The next open editions of the SIM3 Auditor certification training are not yet fixed. We hope to do this training in Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands late in 2024, and/or in Prague, Czechia around March 2025. If you have an interest in either, we’d love to hear from you: mail to ocf-sec@opencsirt.org please.
Below in smaller font we left the announcement of our last open training in March 2024, to give you a better idea of the training, and the approximate cost. Cost can change, as it depends on the location.
From 13 – 15 March 2024, the Open CSIRT Foundation (OCF) will organise the next 3-day training to become a Certified SIM3 Auditor – live in Krakow, Poland. See below for details.
The OCF shepherds the further development of the SIM3 maturity model, that is used by FIRST for their new membership applications, by TF-CSIRT for Certifications in Europe, by ENISA for national teams in the EU, by the NCA (Nippon CSIRT Association) in Japan, and by the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) for their GCMFv2 – the Global CSIRT Maturity Framework.
Certified Auditors play an important role in making it possible that SIM3 is used in a professional and objective way, and also contribute to further improving SIM3 in the near future.
Trainers: Don Stikvoort MSc (author of SIM3 v1 and v2) and Miroslaw Maj (author of SIM3 v2), both SIM3 Senior Trainers and Auditors.
Location: Hotel Polonia in the city centre of Krakow, Poland.
Schedule: 13 – 15 March 2024 every day from 09:00-17:00.
Pre-requisites: applicants need to have demonstrable knowledge *and* at least 3 years experience in cyber security incident management (“CSIRT work”); they also need to have inside experience in the CSIRT community (e.g. via FIRST membership, or (trans)national cooperations), in order to be eligible to participate. In case of doubt, please get in touch.
Fee: € 1300 VAT excluded* if you register before 1 November 2023 – late registration fee is € 1400. The fee includes access to the training, e-access to the training materials (no paper materials), and (during the training) tea/coffee/water/cookies – and during and after the training, easy access to the trainers for questions and discussions.
Application: apply by e-mail to ocf-sec@opencsirt.org, making sure to sufficiently show that you meet the pre-requisites listed above (add your CV and motivation, please).
The fee also includes the right to take the auditor’s certification exam at the end of the training. Providing the student has enough experience in the CSIRT field, and providing the student pays proper attention during the training, they will normally speaking be able to pass the exam. Passing the exam is however not part of the fee, this is the student’s own responsibility (any special needs related to the training or exam, please bring to our attention timely). We do exercise due care: see the “auditor certification clause” below.
- Cancellation clause: cancellation for the training is possible without charge no later than 2 months before training start. If cancellation takes place between 2 months and 1 month before training start, 50% of the full amount will be due. In case of cancellation within 1 month of the training start, or a no-show, 100% of the full amount will be due. In clear cases of absence due to “Act of God” the payment obligation remains, but OCF will seek to provide due care, e.g. offering access to the next training at only marginal cost.
- Auditor certification clause: OCF will provide due care to prepare the trainees for the auditor’s certification exam at the end of each training. Following successful certification, the first year of being certified will be at zero cost, and the certified auditor will get access to special auditor rights and materials, as well as be listed on the OCF website **. However if (1) a trainee is absent during parts of the training (unless after explicit consent of the OCF head trainer), or (2) fails or misses the exam on the 3rd day, certification will not take place, nor any re-fund. In the case of failed exams only, OCF will allow a time-slot of 6 months in which, at no additional cost, the trainee will receive a task to fill any knowledge/experience gaps, and after successful completion of that task, will either pass or get a verbal repeat exam (this can be done via videoconferencing) – and providing this is completed successfully, certification will then take place. (In case of repeated failure, OCF has no more obligations towards the trainee and/or the organisation who paid for their participation.)
* Inside the EU (with the exception of The Netherlands), only organisations/companies with an ‘EU valid’ VAT number pay 0% VAT. We regard a VAT number only then as ‘EU valid’ when it successfully passes the EC’s ‘VIES VAT number validation’, see https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/
** Unless they decline