GRID
GIAC Response and Industrial Defense
Active defense and incident response for ICS environments.
› Quality score
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.
› Built for these roles
› Exam format
Open-book MCQ exam, 75 questions over 3 hours, online proctored.
30-day wait. SANS course bundles typically include 2 attempts.
› Recertification
36 CPE credits over four years (avg 9/yr) plus the $499 renewal fee per cycle.
› NICE Framework work roles
The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.
› Core domains covered
The 3 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.
SCADA, PLC security, Purdue model, ICS-specific threats, IT/OT convergence, IEC 62443.
IR playbooks, memory/disk/network forensics, chain of custody, malware analysis.
SOC operations, SIEM tuning, SOAR playbooks, alert triage, log analysis, runbook development.
› Prerequisites
GICSP or equivalent OT experience strongly recommended.
- ICS-specific IR playbooks
- Active defense in SCADA environments
- Safety-aware containment
› Progression
requiredrecommendedWhere this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.
No vendor-gated prereqs.
No certs require this one.
No follow-on certs reference this one yet.
› Study materials
Curated starting points. Not exhaustive — vet each against your learning style and the current exam version.
- SANS ICS515 Course Materials — SANS
- GIAC Practice Tests (2 included with exam)
› Version & lifecycle
› Salary signal
ICS detection / response engineer, US, 3-5 years.
Robert Half Salary Guide · 2024 · US base only · p25–p75 range
› How it compares
GRID is ICS detection + response; GICSP is foundational ICS practitioner.
↔ Compare side-by-side› Careers that commonly pursue this cert
Protect critical infrastructure — power grids, water treatment, manufacturing. Where cyber meets the physical world.
› Common exam traps to study
Cybersecurity cert exams reuse the same 25 distractor patterns over and over — category confusion, RTO vs RPO, IDS vs IPS, MD5 vs SHA-256, and more. Once you can name the trap, you stop falling for it. Each archetype page covers what it is, the specific pairs candidates confuse, and how to avoid it.
See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.