GSTRT GIAC Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership	Building and managing security programs aligned with business, board, and executive needs.
GWAPT GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester	Web application penetration testing methodology and web application vulnerabilities.
GWEB GIAC Certified Web Application Defender	Detecting and preventing input validation flaws, cross-site scripting, and SQL injection in web applications; 75 questions in 3 hours.
GX-CS GIAC Experienced Cybersecurity Specialist	Applied Knowledge certification across network security, Windows and Linux security, and common attacks and defenses; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GX-FA GIAC Experienced Forensics Analyst	Applied Knowledge certification in enterprise host-based forensics and threat hunting; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GX-FE GIAC Experienced Forensics Examiner	Applied Knowledge certification in Windows host forensic analysis of user activity; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GX-IA GIAC Experienced Intrusion Analyst	Applied Knowledge certification in multi-step intrusion analysis to identify malicious activity; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GX-IH GIAC Experienced Incident Handler	Applied Knowledge certification combining attacker techniques with incident response tools and practices; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GX-PT GIAC Experienced Penetration Tester	Applied Knowledge certification in mapping networks, identifying vulnerabilities, and exploiting hosts under time limits; 4-hour exam of 25 CyberLive hands-on tasks.
GXPN GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester	Advanced penetration testing and exploit research; 60 questions in 3 hours with CyberLive items.

Other Issuers

Microsoft CompTIA ISACA IAPP ISC2 OffSec EC-Council

Sources

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