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 Offensive AI Analyst
The GIAC Offensive AI Analyst (GOAA) certification validates your ability to apply practical, real-world offensive artificial intelligence techniques to modern cybersecurity challenges. It is designed for SOC analysts, red teamers, and security professionals who need to emulate sophisticated adversaries using AI-driven tactics like deepfake-enabled phishing, automated vulnerability discovery, and AI-powered attack simulations. Earning GOAA proves you can close the gap between AI-enhanced attackers and traditional defenders.
Exam formatCyberLive hands-on exam with performance-based challenges in realistic lab environments
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score67%
Free questions383
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Offensive AI Analyst 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.
3domains
10objectives
55concepts
US $499exam fee
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 Offensive AI Analyst (GOAA) certification validates your ability to apply practical, real-world offensive artificial intelligence techniques to modern cybersecurity challenges. Certified professionals prove their proficiency in applying advanced tactics such as deepfake-enabled phishing, automated vulnerability discovery, and AI-driven attack simulations to emulate sophisticated adversaries.
This certification is built around the CyberLive hands-on exam format, which replaces traditional multiple-choice testing with performance-based challenges in realistic lab environments. You will work with full-scale virtual machines, real security tools, and authentic code to demonstrate your skills in AI-powered reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, malware development, and bypassing security controls—all while considering legal, ethical, and OPSEC considerations.
Who it’s for
The GOAA certification is for SOC and incident response analysts, red team and penetration testers, national security and law enforcement analysts, security consultants and risk managers, security engineers and architects, security managers, and AI and machine-learning enthusiasts. If you are responsible for defending against AI-enhanced threats or conducting offensive security operations, this certification validates your ability to use AI to emulate sophisticated adversaries and improve your security posture.
Recommended experience
Practical work experience in cybersecurity, particularly in offensive security or incident response, is recommended. Training is available in various modalities including live training and OnDemand. Hands-on experience with penetration testing or red teaming; Familiarity with AI concepts and tools; Understanding of network scanning and vulnerability detection; Knowledge of social engineering and phishing techniques
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
AI Foundations and Social Engineering
- Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals
- Social Engineering Fundamentals
- Creating Phishing Emails with AI
AI-Driven Offensive Operations
- Using AI for OSINT
- Network Scanning and Vulnerability Detection
- Using AI for Web Exploitation
- Bypassing Defensive Controls
AI-Enhanced Malware and Deepfakes
- Malware Fundamentals
- Creating Malicious Software with AI
- Audio, Image, and Video Deepfakes
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 Offensive AI Analyst
Exam formatCyberLive hands-on exam with performance-based challenges in realistic lab environments
Duration120 minutes
Questions56 questions
Passing score67%
DeliveryGIAC
LanguagesEnglish
PricingUS $499
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 Offensive AI Analyst
Credential earnedGIAC Offensive AI Analyst 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 GOAA different from other GIAC offensive security certifications?
GOAA is the first GIAC certification designed around a three-day format and focuses specifically on applying offensive AI techniques, such as deepfake-enabled phishing and AI-driven attack simulations, to emulate sophisticated adversaries.
Do I need to earn a lower-level GIAC certification before taking GOAA?
No. GIAC does not require any prerequisite certifications for GOAA. You can take the exam directly, though practical experience and training are recommended.
Is the GOAA exam hands-on?
Yes. The GOAA exam uses the CyberLive format, which includes performance-based challenges in realistic lab environments with virtual machines, real security tools, and authentic code.
What is the retake policy for the GOAA exam?
GIAC does not publish a specific retake policy for GOAA. Candidates should refer to their GIAC account for details on exam attempts and retake rules.
What job roles does the GOAA certification map to?
GOAA is designed for SOC and incident response analysts, red team and penetration testers, national security and law enforcement analysts, security consultants, security engineers, and AI enthusiasts.
Can I renew my GOAA certification by passing a different GIAC exam?
GIAC certifications can be renewed by retaking the same exam or earning 36 CPE credits. Passing a different GIAC exam may count toward CPE credits, but it does not automatically renew GOAA.
Are there any regional restrictions for taking the GOAA exam?
GIAC offers remote proctoring through ProctorU and onsite proctoring through PearsonVUE, making the exam available in many regions. Check your GIAC account for specific availability.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 383 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.
3domains
10objectives
55concepts
81free 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
1AI Foundations and Social Engineering110 questions
2AI-Driven Offensive Operations152 questions
3AI-Enhanced Malware and Deepfakes121 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.
Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals10 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
48 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
383 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.
383questions
81pages
10objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1AI Foundations and Social Engineering110 questions
2AI-Driven Offensive Operations152 questions
3AI-Enhanced Malware and Deepfakes121 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.
55concepts
383free 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
55concepts 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 — 10 objectives, 55 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
10objectives on the outline→55concepts written→383free 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.