Prepare for your exam with this exclusive CCSP Certification Guide
With the development of the IT world, unique security challenges are also increasing with more intricacy. For that, securing data and applications is becoming crucial. It has become mandatory for every organization and business to shield their data and system from cyberattacks. Thus, every company requires cybersecurity professionals to run their business successfully. In this blog, we will recount the most in-demand cybersecurity certification – CCSP. If you are planning to become part of the certified CCSP workforce, that’s not a bad idea. No one can stop you from advancing in your career. What you have to do is learn new skills and get this trending cybersecurity certification. Let’s begin with a brief overview of CCSP.
This blog covers:
(ISC)² Certified Cloud Security Professionals
The CCSP exam was introduced in 2015 by International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2 and Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). No doubt, CCSP is one of the most trending IT certifications that can help you stand out in a crowd of security practitioners. It is a vendor-neutral cert that proves your knowledge and skills in designing, managing, and securing data, web infrastructures, and applications. Unlike other Security certifications, this cert provides a strategic knowledge of cloud governance, risk, and privacy.
CCSP Exam Requirements
Qualifying for this certification is a tough row to hoe. The candidates who want to register for this certification should have a minimum of 5 years of paid experience in the informational technology field. Out of them, three years of experience should be related to any of the CCSP Common Body Knowledge Domains. Then the candidate will take a CCSP Certification exam to avail of the certification.
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Elementary Pattern of CCSP Exam
Test Type:Â | 150 multiple-choice questions (25 unscored questions) |
Time allotted:Â | 4 hours |
Passing score | 700/1000 |
CCSP Cost:Â | USD 599Â |
Exam Languages | English, Japanese, Chinese, German, Korean, and Spanish |
Delivery options:Â | Pearson VUE |
Who can take this exam |
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CCSP Exam Outline |
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To register yourself for the exam click here
CCSP Exam Syllabus
1. Cloud Data Security 20%
Understand cloud computing concepts
- Cloud computing definitions
- Cloud computing roles and responsibilitiesÂ
- Key cloud computing characteristics Building block technologiesÂ
Describe cloud reference architecture
- Cloud computing activitiesÂ
- Cloud service capabilitiesÂ
- Cloud service categoriesÂ
- Cloud deployment modelsÂ
- Cloud shared considerationsÂ
- Impact of related technologiesÂ
Understand security concepts relevant to cloud computing
- Cryptography and key management
- Virtualization securityÂ
- Identity and access controlÂ
- Data and media sanitizationÂ
- Common threats
- Network securityÂ
- Security hygiene
Understand design principles of secure cloud computing
- Cloud-secure data lifecycle
- Business impact analysis (BIA)Â
- Cloud-based business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) plan
- Security considerations and responsibilities for different cloud categoriesÂ
- Functional security requirements
- DevOps security
- Cloud design patternsÂ
Evaluate cloud service providers
- System/subsystem product certificationsÂ
- Verification against criteria
2. Legal risk and compliance 13%
Describe cloud data concepts
- Cloud data life cycle phasesÂ
- Data flow
- Data dispersion
Design and implement cloud data storage architectures
- Threats to storage types
- Storage typesÂ
Design and apply data security technologies and strategies
- Encryption and key management
- Keys, secrets, and certificates management
- Hashing
- Data loss prevention (DLP)
- Data obfuscationÂ
- TokenizationÂ
Implement data discovery
- Structured data
- Semi-structured data
- Unstructured data
- Data location
Plan and implement data classification
- Data classification policies
- Data labeling
- Data mapping
Design and implement Information Rights Management (IRM)
- Appropriate toolsÂ
- ObjectivesÂ
Plan and implement data retention, deletion, and archiving policies
- Data retention policies
- Data archiving procedures and mechanisms
- Data deletion procedures and mechanisms
- Legal hold
Design and implement auditability, traceability, and accountability of data events
- Definition of event sources and requirement of event attributesÂ
- Chain of custody and non-repudiation
- Logging, storage, and analysis of data events
3. Cloud Concepts Architecture and Design 17%
Comprehend cloud infrastructure and platform components
- Physical environmentÂ
- Management plane
- Network and communicationsÂ
- Storage
- Compute
- Virtualization
Design a secure data center
- Physical designÂ
- Logical designÂ
- Design resilient
- Environmental designÂ
Analyze risks associated with cloud infrastructure and platforms
- Risk assessment
- Risk mitigation strategies
- Cloud vulnerabilities, threats, and attacksÂ
Plan and implementation of security controls
- Physical and environmental protectionÂ
- System, storage, and communication protection
- Audit mechanismsÂ
- Identification, authentication, and authorization in cloud environments
Plan business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR)
