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Pick up to 3 certifications and compare them side-by-side on cost, exam format, recertification, salary signal, quality, and domain coverage.
GIAC / SANS · professional
GCIHGIAC Certified Incident Handler
Incident handling methodology and lifecycle.
Official pageComparing
GIAC / SANSGCIH
› Cost
Exam fee
GCIH$979
Exam fee
$979
Annual maintenance fee
GCIH—
Annual maintenance fee
—
3-year cost of ownership
GCIH$979
3-year cost of ownership
$979
› Exam mechanics
Pass mark
GCIH73% (scaled per attempt)
Pass mark
73% (scaled per attempt)
Retake policy
GCIH$999 fee · 30d wait
Retake policy
$999 fee · 30d wait
Study time
GCIH80–150 hrs
Study time
80–150 hrs
Validity
GCIH4 yrs
Validity
4 yrs
CPE / yr
GCIH9 CPEs
CPE / yr
9 CPEs
Delivery
GCIHonline proctored
Delivery
online proctored
› Salary signal (US base)
Range
GCIH$100K – $150K
Range
$100K – $150K
Median
GCIH$120,000
Median
$120,000
Premium %
GCIH—
Premium %
—
Role context
GCIHIncident responder / blue team analyst, US, 3–5 years.
Role context
Incident responder / blue team analyst, US, 3–5 years.
› Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10)
Schema quality
GCIH8.5
Schema quality
8.5
Practice evidence
GCIH5.5
Practice evidence
5.5
Maintenance
GCIH7.0
Maintenance
7.0
Market recognition
GCIH8.5
Market recognition
8.5
Average
GCIH7.4
Average
7.4
› Recognition & lifecycle
Recognition
GCIHGlobal · US · EU · UK
Recognition
Global · US · EU · UK
ISO 17024 accredited
GCIH✓
ISO 17024 accredited
✓
DoD 8140 baseline
GCIH✓
DoD 8140 baseline
✓
Holders worldwide
GCIH25,000
Holders worldwide
25,000
Current version
GCIH2024 SEC504 refresh (2024-04)
Current version
2024 SEC504 refresh (2024-04)
› Domain coverage
A10Security Operations
GCIH● core
A10Security Operations
● core
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
GCIH○ touched
A11Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
○ touched
A21Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering
GCIH○ touched
A21Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering
○ touched
A7Incident Response & Forensics
GCIH● core
A7Incident Response & Forensics
● core
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