GIAC'S Digital Badge Program

A Digital badge is an online representation of an outcome or achievement. Digital badges refer specifically to badges that adhere to an open standard being led by the Mozilla Foundation for recognizing and validating learning. They are secure, web-enabled credentials that contain verified information employers can use to evaluate an individual's qualifications.

The GIAC Certification credential is earned only after successfully completing the certification exam with a passing score. Digital badges are a web-enabled, digital representation of that certification, enriched with a standardized set of metadata that verify your achievement. You would be granted the Digital Badge after completion of the certification exam.

Digital badges are online representations of your achievements. GIAC's digital badges provide detailed information about the credentials you hold via a single-click. For instance, an HR manager can click on your badge and will be directed to the badge's page which provides them metadata on your qualifications and the process you completed to earn them. This additional layer of content helps you more fully explain your capabilities and high level achievements. This can be helpful when you are looking for a job or other career advancement, as well as general display of your achievements.

GIAC, as your credential issuer, has partnered with Acclaim to translate certification objectives into the open badges standard defined by Mozilla.

Emails for the digital badging program will come from two different addresses: GIAC's DigitalBadges@giac.org and Acclaim's no-reply@youracclaim.com. Please white list these email addresses to ensure smooth delivery of necessary set up and account notices.

Yes, you will be able to claim an electronic badge for each active GIAC certification you hold.

No, only the certification you have active with be awarded digital badges. If you have questions about renewing your expired certification please contact our renewal team at cert-renewal@giac.org

Acclaim is an independent initiative backed by Pearson, the world's leading learning company. Its focal point is an enterprise-class badging platform built in compliance with Mozilla's open badges standards to support the specialized needs of credential issuers, employers, and professionals. The Acclaim web platform provides a secure means of storage, transport and credential publishing that adds a layer of protection against those who may falsely claim high-stakes credentials.

GIAC has entered into a vendor relationship with Acclaim to implement a program for web-enabled credentials displayed as digital badges. Acclaim is the web site from which you claim (accept), store and transmit open badges related to your credentials. It is also where those looking to verify your certifications go to view them.

If you do not want your certification or your profile to be visible to the public, you can make them private. In fact, you may simply discard the digital badge email if you do not wish to participate in the program. GIAC and Acclaim take very seriously the importance of putting you in control of your certification. All information regarding you and your certification can be configured within the Acclaim system.

No. Storing, managing and broadcasting credentials is free for GIAC certification holders.

While digital badges are simply image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on the Acclaim platform. This constant link to verified data makes them that much more reliable and secure than a traditional paper-based credential.

Absolutely! Every digital badge and profile on the Acclaim platform has a unique URL that can be embedded on a resume or web site. We also offer seamless integration with the most popular social and professional networking platforms for the display of credentials as digital badges.

LinkedIn enables the earner to permanently display the achievement within their profile with single click verification. In order to display your badge on your LinkedIn profile, log in to Acclaim, select the badge you would like displayed on LinkedIn and then select share. The site will then walk you through connecting to LinkedIn and a series of confirmation steps. Please note that when a certification is referenced in a LinkedIn profile, an image of the GIAC logo is displayed online, not the actual badge image.

If your question relates to the status of your certification, please contact digitalbadges@giac.org. If your question relates to the Acclaim web site, please contact Acclaim support. (http://support.youracclaim.com/)

Existing certification holders will receive their badge email invitations in the days and weeks following the launch in Fall 2015. If you are recently certified, the email notification to claim your badge will be issued within two weeks of your certification date. If you have not received your badge email invitation, please contact Digitalbadges@giac.org

Yes! The exact process is slightly different for various email clients and operating systems. Below you will find a link to a video with a basic explanation on how to do this using Gmail. Regardless of your email platform the process is basically the same.

Please view this video for an example

To download your badge image

The user (you) has to give the permission for the bridge between the social media site and Acclaim to exist, but at no time will Acclaim post without an action being initiated by the user. Any activity taken on a user's behalf must first be initiated by them, otherwise the social platform will turn off Acclaim's access. Acclaim will never do anything beyond post a badge for a user (after it is requested) but social media sites only provide these standard permission screens and do not allow only specific actions to be omitted.

If you are still not comfortable establishing this link, we certainly understand. You can still share your badge and accomplishment by using the public URL and positing right into your social media account as a status update or tweet.

Yes, if you have two Acclaim accounts using different emails, you may combine them using the following directions.

1. Log into the master account (the one you want to keep) on youracclaim.com.
2. Navigate to Manage Profile from the upper right-hand menu
3. Navigate to Account Settings in the left hand menu
4. Click on the link to the right of Merge Account
5. Enter the email address and password of the account you want to merge into the master account
6. You will receive an email at that email address with a confirmation ID
7. Enter the confirmation ID into the text box and confirm the merge
8. All accepted and pending badges from the merged account will be added to the master account
9. The email addresses from the account that was merged into the master account will be added as a secondary email to the master account.