SecProve
ProfessionalVendor-neutralGIAC· issued from US

GRTP

GIAC Red Team Professional

GIAC Red Team Professional

Official page at GIAC↔ Compare with another cert
Exam fee
$979
Ongoing
$0/yr AMF · 9 CPE/yr
Study time
—
Delivery
Hybrid
Validity
4 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

29.5 / 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.
Red-team-professional blueprint covers operational tradecraft, infrastructure setup, OPSEC.
7.5/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
Strong CyberLive component requiring offensive tooling under operational constraints.
8.0/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
New track (2024) — tracks SANS course refresh cadence.
8.5/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
Too new for broad recognition. Pursued for sovereign / nation-state-adjacent red team roles.
5.5/10

› Exam format

75 questions + CyberLive, 3 hours, Open-Book, Proctored via Pearson VUE. Passing score: ~70%.

Passing score
67% (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 through 36 CPE credits or Renewal exam (479 USD). Each GIAC cert separately.

› NICE Framework work roles

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

PD-WRL-007
Recognition
Global
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

The 1 domain this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A9Penetration Testing & Red Teaming

Methodology (OSSTMM, PTES), web/network/mobile pentesting, social engineering, purple teaming.

› Prerequisites

Experience

No formal prerequisites. Associated SANS course strongly recommended.

› Progression

requiredrecommended

Where this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.

Required prereqs (0)

No vendor-gated prereqs.

Recommended priors (1)
GPENGIAC / SANS
GRTP
GIAC
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (0)

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.

Official guides
Practice tests
  • GIAC Practice Tests (2 included with exam)
Free / community

› Version & lifecycle

Current version
Launched 2024
Released
2024-06

› Salary signal

Red team operator / adversary emulator, US, 5+ years.

$130K–$200K
median $160K

Robert Half Salary Guide · 2024 · US base only · p25–p75 range

› How it compares

vs
OSEP

GRTP is SANS-style threat emulation; OSEP is hands-on practical AD-heavy red teaming.

↔ Compare side-by-side

› 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.

Browse all 25 cert-exam trapsStart with: BEST vs correct

See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.

Highlight on the domain mapBrowse all certifications