Best professional training program

Winner: SANS Institute
www.sans.org

As the leading organization in information security training, the SANS Institute is known for providing intensive immersion training designed to help master the practical steps necessary for defending systems and networks. The goal of the SANS Institute is to teach practical knowledge that can be applied automatically outside of the classroom in the real world. To do this, SANS updates all of its courses throughout the year. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners in government agencies, corporations and universities around the world who invest hundreds of hours each year in research and instruction to help the entire information security community. During 2008, more than 17,000 security, networking and system administration professionals attended in-depth training by the nation's top security practitioners and teachers.

SANS' 80 courses teach students practical, real-world knowledge that they can apply automatically to the office, as opposed to most information security classes which simply teach only theory-based instruction. SANS courses are developed by administrators, security managers and information security professionals who are actually out in the field applying these best-case practices everyday in their work.

To find the best faculty in the world, SANS runs a continuous competition for instructors. Last year, more than 90 people tried out for the SANS faculty, but only five new instructors were selected. SANS training courses prepare students for the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), which has over 23,000 security professionals. GIAC is unique in the field of information security certifications because it not only tests a candidate's knowledge, but also the candidate's ability to put that knowledge into practice in the real world.
Since it is teaching hands-on sessions and instruction from the best practitioners in the field, SANS can go way beyond theory-based courses to the practical steps necessary for defending systems and networks against the most dangerous threats – the ones that are being actively exploited.

Finalists 2009

(ISC)2
Global Knowledge Training for Global Knowledge Security Training
Intense School for Intense School Security Training and Certification Program
SANS Institute for SANS Institute
Security University for Security University's Q/ISP Qualified/ Information Security Professional Training and Certification