RE: OSSTM Training/Certification

From: Robert E. Lee (robertat_private)
Date: Fri Aug 01 2003 - 18:40:58 PDT

  • Next message: exceed: "Re: About windows 2000 + sam"

    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: Nicole Nicholson [mailto:nanicholsonat_private]
    > Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 9:30 AM
    > Subject: Re: OSSTM Training/Certification
    > 
    > I just got finished taking the OSSTM Professional Security Analyst
    (OPSA)
    > class here at Black Hat in Vegas.  Don't waste your money.  The
    instructor
    > admiited that it was the first time the course was offered in the US,
    and
    > still needed some work.
    
    Greetings everyone,
    
    I was the teacher of the mentioned course at Black Hat and I thought it
    would be appropriate to add to this thread.  I apologize for the
    appearance of "Nicole"'s post, but this response should clear some
    things up.
    
    I would like to start by saying there was no "Nicole Nicholson" in the
    Black Hat OSSTMM Professional Security Analyst Course this week. I would
    have to question the integrity of a person who would use a fictitious
    name to post to this forum. 
    
    At the conclusion of the course the students were provided an evaluation
    form where they could share their thoughts on the course.  The questions
    for numerical calculations were based on the technical level of the
    course content, the knowledge of the instructor, and presentation skills
    of the instructor.  Out of the entire class, we received 83% positive
    feedback, with a few giving perfect scores.  The biggest detractor from
    being a higher overall feedback percentage was that the course was an
    Analyst course and not an overly hands on technical course. There was
    one student who provided a very low review of the course.
    
    I saw this review as an opportunity to receive constructive criticism to
    improve the course for the future.  When I ran into this student later I
    asked them for their honest opinions of the course and where we could
    improve.  It was in this meeting that I shared the fact that this was
    the 1st time the course had been delivered in the United States.  This
    fact was shared to illicit the constructive criticism, and let them know
    their input would be taken seriously.
    
    Overall, I believe the course was well received and liked by the
    students as evidenced by the reviews of the course.  Perhaps another
    less "shy" student will chime in when they get back to their respective
    offices.  Until then, please take this one review with a huge grain of
    salt :).
    
    Cheers,
    
    Robert
    
    Robert E. Lee
    CTO
     
    3400 Irvine Ave, Building 118
    Newport Beach, Ca 92660
    T (949) 486-6600
    F (949) 486-6001
    robertat_private
    
    p.s.
    This is not the first time this individual has posted as "Nicole
    Nicholson".  If you are bored, you may be interested in the following
    urls.  Granted there is no "direct" correlation, but the two definitely
    have a lot in common.  If Nicole is a real person, perhaps this will
    help them make a love connection :).
    
    http://cert.uni-stuttgart.de/archive/incidents/2000/02/msg00126.html
    http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/snort/2000-09/0248.html
    http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/snort/2000-09/0248.html
    http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/snort/2000-06/0182.html
    http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/snort/2003-01/0016.html
    http://groups.google.com/groups?q=nanicholson%40hotmail.com&hl=en&lr=&ie
    =UTF-8&selm=auad8t%242n53%241%40FreeBSD.csie.NCTU.edu.tw&rnum=1
    
    http://www.redhat.com/archives/redhat-install-list/2003-January/msg02639
    .html <--- "Nicole" actually brought this laptop to the class :).
    
    
    
    
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 02 2003 - 12:30:01 PDT