ProfessionalVendor-neutralGIAC· issued from US

GCWN

GIAC Certified Windows Security Administrator

Official page at GIAC ↔ Compare with another cert

Exam fee

$979

Ongoing

$0/yr AMF · 9 CPE/yr

Study time

100–200 hrs

Delivery

Hybrid

Validity

4 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

23.0 / 40

Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.

Blueprint rigor

How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.

Windows Security Admin — narrowly scoped to Windows hardening.

7.5/10

Practical evidence

Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.

Open-book MCQ.

4.5/10

Currency & upkeep

How aggressively content is kept current with the field.

Refreshes trail Windows feature evolution.

6.0/10

Market recognition

How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.

Recognised in Windows-admin security tracks.

5.0/10

› Exam format

75 questions + CyberLive, 3 hours, open-book, proctored via Pearson VUE. Passing score: ~70%.

Passing score

70% (scaled per attempt)

Retake policy

Fee: $999 per attempt

Wait: 30d between attempts

30-day wait between attempts. SANS course bundles typically include 2 attempts.

› Recertification

Valid for 4 years. Renewal via 36 CPE credits or renewal exam (479 USD). Each GIAC cert separate.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

DD-WRL-001DD-WRL-004IO-WRL-005IO-WRL-007

Recognition

Global

Exam languages

› Core domains covered

The 2 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A2Network Security

Firewalls, IDS/IPS, network segmentation, DNS security, SD-WAN, VPN, traffic analysis, wireless security.

A6Identity & Access Management

AuthN/AuthZ, SSO, MFA, PAM, RBAC/ABAC, identity governance, FIDO2/passkeys, plus non-human identity: service accounts, workload identity, agent / plugin identities.