The SANS Institute (officially the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies) is a private

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for-profit company founded in 1989 that specializes in

information security Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorize ...

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

training, and selling certificates. Topics available for training include cyber and network defenses, penetration testing, incident response,

digital forensics Digital forensics (sometimes known as digital forensic science) is a branch of forensic science encompassing the recovery, investigation, examination and analysis of material found in digital devices, often in relation to mobile devices and co ...

, and auditing. The information security courses are developed through a consensus process involving administrators, security managers, and information security professionals. The courses cover security fundamentals and technical aspects of information security. The institute has been recognized for its training programs and certification programs. Per 2021, SANS is the world’s largest cybersecurity research and training organization. SANS stands for SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security.

Programs

The SANS Institute sponsors the

Internet Storm Center {{multiple issues, {{no footnotes, date=November 2017 {{primarysources, date=February 2010 The Internet Storm Center (ISC) is a program of the SANS Technology Institute, a branch of the SANS Institute which monitors the level of malicious activity ...

, an internet monitoring system staffed by a community of security practitioners, and the ''SANS Reading Room'', a research archive of information security policy and research documents. SANS is one of the founding organizations of the

Center for Internet Security The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, formed in October, 2000. Its mission is to make the connected world a safer place by developing, validating, and promoting timely best practice solutions that help peop ...

. SANS offers news and analysis through Twitter feeds and e-mail newsletters. Additionally, there is a weekly news and vulnerability digest available to subscribers.

Training

When originally organized in 1989, SANS training events functioned like traditional technical conferences showcasing technical presentations. By the mid-1990s, SANS offered

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

s which combined training with

tradeshow A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...

s. Beginning in 2006, SANS offered asynchronous online training (SANS OnDemand) and a virtual, synchronous classroom format (SANS vLive). Free webcasts and email newsletters (@Risk, Newsbites, Ouch!) have been developed in conjunction with security vendors. The actual content behind SANS training courses and training events remain "vendor-agnostic". Vendors cannot pay to offer their own official SANS course, although they can teach a SANS "hosted" event via sponsorship. In 1999, the SANS Institute formed

Global Information Assurance Certification Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) is an information security certification entity that specialises in technical and practical certification as well as new research in the form of its GIAC Gold program. SANS Institute founded the ce ...

(GIAC), an independent entity that grants certifications in information security topics. It has developed and operates ''NetWars'', a suite of interactive learning tools for simulating scenarios such as cyberattacks. NetWars is in use by the US Air Force and the US Army.

Faculty

The majority of SANS faculty are not SANS employees, but industry professionals and experts in the field of information security. The faculty is organized into six different levels: Mentors, Community, Certified Instructors, Principal Instructors, Senior Instructors, and Fellows.

SANS Technology Institute

SANS established the SANS Technology Institute, an accredited college based on SANS training and GIAC certifications. On November 21, 2013, SANS Technology Institute was granted

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member ins ...

by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

. SANS Technology Institute focuses exclusively on cybersecurity, offering a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree program in Information Security Engineering (MSISE), five post-baccalaureate certificate programs (Penetration Testing & Ethical Hacking, Incident Response, Industrial Control Systems, Cyber Defense Operations, and Cybersecurity Engineering (Core), and an upper-division undergraduate certificate program (Applied Cybersecurity). SANS continues to offer free security content via the SANS Technology Institute Leadership Lab and IT/Security related leadership information.

References

External links