Introduction
The Definitive Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Analyst Master Class is a seven hour course that provides a comprehensive understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to excel as a GRC Analyst. It was designed by Dr. Gerald Auger and is available at SimplyCyber or through TCM Security.
The Course
The course is primarily presented in a lecture format, with some excerpts taken directly from live streams, and is broken up into several modules that cover topics such as:
- I.T Fundamentals
- Governance
- Risk
- Compliance
- Audit
- Security Awareness
Don’t worry if you’re completely new to the cyber space, the Cybersecurity Primer section provides enough fundamental information to get you started.
There are several practical labs throughout the course that walk you through different scenarios that a GRC Analyst may encounter. If you’re able to follow along during the practicals, the course offers a few bullets describing the completed tasks that you can include on your resume.
The course also has a section on applying for a GRC Analyst position, with tips on how to find a job, setup up a LinkedIn account, creating a resume, and even some interview pointers. This is extremely helpful for those who are looking to land their first job in this field.
Once the course is completed you are presented with a certificate which can be added to your social media profiles and resume.
Summary
I finished the course in a couple of days and was very impressed with the information that was presented.
The biggest takeaways I had:
- What some of the different cybersecurity frameworks are and how they’re used by organization to improve their overall security.
- How auditing helps to identify and mitigate risk, and ensure compliance with regulations and standards.
- How threat modeling is used to prioritize potential threats to a company and how it helps those companies to understand the impact of a potential incident.
Overall, the course is a great first step into GRC and Gerald does an excellent job breaking down the material into an understandable format.