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 Certified Web Application Defender
The GIAC Certified Web Application Defender (GWEB) certification validates your ability to secure web applications against the most common and dangerous vulnerabilities. It is designed for developers, security analysts, and architects who need hands-on skills to detect and prevent input validation flaws, cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and more. Earning GWEB proves you can implement effective defenses and protect your organization's web assets.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration180 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score68%
Free questions674
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Certified Web Application Defender 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.
5domains
15objectives
121concepts
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 Certified Web Application Defender (GWEB) certification validates a practitioner's expertise in handling the common web application errors that lead to most security problems. GWEB certification holders have hands-on experience using current tools to detect and prevent input validation flaws, cross-site scripting (XSS), and SQL injection, and possess in-depth understanding of the weaknesses and best defenses for authentication, access control, and session management.
This certification goes beyond theoretical knowledge, emphasizing practical skills that can be applied immediately. It covers a broad range of topics including access control, AJAX technologies, cross-origin policy attacks, CSRF, encryption, file upload security, and modern application framework issues. By earning GWEB, you demonstrate your ability to recognize vulnerabilities and implement robust defenses, making you a valuable asset to any security team.
Who it’s for
The GWEB certification is for application developers, application security analysts or managers, application architects, and penetration testers interested in learning about defensive strategies. It is also valuable for security professionals interested in web application security, auditors who need to understand defensive mechanisms, and employees of PCI-compliant organizations needing to comply with PCI requirements. If you are responsible for building, securing, or assessing web applications, GWEB provides the essential knowledge and skills to defend against common attacks and protect sensitive data.
Recommended experience
Practical work experience in web application development or security is recommended, along with training or self-paced study. Hands-on experience with web application development or security testing; Familiarity with common web vulnerabilities and mitigation techniques; Understanding of HTTP, web architecture, and authentication mechanisms
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
Web Application Foundations
- Web Application and HTTP Basics
- Web Architecture and Configuration
Authentication and Session Management
- Authentication
- Session Security & Business Logic
- Access Control
Input Handling and Injection Flaws
- Input Related Flaws and Input Validation
- CSRF
- Cross Origin Policy Attacks and Mitigation
Advanced Threats and Defense
- AJAX Technologies and Security Strategies
- Modern Application Framework Issues and Serialization
- Web Services Security
- File Upload, Response Readiness, Proactive Defense
Security Testing and Cryptography
- Security Testing
- Encryption and Protecting Sensitive Data
- Leading Edge Technologies and Web Security
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 Certified Web Application Defender
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration180 minutes
Questions75 questions
Passing score68%
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 Certified Web Application Defender
Credential earnedGIAC Certified Web Application Defender 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 does GWEB relate to other GIAC certifications?
GWEB is a Practitioner certification that can be combined with other GIAC certifications to earn portfolio credentials like the GIAC Security Professional (GSP) or GIAC Security Expert (GSE).
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the GWEB exam?
The GWEB exam is a proctored, multiple-choice exam. It does not include a hands-on lab component like some other GIAC certifications.
What are the proctoring options for the GWEB exam?
GIAC exams are web-based and proctored. You can choose remote proctoring through ProctorU or onsite proctoring through PearsonVUE.
How soon can I retake the GWEB exam if I fail?
GIAC's retake policy allows you to retake the exam after a waiting period. Specific waiting periods are detailed in your GIAC account.
What job roles does the GWEB certification map to?
GWEB is designed for application developers, application security analysts, application architects, penetration testers, and security professionals focused on web application security.
Can I renew my GWEB certification by passing a different GIAC exam?
Yes, you can renew your GWEB certification by retaking the GWEB exam or by earning 36 CPE credits. Passing a different GIAC exam may also earn CPE credits toward renewal.
Are there regional restrictions for taking the GWEB exam?
GIAC exams are available globally through remote proctoring and onsite proctoring at PearsonVUE test centers.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 674 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.
5domains
15objectives
121concepts
141free 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
1Web Application Foundations105 questions
2Authentication and Session Management150 questions
3Input Handling and Injection Flaws106 questions
4Advanced Threats and Defense181 questions
5Security Testing and Cryptography132 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.
Web Application and HTTP Basics10 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
674 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.
674questions
141pages
15objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Web Application Foundations105 questions
2Authentication and Session Management150 questions
3Input Handling and Injection Flaws106 questions
4Advanced Threats and Defense181 questions
5Security Testing and Cryptography132 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.
121concepts
674free 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
121concepts 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 — 15 objectives, 121 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
15objectives on the outline→121concepts written→674free 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.