You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
GIAC (SANS)GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition
The GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition (GBFA) certification validates a practitioner's readiness to handle every facet of the data collection and rapid triage process. It proves you can properly collect, acquire, and conduct rapid triage analysis across a wide range of data storage—from portable devices and servers to IoT and cloud. For federal agents, incident responders, and forensic analysts, GBFA demonstrates you can deliver indispensable data acquisition and analysis when it matters most, on the technical battlefield.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score69%
Free questions786
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
6domains
19objectives
113concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition (GBFA) certification validates a practitioner's readiness to handle every facet of the data collection and rapid triage process. GBFA certification holders are qualified to properly collect, acquire, and conduct rapid triage analysis across a wide range of data storage, from portable devices and servers to endpoints, IoT, and cloud data.
Certified GBFA professionals can traverse each point from arriving at a scene, through determining and establishing the 'quick wins' necessary to rapidly move an investigation forward. They have shown skill and excellence in the use of a wide variety of tools and techniques across a vast spectrum of media storage repositories. This industry certification conveys that the holder is prepared to handle every facet of the collection and rapid triage process.
Who it’s for
GBFA is designed for professionals who need to collect and triage digital evidence in time-sensitive, high-stakes environments. This includes federal agents and law enforcement personnel, digital forensic analysts, information security professionals, incident response team members, media exploitation analysts, and DoD and intelligence community professionals. It is also suitable for anyone with a background in information security who wants a deeper understanding of the proper preservation of systems and data during an investigation.
Recommended experience
Practical work experience in digital forensics or incident response, along with training in relevant tools and techniques, is recommended to ensure mastery of the skills necessary for certification. Hands-on experience with forensic acquisition tools and techniques; Familiarity with data storage technologies, filesystems, and operating systems; Understanding of network fundamentals and evidence handling; Completion of SANS FOR498 training or equivalent self-study
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective GIAC (SANS) measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official GIAC (SANS) exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Foundations and Preparation
- Acquisition Preparation
- Computer Fundamentals
- Physical Storage Devices
- Storage Technologies
Filesystems and Data Storage
- Filesystem Fundamentals
- Windows Filesystems
- Data on Drives
Acquisition Techniques
- Dead Box Acquisition
- Host Based Live Acquisition
- Remote Acquisition
- Acquiring RAM and OS Artifacts
Mobile and Specialty Devices
- Mobile Device Acquisition
- Mobile Device Triage
- Specialty Device Fundamentals
Network and Evidence Handling
- Data on the Network
- Working With Evidence Files
Triage and Manual Analysis
- Manual Triage
- Manually Finding Data
- Using Forensic Tools for Triage
On the day
The exam itself
Everything GIAC (SANS) publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationGIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
Questions75 questions
Passing score69%
DeliveryGIAC
LanguagesEnglish
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path GIAC (SANS) lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition
Credential earnedGIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition Certification Renewal and maintenance
GIAC certifications must be renewed every four years by earning 36 CPE credits or retaking the exam. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. GIAC (SANS) maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by GIAC (SANS)
Exam registration
Register for the exam through GIAC, GIAC (SANS)’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official GIAC (SANS) certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How is the GBFA exam delivered?
All GIAC certification exams are web-based and proctored. You can choose remote proctoring through ProctorU or onsite proctoring through PearsonVUE.
What is the retake policy for the GBFA exam?
GIAC does not publish a specific retake policy on the GBFA page. For details on retakes, refer to the GIAC policies and guidelines.
Are there any hands-on or lab components in the GBFA exam?
The GBFA exam is a proctored multiple-choice exam. It does not include a hands-on lab component.
What job roles does the GBFA certification map to?
GBFA is designed for federal agents, law enforcement personnel, digital forensic analysts, incident response team members, media exploitation analysts, and DoD and intelligence community professionals.
Can I renew my GBFA certification by passing a different GIAC exam?
GIAC certifications can be renewed by retaking the same exam or by earning 36 CPE credits. Passing a different GIAC exam does not automatically renew GBFA.
Is the GBFA exam available in languages other than English?
GIAC exams are typically offered in English. For language availability, check with GIAC directly.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 786 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept GIAC (SANS) measures — each one written out.
6domains
19objectives
113concepts
164free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official GIAC (SANS) exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Foundations and Preparation163 questions
2Filesystems and Data Storage106 questions
3Acquisition Techniques184 questions
4Mobile and Specialty Devices106 questions
5Network and Evidence Handling87 questions
6Triage and Manual Analysis140 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Acquisition Preparation10 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
49 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
786 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
786questions
164pages
19objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Foundations and Preparation163 questions
2Filesystems and Data Storage106 questions
3Acquisition Techniques184 questions
4Mobile and Specialty Devices106 questions
5Network and Evidence Handling87 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
113concepts
786free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from GIAC (SANS)
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
113concepts mapped
The source
GIAC (SANS)’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official GIAC (SANS) outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 19 objectives, 113 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
19objectives on the outline→113concepts written→786free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.