The expertise behind SEC549 is rooted in real-world experience. The primary authors and instructors in the 2021 era included:
: The course is built for senior engineers and architects who need to design enterprise-grade security across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud (GCP) .
Among the new courses unveiled around this time was . Authored and created by Kat Traxler, a Principal Security Researcher at Vectra AI, the course was envisioned as a critical new offering for SANS, delivering foundational training for cutting-edge defensive patterns in cloud security design to a worldwide audience. sans sec 549 2021
Designing robust IAM policies.
Preventing data exfiltration by restricting outbound traffic to validated, trusted endpoints. DevSecOps and Security Automation The expertise behind SEC549 is rooted in real-world
The curriculum prepares students for the certification, validating skills in building secure systems across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
This article provides a deep dive into the era, focusing on the core curriculum, the shift toward cloud-native architecture, hands-on labs, and the GIAC Cloud Security Architecture and Design (GCAD) certification. What is SANS SEC549: Cloud Security Architecture? Authored and created by Kat Traxler, a Principal
Instructor Eric Johnson receives high praise from students. Reviews describe him as "clearly experienced in the subject matter with a long history of work in the subject area, with plenty of real-world examples". Another student called him the "best instructor I've ever had, in anything".
In 2021, the SANS Institute addressed this critical architectural gap by introducing . This advanced course was specifically engineered to move organizations past basic security checklists and toward resilient, multi-cloud enterprise architectures. The Core Philosophy of SEC549