My eLearnSecurity Review Contest Entry

I recently participated in the eLearnSecurity Review Contest, and I wanted to share my entry.

The eLearnSecurity Review Contest

eLearnSecurity held a review contest this year, awarding free courses to anyone who posted a review in 2017. They also allowed entrants to share earlier posts, but were mostly looking for 2017 entries.

As I’ve taken, and blogging, eLearnSecurity courses for years now, I figured that I should share my posts. I’ve edited the entry for grammar and formatting, but this is basically what I ended up submitting.

My Entry

2017 Posts

eMAPT Review (September 2017) – This is my most recent, but also my “harshest” review of an eLS course. That said, if this is the most negative that I ever get about eLearnSecurity, then they are obviously one of the top resources for education and certification!

eWPTX Review (April 2017) – Probably my most well written review, and one of the two actually in 2017. I was actually a web app pentester at the time that I took this course, and it was still awesome. I have written multiple posts (and have too many more to write) based on ideas I got from it

Older Reviews

eWPT Review (November 2016) – Fairly close to 2017, my 2nd most popular review, and still plenty of activity in 2017.

eCPPT Review (2015) – My first real review of an eLearnSecurity course. I thought it’d be fun to share to see my growth as a tester, as well as a writer. Plus, if anyone here still hasn’t taken it, maybe it can convince them.

eLearnSecurity Review Contest – Additional Posts

eCPPT Exam (2014) – This isn’t even a review, or anywhere near 2017. That said, this is my entire blog’s most active post, and I love the community interaction. It has over 80 comments, with the most recent being earlier this week! I do my best to remove any spoilers from my/other’s posts, but let me know if you see anything.

4 in a Box (2016) – Just when I signed up for my current cert package!

eCPPT vs OSCP (2016) – Not exactly a review, but another very honest comparison between the two courses. Also more proof that I’m not a secret eLS plant :P. Fairly active, but mostly because I share this with people any time they ask me about the two.

Additional Information

While it doesn’t count as a review, my love for eLearn goes all the way back to 2013 when I was helping Armando with typos, broken links, and some small errors in the eCPPT material! Whether I win anything in this contest or not, I still love eLearnSecurity courses/certs, and I can’t stop recommending them to people.

Unfortunately, it’s not in any of my reviews, but I’d also like to thank Francesco. He was my exam reviewer for my eCPPT back in early 2014. This was when the reviewers were a bit more open during the process, but I must say it helped me a lot. He helped me to cement my skills into a slightly better consulting viewpoint, helped me understand when to think more or think less, and generally just helped me get through my first real certification.

I know this has been a huge post, but I just wanted to add one more thing. When I started my eCPPT back in 2013 I was a Software Engineer who had a passion for security for years. Fours years and 4 (almost 5) eLearn certs later, I’m a senior pentester/red team member for a major consulting company. I’d like to think eLearnSecurity at least played a small part in that.

And stay on the lookout for my eCRE review (probably Q1 of 2018, once I finish up this GXPN)!

eLearnSecurity Review Contest Prizes

eLS announced the winners earlier this month, and I managed a 3rd place prize!

I really appreciate them selecting my post(s), and I look forward to reviewing my free course as well. I’m hoping to upgrade to an Elite edition of the PTX course after the webinar, so stay tuned.

eLearnSecurity has done a great job with their courses so far, and I look forward to their future.

Ray Doyle

Ray Doyle is an avid pentester/security enthusiast/beer connoisseur who has worked in IT for almost 16 years now. From building machines and the software on them, to breaking into them and tearing it all down; he’s done it all. To show for it, he has obtained an OSCE, OSCP, eCPPT, GXPN, eWPT, eWPTX, SLAE, eMAPT, Security+, ICAgile CP, ITIL v3 Foundation, and even a sabermetrics certification!

He currently serves as a Senior Staff Adversarial Engineer for Avalara, and his previous position was a Principal Penetration Testing Consultant for Secureworks.

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