Evolve Security Academy

Attending Evolve Security Academy bootcamp is one of the best decisions I've made in my career. I had a technical background but wanted to really focus on Cybersecurity. The 16 week program was not a piece of cake but with enough determination, patience and with the help of the knowledgeable instructors, I can proudly say that I've done it. The modules were well thought of and classes were presented in a professional manner every session. I especially like the breakroom activities that gives us opportunity to work together in small teams to analyze and solve different tasks. Career coaching is also another strength of this program. Not only are students trained technically but they also guided us on how to present ourselves in the market and prepare for job hunting. Overall, Evolve has really done a great job exposing students with knowledge of the real world scenarios and possible solution relating to Cybersecurity. If you want to train to become a Cybersecurity professional, I strongly recommend joining the Evolve Security Academy. It requires work and sacrifice, but I assure you that it's worth it.

Great cohort experience. Knowledgeable instructors and assistant instructors helped us get through the four months and really hone in on the subject matter, and we had two wonderful career coaches, too. I'm now part of a (large!) new family and beginning a new career, and know I have many people to reach out to for help or advice in cybersecurity and beyond.

Only issue was our cohort was the largest class size (they've since limited the size I believe), and this could be a problem with some topics that were harder to grasp for some, or with troubleshooting.

 PROS: tremendous overview of the cybersecurity landscape.  I’m very happy to have attended Evolve Security Academy (I opted for the remote bootcamp option), as I had an excellent experience and it was a great step to starting my IT/ cybersecurity career. While it's impossible to cover every aspect of cybersecurity in 17 weeks, the course provided a well-thought-out curriculum and a structured approach to covering the material (for example: starting with Networking => security frameworks => OSINT etc- the material built on itself). We also had great instructors who- not only conveyed the lessons in a clear, patient manner- but also tied in real-life examples that they’d encountered from their job experience. Lastly, we also had a capstone project where we conducted a full scale security assessment for a not-for-profit from start to finish. It was pretty sweet.     

  CONS: No place is perfect, but whatever concerns or issues I had while was in the cohort... were always dealt with in an immediate and helpful fashion. 

• The end of unit quizzes & competency assessments should be treated a bit more seriously- when the time came to take the final, I realized I wasn't as strong in a couple areas than I thought I had been. Looking back it was because I had missed the quiz/ competency assessment for that unit. Thankfully I buckled down and quickly strengthened the material I needed to- but I wish I had been “hounded down” to have taken it sooner.

  Besides its sterling reputation, as more and more cohorts graduate, attending Evolve becomes more and more valuable thanks to its strong budding alumni network. Would definitely recommend and if you have any specific questions or would like to hear more about my experience at Evolve, feel free to DM me on Twitter.  

Joining Evolve Security Academy is a great first step to start your Cybersecurity education. I had no prior IT experience before joining the bootcamp but the hands-on education with the security tools, the support provided by the instructor and AIs were beneficial to me grasping the knowledge. Although the bootcamp was intense, it was a great learning experience, the knowledge and information I gained from this bootcamp will put me in good stead for my future career in Cybersecurity.

I would say that prospective students should get the Comptia Security+ study guide to go through while going through this course. Really helps explain topics (in extra detail) that will come up and you'll be ready to use the exam voucher by the end of it! 

My cohort had a good size of people from all different backgrounds. Assistant Instructors were friendly and approachable. 

Martin as the career coach is really great; I have a lot of confidence that following his module will really help in professional networking and getting a job. 

Being as I was totally new to the cybersecurity field this was a really good course for me to be exposed to different areas but if you're someone who has spent some time in the field maybe it'd be better for one of their more advanced courses! 

One thing I'd warn is that it's a bit of time commitment but if you find yourself with time during quarantine then maybe it's time to try something new

 The Evolve Cyber Bootcamp was a great experience for me. A wide range of topics is covered throughout the course by instructors who have spent years in the field. My particular instructor had been a part of the U.S. Air Force and gone on to later work for the NSA. He was great about going in depth on topics and spending time in areas that students had questions even if it didn't necessarily relate directly to the curriculum. The topics covered in the course are the same ones you will consistently see on cyber security job postings. The job placement rate in my class was very high and Evolve helped to facilitate our job searches as much as possible. Many of the students in my class started in all sorts of fields that weren't cyber related and ended up with positions before or just after the end of the course. 

I couldn’t think of a better place to start my new cybersecurity career than at Evolve Security Academy! I loved the bootcamp and learning alongside my 13 cohort mates.  I’m impressed at how much the instructors have fit into their curriculum and supplemented the lectures with solid labs. As a cohort, we had the opportunity to perform an actual security assessment of a local non-profit organization and present our findings.  There’s great value in learning not just how to ethically hack an organization, but to communicate the findings to clients as well.  Evolve allowed me to do all of that.

The instructors are great, and more importantly, they are also working professionals during the day (classes are at night) so all of their instruction is rooted in practice.  Their passion for Cybersecurity is infectious - it’s clear they all love what they do.  Outside of instruction, I found their admin/admissions team to be amazing.  As one of their first GI Bill applicants, they patiently helped me navigate a complicated process to apply my education benefits. 

Note for Vets:  My bootcamp was in the summer of 2019.  At the time, I was receiving only partial BAH because the course was designated as part-time by the Illinois VA Dept.  If you intend to use the GI Bill, check with Evolve’s Admissions team if that has changed, or understand that you may also receive partial BAH. 

My main criticism is that I wish the curriculum spent more time on defensive (blue team) learning than on offensive (red team).  Security is so nuanced and specialized that it would be impossible to cover both in depth in just a single bootcamp. It’s a lot to ask for, I admit.  But, you’ll find that more jobs align with security operations, incident response, and risk management than with penetration testing, so it makes more sense to tailor the bootcamp curriculum to the industry’s overall demands.  Evolve's Advanced Pen Testing course, which I’ve taken and loved, is the better venue to dive deep into red teaming.

