CyOSCC

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AS IT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY NOTICE THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED. 38th CONS/LGCC intends to negotiate a sole source contract with the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies, Inc d/b/a The SANS Institute, 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 205 Bethesda, MD 20814 (herein after known as "The SANS Institute") for Cyber OPS Supplemental Civilian Courses consisting of 2 courses with an American National Standards Institute certification. The Government intends to negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. This notice will be distributed solely through the General Services Administration's Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) Website (www.fedbizopps.gov). Interested parties are responsible for monitoring the FBO site to ensure they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The North American Classification System Code is 541519; Other Computer Related Services. The Cyber Ops Supplemental Civilian Courseware (CyOSCC) program is responding to a greater need within the Air Force, Joint Forces, Combatant Commands, as well as other Governmental Departments and Agencies for Cyber Operators with advanced accredited training. The CyOSCC program supports the ever growing need to combat cyber based threats by training teams that protect the nation's interests in cyberspace. The CyOSCC curriculum is specifically aimed at 'Highly Specialized' Cyber Operators and Trainers, which consist of 24AF/AFCYBER MR/CMR Cyber Operators, USCC Task Force/Cyber Mission Forces personnel as well as other Cyber Operators within the US Government and Allies. These students will receive cutting edge cyber security training in all of the latest cyber defensive techniques necessary to secure the United States from cyber based threats; consistent with supplemental skills training required for US Cyber Command (and other Governmental Departments or Agencies). The requirements are (1) provide six each of both of the two courses below (not necessarily in name but in subject matter), (2) an ANSI-Accredited certification (3) at Hurlburt Field FL. The courses requested must be Commercially-available Off The Shelf (COTS) in accordance with Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Therefore, the vendor should not proffer courses which are "developmental" or in any way not available at the date of award. Based on market research conducted, it has been determined the requirement can only be provided by The SANS Institute, as no other vendor is capable of providing the Cyber Career Path Program with an ANSI Accredited certification to meet the requirements. SEC401: Security Essentials Bootcamp Style (Quantity-6) Class Training Days: 6 Number of Certified Instructors: 15+ Certification Attempt Provided: GSEC (GIAC Security Essentials Certification) The Security Essentials Bootcamp Style course is for anyone new to information security with some background in systems and networking. Cyber investigators join industry professionals in this class taught by the experts in the security field. The student will learn the language and underlying theory of computer security. Course topics include: risk assessment and auditing; host and network-based intrusion detection; honeypots, firewalls and perimeter protection; security policy; password management; security incident handling; information warfare; web security; network fundamentals and IP concepts and behavior; primary threats to perimeter protection; PGP; steganography; Windows security administration and auditing; IIS security; and UNIX security fundamentals. Course must give CEUs for any ISC2, ISACA, or GIAC Certification Course and associated certification must be part of a curriculum that combined with additional readings and a research paper can earn master's level credits. Course author must be a PhD or Doctorate and must be thought to be a leader in the industry. Course must be updated 3 times per year by a team of seasoned practicing professionals Course must be designed to be hands-on with over 40% lab based training Class must not only teach theory but the practical knowledge needed in everyday situations. All instructors must remain practitioners in the field, thus ensuring that their skills do not atrophy All Instructors must be GSEC Certified SEC504 & SEC504.mil: Hacker Techniques, Exploits, and Incident Handling (Quantity-6) Class Training Days: 6 Number of Certified Instructors: 12 Certification Attempt Provided: GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler) The Hacker Techniques Exploits and Incident Handling course addresses the latest cutting-edge insidious attack vectors and older attacks that are still prevalent. This course includes a time-tested, step-by-step process for responding to computer incidents, a detailed description of how attackers undermine systems so you can prepare, detect, and respond to them, and a hands-on workshop for discovering holes before the bad guys do. Topics include: incident handling and computer crime investigation; computer and network hacker exploits; step-by-step approach used by many computer attackers; and a hacker tools workshop. This course will provide the student a complete introduction to the incident handling process, using the six steps: preparation, identification, containment, eradiation, recovery, and lessons learned. Course must give CEUs for any ISC2, ISACA or GIAC certification Course and associated certification must be part of a curriculum that combined with additional readings and a research paper can earn master's level credits. Course must describe step-by-step incident handling process, and how to apply it to most common and powerful attack techniques in operational enterprise environments. Course must teach incident handling skills and prepares the individual for the GCIH Course must be updated 3 times per year by a team of seasoned practicing professionals Course must be designed to be hands-on with over 40% lab based training Course must not only teach theory but the practical knowledge needed in everyday situations. All instructors must go through a highly selective process. All instructors must remain practitioners in the field, thus ensuring that their skills do not atrophy All Instructors must be GCIH Certified This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested parties may identify their interests and capability to respond to this requirement or submit proposals to this office by 4:00 pm, EST, by March 10, 2014, by email to the attention of James D. Banks, Contract Specialist, at james.banks.12@us.af.mil with the subject line: "CyOSCC Capabilities Statement." The response also needs to be copied to Henry C. Miller, Contracting Officer at henry.miller.1@us.af.mil. Conforming information received will be considered by the technical team, solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Telephone requests will not be considered. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon response to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Should the Government receive one or more viable quotes, this RFQ will subject to a directed competition between The SANS Institute and the capable vendor(s). Should the Government receive no viable quote(s); the award will be made solely to The SANS Institute.