GIAC Security Leadership (GSLC) Exam Guide

1. Managing the program structure: design a security program with an understanding of organizational culture and reporting structures, program governance, and managing personnel
2. Managing security policy: understand the role of security policies, standards, guidelines, processes, and baselines in meeting an organization's security needs and risk appetite
3. Risk management and security frameworks: evaluate and manage risk in alignment with business objectives and adopt security frameworks and risk management techniques to help mature the security program
4. Managing security awareness: understand how to assess an organization's human risks and build a security awareness program that can mature with the organization's security program

Example scenario: The board asks whether the security budget should go to awareness training or endpoint detection. How would you frame the choice in risk terms?

1. Managing projects: understand project management methodology, terminology, and how to gain support from the business
2. Managing negotiations and vendors: understand effective negotiation and vendor management techniques

Example scenario: A managed SOC provider wants a three-year contract. Which service levels and exit terms would you insist on?

1. Networking concepts for managers: understand network protocols, technologies, and common network threats
2. Network security architecture: understand security architecture, trust models, and security controls for addressing common network threats and vulnerabilities
3. Cryptography concepts for managers: know common cryptographic terminology and understand how symmetric, asymmetric, and hashing encryption works
4. Managing encryption and privacy: understand using encryption to secure data in transit or at rest, and how to identify and address privacy and compliance requirements

Example scenario: Legal asks whether encrypting a customer database removes the need to report a breach of its server. What would you need to know before answering?

1. Managing cloud security: understand cloud-based services and platforms, and managing the security and risks of cloud-based infrastructure
2. Managing application security: understand security issues affecting software, including infrastructure as code, as well as integrating security into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and DevOps processes
3. Managing artificial intelligence: understand the different types of AI technologies for business and security use, as well as the high level risks and benefits of AI

Example scenario: A team wants to paste customer support tickets into a public AI chatbot. What policy and controls would you put in place?

1. Managing a security operations center: understand the components, structure, and management of a Security Operations Center (SOC)
2. Network monitoring for managers: understand centralized logging and monitoring strategies and tools, including SIEM, SOAR, and machine learning technologies
3. Vulnerability management: understand how to build a vulnerability management program for identifying, prioritizing, and remediating both technical and physical system vulnerabilities
4. Managing system security: understand common types of client-side attacks and malicious code, and the strategies used to monitor and protect endpoints

Example scenario: Your scanner reports 4,000 critical findings. How would you decide what the team fixes this month?

1. Incident response and business continuity: understand the phases of incident response, and managing business continuity and disaster recovery programs

Example scenario: Ransomware hits a regional office on a Friday night. Who decides whether to disconnect the office from the network, and how is that agreed in advance?