The job assistance also started later than I preferred. We touched on the job search, prep, and interview process a bit during the bootcamp, but those didn’t really kick off until after graduation.

Overall, I rate Evolve Security Academy a solid 9/10.  I loved the experience and the people, and if I could do it all over, I wouldn’t hesitate to start there again. Good luck!

Evolve Security Had a vast amount of information to learn from, I loved the course material as it is updated and fresh. The instructors do an amazing job at teaching the material and are very patient with students that needed help. The school is a lot of fun and very hands on. They also help with job searches in the cyber department, highly recommended to anyone that struggles with job searching after they have obtained their certification!

Pros:
-Great material
-very Knowledgeable staff
-Extra fun activities for the students to increase skills(safe pentesting)
-Getting real world experience with other company's to see what it's like.
----Most importantly----
You get the most out of the course in person which I would recommend you taking for the more hands on experience!
Cons:
-Short time span: If the Course was longer we could spend more time on the material.

But Overall Evolve Security is an amazing school if you want to increase your knowledge on cyber security and I highly recommend Evolve to anyone that is trying to advance in their career of cyber security.   I really want to thank the instructors for all the help and support they have giving me on my journey on learning the material!

My experience at Evolve Security Academy was transformative. During the course, I developed a deep passion for cyber security by going through hands-on lab assignments with awesome instructors, in a close-knit cohort environment, while getting an opportunity to experiment with many different security domains. Since my time at ESA, I continue to receive support from the instructors, program leaders, and fellow alumni. The relationships built, passion developed, and experiences along the way have truly changed the trajectory of my career path!

I attended the cyber security boot camp fall session at Evolve Security. I never attended a boot camp before so I didn't know what to expect. Coming from the legal field with little technology skills I can honestly say I was a little intimidated. the intimidation went away on the first day. The staff and professors were awesome!! They understood most of their students work full time jobs, new to the cyber security field, and nervous lol. The Evolve Cyber Security experience was GREAT!  I learned so much information and the hands on training was like non other. You work with real companies while attending the boot camp. The labs, training, quizzes, and 24 hr help..... Evolve has the perfect ingredients to help you launch your career in the cyber Field.

Pros: Flexibility, real life situations, small class, free vouchers for certifications, job placement help, free training material, webinars/meetups.
Cons: only 1 professor in class. I think 2 professors will compliment the classroom.

I attended Evolve Security's in-person cybersecurity academy in the summer of 2019. This 16 week long course was instrumental in shaping my future career path, and teaching me the industry of cybersecurity. Prior to attending the academy, I had zero knowledge of the cyber world, and felt unsure if I was fit to participate in the academy. Yet the instructors helped quickly get me up-to-speed during the first few weeks, and were extremely helpful during the entirety of the course. From learning Python, using Splunk, to running vulnerability scans with Burp Suite, I was able to get a comprehensive understanding of relevant tools and how to use them. Perhaps my favorite part of the bootcamp was the hands-on, real-world experience gained by working alongside a local non-profit organization to perform a full security assessment. Would highly recommend for anyone interested in going into a career in InfoSec.

I had the unique experience of participating in the Evolve Security 17-week live in structor led bootcamp, an incredible experience, the Academy team works tirelessly to incorporate feedback and improve the coursework, labs, and direction of future modules. Having one foot in the bootcamp as a student, and one foot in the office as an employee, the appreciation of seeing how well balanced this program is, and my ability to contribute raw feedback was a rewarding experience. This is a fantastic program, and I'm increasingly proud of what I've learned and my ability to speak to aspects of security, both from a policy and technical perspective, that would have been improbable or prohibitively difficult to learn on my own, and with out the infrastructure of this program. 

If you are looking for the best way to break into cybersecurity and willing to put in the work, the bootcamp is the perfect fit for you. I learned so many different tools and techniques about hacking within the 17-week period. I started the bootcamp as a novice who barely had any knowledge about networking, but after the bootcamp with a lot of practices on many different labs, I was able to comfortably run an assessment on a host or even a subnet (from initial scan for host discovery to exploitation and reporting). Besides, I really enjoyed those blue team – red team exercises where we were divided into team and started attacking on each other. These exercises really helped me get better understanding about hacking from different vantage points, both defensive and offensive sides. As a software developer, I found this experience very valuable since it helped me become more aware about security and know how to properly harden my system to prevent potential attacks. All in all, I am very satisfied with the experience I got from the bootcamp and definitely recommend anyone who has an interest in cybersecurity.

The Evolve Academy Bootcamp was a fantastic educational experience. The material and instruction were insightful and concise. While it's impossible to cover every aspect of security in 17 weeks, the course provided a holistic approach to the material and covered both overarching theoretical concepts as well as hands-on technical implementations. The instructors were also more than happy to encourage students to dig deeper on subjects they were interested in, and provided fantastic examples of principles based on their real world job experience. 

Recently finished an intense 8-week OSCP bootcamp with Evolve Security Academy and honestly, it was one of the best learning experiences I’ve had. The training was super hands-on, challenging in all the right ways, and I walked away with a ton of new skills. 

What really made it special was the people. I met some awesome folks along the way, and having a community to learn and struggle through the tough parts with made it not just valuable but also super fun. My mentor was super knowledgeable and she was always very patient and would make sure everybody understood everything before moving on to another topic. She also continued to support me even after the bootcamp ended and helped me overcome any obstacles along the way. 

I would highly recommend to Evolve Security Academy anyone interested about getting into pentesting and passing their OSCP exam!