So, what’s on my structured training list now that I’ve finished CCNA Cyber Ops? I have a 2018 goals post, but obviously things can change… I don’t blog about many of my training things, largely because I have a separate, private OneNote instance that has a huge breakdown and list of things I want to do this year, next year, and discussions on everything else that my career may entail beyond. I have a long term section, and a list of things I’m basically doing right now.

Right now, I have a small lull until I head to SANS West in two months and pick up my first SANS course, GCFA FOR508. I’ve decided to forego some courses people tend to take early on in their SANS experience, and dive into the deep end by skipping GSEC (SEC401), GCIH (SEC504), GPEN (SEC560), and GCFE (FOR500). I’ve never had the opportunity to do SANS courses before, and rather than go easy and do something I may know pretty well already, I decided not to wait years and instead get to a course that will certainly be a challenge.

To that end, I’m already doing a little bit of prep work to brush up on some forensics/IR topics so that I don’t entirely need to catch my mindset up much to hit day 1 at a brisk walk. I’ll be watching some random YouTube clips of the course and related topics, reading a few books I have sitting around on forensics and data collection, and otherwise preparing my workstation.

Beyond that, I’m likely going to do a little preparation for NetWars as well, though to be honest, I don’t expect much as a first timer. But I want to finish a bit more in my RHCSA/LFCS courses, refresh using Metasploit Unleashed (a course I’ve long since just never gotten through) to get my mind back in offense, and then do some retired HTB boxes to oil those wheels further.

I’ll also be at C2E2 (Chicago) in the middle of all of this, so that likely is enough planning for now to see me through to the midpoint of 2018.