The SANS Institute (officially the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies) is a private U.S. for-profit company that specializes in information security and cybersecurity training. Since its founding in 1989, the SANS Institute has trained over 120,000 information security professionals in topics ranging from cyber and network defenses, penetration testing, incident response, digital forensics, and audit. In 1999, the SANS Institute formed Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), an independent entity that has granted over 58,000 certifications to validate the skills and knowledge of information security professionals.

The SANS Institute also sponsors the Internet Storm Center, an Internet monitoring system staffed by a global community of security practitioners, and the SANS Reading Room - a research archive of information security policy and research documents that delivers over one million downloads per year to professionals globally. As part of ongoing research and dedication to leading the information security community, SANS is one of the founding organizations and partners of the Center for Internet Security.