What is GCFA certification?
Overview
GCFA certification stands for GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst. It is a cybersecurity certificate managed and offered by GIAC. It validates that candidates have the knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct formal incident investigations and handle advanced incident handling scenarios.
The exam evaluates candidates for their capabilities in internal and external data breach intrusions. It further checks your capability on advanced persistent threats (APT), anti-forensic techniques used by attackers, and complex digital forensic legal cases.
GCFA Certification Requirements
The GCFA certification focuses on core skills required to collect and analyze forensic data from Windows and Linux computer systems. Moreover, the exam requires the candidate to demonstrate an understanding of the necessary steps in incident management procedures.
The candidate should further have solid fundamental understanding of tools, attack progression mechanisms and potential adversaries to the enterprise environment. Because, this will help organizations to meet the demands of large scale investigations of incidents.
The exam requires the candidate to understand the analysis of file system structure of timeline artifacts in Windows and other platforms. Candidates should also know how these valuable artifacts maybe prove to intentional and inadvertent user and system modifications. In addition, candidates should demonstrate their capabilities in identifying and analyzing malicious and normal system and user activities in enterprise environments.
Candidates should also be able to prioritize collection and analysis of data based on its volatility. In fact, digital forensics heavily relies on proper chain of custody and preservation of system evidences. Otherwise, it may be deemed inadmissible in court-of-law and other investigation endeavors.
This certification tests applicants on the following main domains:
- Advanced Incident Response and Digital Forensics
- Memory Forensics, Timeline Analysis, and Anti-Forensics Detection
- Threat Hunting and APT Intrusion Incident Response
Aspirants should visit the official website for further Certification Information.
It is a 3 hour exam and contains a minimum of 85 and a maximum of 115 questions. Candidates must score 72% to earn the credential. The exam administered at Pearson VUE authorized test centers and online remote proctoring through ProctorU.