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 Response and Industrial Defense
The GIAC Response and Industrial Defense (GRID) certification validates your ability to defend Industrial Control Systems (ICS) using Active Defense strategies. It proves you understand how ICS-specific attacks inform mitigation, and that you can apply network security monitoring, digital forensics, and incident response in operational technology environments. For ICS incident responders, SOC analysts, and security professionals protecting critical infrastructure, GRID demonstrates real-world readiness to detect, respond to, and contain threats targeting industrial networks.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score74%
Free questions309
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Response and Industrial Defense 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.
2domains
7objectives
61concepts
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 Response and Industrial Defense (GRID) certification validates a practitioner's command of Active Defense strategies specifically designed to protect Industrial Control System (ICS) networks and systems. GRID certification holders understand how ICS-specific attacks inform mitigation strategies and are ready to implement fundamental techniques such as network security monitoring (NSM), digital forensics and incident response (DFIR), and Active Defense approaches.
The certification covers Active Defense concepts and application, detection and analysis in an ICS environment, discovery and monitoring, ICS-focused digital forensics and incident response, malware analysis techniques, threat analysis, and threat intelligence fundamentals. Earning GRID demonstrates that you can apply these skills to defend the unique protocols, architectures, and operational constraints of industrial environments.
Who it’s for
The GRID certification is designed for professionals who defend Industrial Control Systems and operational technology environments. This includes ICS Incident Response Team leads and members, ICS and operations technology security personnel, IT security professionals, Security Operations Center (SOC) team leads and analysts, ICS Red Team and penetration testers, and active defenders. If your role involves detecting, responding to, or analyzing threats in ICS environments, GRID validates the specialized skills needed to protect critical infrastructure.
Recommended experience
GIAC recommends practical work experience and training to help ensure mastery of the skills necessary for certification. College-level courses or self-paced study through other programs may also meet preparation needs. Practical work experience in ICS security, incident response, or related roles; Training in ICS/SCADA security, network security monitoring, and digital forensics; Familiarity with Active Defense concepts and ICS-specific attack vectors
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
ICS Security Operations
- Active Defense in an ICS Environment
- Detection in an ICS Environment
- Monitoring in an ICS Environment
- Visibility and Asset Awareness in an ICS Environment
ICS Incident Management and Intelligence
- Incident Response in an ICS Environment
- Threat Hunting and Analysis in an ICS Environment
- Threat Intelligence in an ICS Environment
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 Response and Industrial Defense
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
Questions75 questions
Passing score74%
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 Response and Industrial Defense
Credential earnedGIAC Response and Industrial Defense Certification Renewal and maintenance
GIAC certifications must be renewed every four years by earning 36 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits or by 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 does GRID relate to other GIAC ICS certifications?
GRID is a Practitioner-level certification focused on Active Defense and incident response for ICS. It complements other GIAC ICS certifications like GICSP, which covers broader ICS/SCADA security essentials.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the GRID exam?
The GRID exam is a proctored, multiple-choice exam. It does not include a hands-on lab component like GIAC's CyberLive exams.
What are the proctoring options for the GRID exam?
GRID exams are web-based and proctored. You can choose remote proctoring through ProctorU or onsite proctoring through Pearson VUE.
How soon can I retake the GRID exam if I fail?
GIAC's retake policy allows candidates to retake the exam after a waiting period. Specific waiting periods are detailed in your GIAC account and exam policies.
What job roles does the GRID certification map to?
GRID is designed for ICS incident response team leads and members, ICS and OT security personnel, IT security professionals, SOC analysts, ICS red teamers, and active defenders.
Can I earn CPE credits for renewing GRID by taking other GIAC certifications?
Yes, earning other GIAC certifications can contribute CPE credits toward GRID renewal, subject to GIAC's CPE policies.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 309 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.
2domains
7objectives
61concepts
65free 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
1ICS Security Operations167 questions
2ICS Incident Management and Intelligence142 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.
Active Defense in an ICS Environment7 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
32 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
309 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.
309questions
65pages
7objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1ICS Security Operations167 questions
2ICS Incident Management and Intelligence142 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.
61concepts
309free 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
61concepts 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 — 7 objectives, 61 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
7objectives on the outline→61concepts written→309free 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.