SANS Computer Security Training
Comes to Lansing
March 14, 2007
This April, Academic Computing & Network Services (ACNS) has partnered with the SANS Institute to offer six full days of computer security training. “SANS Security 401: Security Essentials Bootcamp Style” will be held April 9th through 14th at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Lansing.
Security is a core issue for information technology (IT) professionals. Protecting computer systems and data from hackers and malicious software is an ongoing challenge.
“SANS Security 401: Security Essentials Bootcamp Style” will teach the knowledge and skills necessary for any professional responsible for securing computer systems. A wide variety of topics will be covered, including:
- Risk Assessment and Auditing
- Host and Network Based Intrusion Detection
- Honeypots, Firewalls and Perimeter Protection
- Web Security
- Network Fundamentals and IP Concepts and Behavior
- Windows (2000, XP, NT, 98) Security Administration and Auditing
- IIS Security
- Unix Security Fundamentals
From 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., students will receive instruction in a classroom setting. At 7:00 p.m. each evening, the hands-on bootcamp session will begin. Using their laptops, students will have the opportunity to use the tools and techniques they learned during that day’s class. Students will leave the training with information they can put to use immediately.
Dr. Eric Cole will teach the entire six-day course. Dr. Cole is a senior scientist with Lockheed Martin Information Technology. He is an industry-recognized security expert and has focused on perimeter defense, secure network design, vulnerability discovery, penetration testing, and intrusion detection systems. Regarding the SANS Security 401 course, Dr. Cole states, “After attending Security 401, I am confident you will walk away with solutions to problems you have had for a while, plus solutions to problems you did not even know you had.”
SANS Security 401 is one of many security initiatives
It is an exciting opportunity to offer such comprehensive training locally. This course is one of many security initiatives sponsored by ACNS. These initiatives reach multiple audiences and seek to educate on many different issues. The Safe Computing and Managing Sensitive Data campaigns provide resources that benefit technology users across campus.
Aimed at the entire MSU community, the Safe Computing campaign fosters secure personal computing. Through five key steps, computer users learn how to protect themselves from viruses, worms, spyware, and other system vulnerabilities. For more information on Safe Computing, see http://computing.msu.edu/safecomputing.
The Managing Sensitive Data (MSD) campaign is directed toward any member of the MSU workforce who has interaction with any type of sensitive or confidential data. Resources are available to help employees assess the sensitivity of any data they handle and related risks, as well as techniques to mitigate these risks. Many departments have undergone MSD training, and the Libraries, Computing & Technology Training Program offers MSD classes on a regular basis. For more information on MSD, see http://computing.msu.edu/msd.
The SANS Institute is the leading computer security research and education organization and provides intense immersion training to IT professionals worldwide. “SANS Security 401: Security Essentials Bootcamp Style” is open to any interested IT personnel. Employees of any educational institution, state or local government, or law enforcement agency are eligible to attend at a drastically reduced cost. For further information on the course, see http://computing.msu.edu/sans.
by Sarah Payok, Academic Computing and Network Services
