Indexing for GIAC/SANS Exams

I just finished three GIAC exams in three months, taking the GSEC, the GCIH, and the GWAPT.  The exams were difficult, and the recommendation for each exam is to create an index of the information in each book, as a reference to use during the test.  As you may know, GIAC exams are all open book and open note.  The only thing that is not allowed are sample exam questions and answers.  Specific folks, like instructors, may need to take the exam closed-book.  But for the majority of us, we will take the exams with our books!


GSEC - GIAC Security Essentials

In preparing an index for the GSEC, I followed a lot of what Lesley Carhart (@Hacks4Pancakes) wrote in her blog Better GIAC Testing with Pancakes.   I created an excel spreadsheet with the book, page, and topic cataloged.  I then used tabs to color code each book, and the various sections within each books.  I then color-coded the entries on my index.  I printed out both an alphabetic index, as well as a numeric (by page) index.  The idea is that, for the former, I can look up information by topic, and in the latter, things that are similar will be grouped together, so I will not have to to all the way from A to M when looking for ARP spoofing and MAC addresses, when I know for this course that info is in successive pages.

Here is a picture of my alphabetic index, and books, with tabs:

SEC 401: GSEC books and index.

Lessons learned from this method.

I had a hard time seeing the tabs at the top of the book, to be able to choose the book I needed based on color.  Very quickly during the test I moved to just looking at the cover of the book to grab the book I needed, and I did not pay much attention to the book tab color.  Similarly, I quickly stopped using the tabs on the edge of the book as well.  I would just flip through the book and find the page I needed.

So overall, my process could be improved for what I am looking for.


GCIH - GIAC Certified Incident Handler

For the GCIH, my SANS Women's Academy mentor showed how she color-coded her books.  She colored the entire outside of the book, and therefore could easily grab the correct book out of the pile.  I did the same thing, leaving the colored tabs off the books completely.

Here is a picture of my index, and books:

SEC 504: GCIH books and index.

I found this technique worked very well for me, as I could quickly locate the book I needed.


GWAPT - GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester

I used the same technique for GWAPT as I did for the GCIH.  Again, here is a picture of my books and index:

SEC 542: GWAPT books and index.

Going forward, I anticipate that I will use the same technique used for the GCIH and GWAPT, should I find myself taking yet another GIAC exam!

I hope you have found this post helpful.  The most important thing when indexing your books is finding a style that works for you.   Starting out my SANS journey, I was excited to see that Lesley Carhart had a post about indexing, because she is greatly looked up to in the infosec industry.  I thought that her method had to be the best out there!  However, I quickly learned that her method was not quite for me, and I subsequently formulated a different method.  So, find what works for you.