SANS Institute

Dear Colleague,

SANS is making its annual trip to the nation's capital for the SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2008 at a particularly important time for the careers of security professionals. This is the year in which senior government leaders changed the rules. Under the personal direction of the Director of National Intelligence, intelligence and law enforcement agencies started unlocking evidence of massive penetrations of government and commercial organizations. The result is a massive shift in demand for security people away from those who can write reports to those who can find the flaws and attacks and actually secure systems. It is a wrenching change, but one long overdue; and SANS is the one education organization known for developing those skills now most in need.

In this uncertain economy, employers particularly value workers that can actually implement security. If you only have "soft skills", take advantage of this opportunity to begin making the change to hard skills. Pick a course and come to SANS Cyber Defense Initiative, December 10-16. You'll get the kind of hands-on, immersion training that you can put to work immediately — courses that you will love as other students do:

I have taken dozens of training courses, and this is the best training I have ever received.
- William Okula, Suffolk County Police Department

If you have any managerial responsibilities in the field of cyber security, you must take this course to be effective and successful.
- William J. Riegger, IRS

The SANS instructors are the best in the business.
- Rick Williams, ACBJ

This course helped me to bring myself up to date on hacker techniques and issues.
- Ron Reynolds, DoD

So, go to our Event-at-a-Glance page and pick from these extraordinary immersion programs:

• SEC560: Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
  This course has sold out at many of our events this year!
• SEC401: SANS Security Essentials
• SEC504: Hacker Techniques, Exploits and Incident Handling
• SEC508: Computer Forensics, Investigation, and Response
• SEC503: Intrusion Detection In-Depth
• SEC502: Perimeter Protection In-Depth
• SEC501: Advanced Security Essentials -- Enclave Defender
• MGT414: SANS® +S™ Training Program for the CISSP® Certification Exam
• MGT512: SANS Security Leadership Essentials for Managers
• AUD507: Auditing Networks, Perimeters & Systems
• SEC542: Web Application Penetration Testing In-Depth

For a complete list of courses including our skills-based short courses, check out the Event-at-a Glance page.

Reserve your seat by October 23, 2008, and save $350 on tuition fees with discounts offered to early registrants. Of course, SANS top instructors will be on hand to bring you the best in computer security training. Certifications are available for many of these SANS courses and can send you on your way to career advancement.

Stay with us at the Wardman!

SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2008 will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. A special rate of $191 S/D has been arranged for SANS attendees, which includes complimentary high-speed Internet in your guest room! Adjacent to Rock Creek Park on 16 lush acres of gardens, you'll enjoy a magnificent setting that puts all the best of DC right at your fingertips — the Smithsonian Museums, the National Zoo, Georgetown, the Kennedy Center, a fabulous selection of stores and restaurants and more! Make your reservations now as this special rate is only available through November 21, 2008.

So register today to join us in Washington DC for SANS CDI 2008! I look forward to meeting you there!

Kind regards,
Alan Paller
Director of Research
The SANS Institute, a postgraduate computer security college