TLDR I use a method to prepare for GIAC certifications that isn’t the quickest or the easiest but it builds reference material that’s useful during and after the exam. The two outputs of this method are a binder of your notes boiled down from the full course content and a set of GIAC course books that have been carefully tabbed for quick reference.
This is not the ONLY method, but it has worked well for me.
PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR MATERIALS FROM THE COURSE OR INSIGHT INTO THE QUESTIONS ON THE EXAM. TLDR This course did an excellent job of building a solid foundation around how protocols/services are intended to work before showing how to exploit them manually. While this course is not designed to produce world-class, cutting-edge red-teamers, it does lay the groundwork to begin that journey if you want to pursue it further. Many of the techniques used are great for illustrating exploits/methodologies but require additional strategies to bypass modern defenses.
PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR MATERIALS FROM THE COURSE OR INSIGHT INTO THE QUESTIONS ON THE EXAM. TLDR This course was an incredible dive into host based forensics and I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in expanding their understanding of the incident response process with host artifacts. I walked away from this course with a much better grasp on how attackers move through an environment and where to find the evidence of their activities.