Yesterday I completed the GIAC SEC-275 exam and I’m now GFACT certified — with a 97% score, which I’m well chuffed with.

The GFACT (Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies) certification covers the fundamentals — networking, Linux, basic security concepts, and the foundations you need before diving into the deeper stuff. Honestly, it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as I’d expected, but it was a solid way to formalise knowledge I’d been picking up along the way.

With that ticked off, I’ve now started working through the HackTheBox Penetration Tester job role path. The hands-on labs are a completely different beast to a certification exam — less theory, more “here’s a box, break in.” It’s exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for.

Next up: SEC401 and the GSEC exam.