The Abbot
Dec 3rd, 2006 by brotherjohn
One of the first things to know about the Abbot is that he is a modest man who hates writing anything about himself. Rather than leaving you wondering about his background and unsure if you could trust his words, I gladly volunteered to write a few words. The Abbot was born in a little place known as New Jersey under the name of John Gerber. He entered the monastery and took his voes dedicating his life to computers at the age of twelve. He is a simple man who serves the will of security. The Abbot has been known to consultant for SAIC, the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Counterintelligence (OCI), the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), the Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications Development (GLORIAD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He associates with one and all, doing work on both the technical and policy side of security. When not praying, studying, listening to podcasts, reading RSS feeds, or running the monastery, the Abbot enjoys spending time recommending new/improved adjustments to policies and procedures in accordance with industry standards and best practices. He also enjoys bringing in donations by identifying, developing, testing, integrating, and implementing security products, tools, programs, and systems. He has even been known to help review industry trends in relevant technical security areas for the sake of determining their applicability to a business functions.
The Abbot attended his seminary studies in computers obtaining both an undergraduate and master’s degree. His master’s thesis focused on developing and utilizing a dynamically allocating piecewise linear neural network for learning to recognize patterns. While many years have since passed, the Abbot still has a special interest in pattern recognition and visualization in relation to security. Education did not stop for him upon completing school. He is a GIAC Certified Forensics Analyst (GCFA) and a GIAC Systems and Network Auditor (GSNA). He has been, but allowed the certifications to expire due to time constraints and shift in responsibilities, a GIAC Certified UNIX Security Administrator (GCUX) and a GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH). He also holds certifications in COBIT, ITIL, and Solaris.
The best way to know the Abbot is to discover him through the SecurityMonks site. Author Dawn Adams wrote, “Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends.” The Abbot can be found in his somewhat regular blog postings, the podcasts he listens to, the RSS feeds he reads, the presentations he gives, and the items on his bookshelf. Those items speak more of the man than any words I could write.
Brother John,
I’m going through the same self-study course you went through for GSNA.
It is my first cert, though I’ve been an IT professional for ten years.
How well does the lecture prepare you for the exam? Assuming I have a working knowledge of Windows and Linux administration, database administration, some programming but minimal router configuration experience, can I go from the lectures (and exercises and practice exams) right to the actual exams and expect to pass? Or should I supplement my study?
Thanks
The apostate
Chris,
The lecture will prepare you for the exam. Keep in mind, the SANS exam is open book. Don’t worry, the exam questions will be only on the material in the course. You will have time, but if you don’t know the material, time will fly. Make sure you study. I would recommend making a good outline of the course material. That outline will help you find the stuff you don’t remember. That helps with the specific questions on some of the more obscure material. When you feel ready for the exam, take the practice exams. They will help you know your timing and point out areas where you may need to study further. The practice exams are invaluable.
Good luck,
John