- Business requirementsÂ
- Business continuity (BC) / disaster recovery (DR) strategyÂ
- Creation, implementation, and testing of the plan
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4. Cloud Security Operations 16%
Advocate training and awareness for application security
- Cloud development basics
- Common cloud vulnerabilitiesÂ
- Common pitfalls
Describe the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process
- Phases and methodologiesÂ
- Business requirementsÂ
Apply the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- Cloud-specific risks
- Secure codingÂ
- Threat modelingÂ
- Software configuration management and versioning
- Avoid common vulnerabilities during development
Apply cloud software assurance and validation
- Functional and non-functional testing
- Quality assurance (QA)
- Security testing methodologiesÂ
- Abuse case testing
Use verified secure software
- Securing application programming interfaces (API)
- Third-party software managementÂ
- Supply-chain managementÂ
- Validated open-source software
Comprehend the specifics of cloud application architecture
- Supplemental security componentsÂ
- Sandboxing
- Cryptography
- Application virtualization and orchestrationÂ
Design appropriate identity and access management (IAM) solutions
- Federated identity
- Single sign-on (SSO)Â
- Identity providers (IdP)Â
- Cloud access security broker (CASB)Â
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)Â
- Secrets management
5. Cloud Application Security 17%
Build and implement physical and logical infrastructure for the cloud environment
- Hardware-specific security configuration requirementsÂ
- Installation and configuration of management tools
- Installation of guest operating system (OS) virtualization toolsets
- Virtual hardware-specific security configuration requirementsÂ
Operate and maintain physical and logical infrastructure for the cloud environment
- Access controls for local and remote accessÂ
- Network security controlsÂ
- Secure network configurationÂ
- Patch managementÂ
- Operating system (OS) hardening through the application of baselines, monitoring, and remediationÂ
- Availability of clustered hostsÂ
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) strategy
- Performance and capacity monitoringÂ
- Configuration of host and guest operating system (OS) backup and restore functions
- Availability of guest operating system (OS)Â
- Hardware monitoringÂ
- Management planeÂ
Implement operational controls and standards
- Change management
- Information security management
- Continuity management
- Continual service improvement management
- Problem management
- Incident management
- Deployment managementÂ
- Release management
- Availability management
- Configuration management
- Service level management
- Capacity management
Support digital forensics
- Forensic data collection methodologies
- Collect, acquire, and preserve digital evidence
- Evidence management
Manage communication with relevant parties
- Vendors
- PartnersÂ
- Customers
- RegulatorsÂ
Manage security operations
- Security operations center (SOC)
- Log capture and analysisÂ
- Intelligent monitoring of security controls
- Vulnerability assessments
- Incident management
6. Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security 17%
Articulate legal requirements and unique risks within the cloud environment
- Conflicting international legislation
- Legal framework and guidelines
- Evaluation of legal risks specific to cloud computing
- Forensics requirements
- eDiscoveryÂ
Understand privacy issues
- Difference between contractual and regulated private dataÂ
- Jurisdictional differences in data privacyÂ
- Country-specific legislation related to private dataÂ
- Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA)
- Standard privacy requirementsÂ
Understand audit process, methodologies, and required adaptations for a cloud environment
- Internal and external audit controls » Impact of audit requirements
- Types of auditÂ
- Identify assurance challenges of virtualization and cloud
- Audit planningÂ
- Gap analysisÂ
- Internal information security controls system
- Internal information security management system
- Impact of distributed information technology (IT) modelÂ
- Specialized compliance requirements for highly-regulated industries
Understand the implications of cloud to enterprise risk management
- Assess the provider’s risk management programsÂ
- Regulatory transparency requirementsÂ
- Difference between data owner/controller vs. data custodian/processorÂ
- Risk treatmentÂ
- Metrics for risk managementÂ
- Different risk frameworks
- Assessment of risk environmentÂ
Understand outsourcing and cloud contract design
- Business requirementsÂ
- Supply-chain management
- Vendor managementÂ
- Contract managementÂ
You can study the Exam outline for more detailed information.
CCSP Exam Preparation
Before starting your exam preparation, learn the objectives of the CCSP exam to make sure the certification is perfect for your career advancement. Boning up the official study guide can provide you with the objectives of the exam. Let’s see how you can prepare for the exam.
CCSP Certification Training
There are two ways to start your CCSP exam preparation. One is self-paced studying and the other is instructor-led courses. You have to choose one that is effective and feasible for you. There is a plethora of courses and learning resources on the web. But, we recommend you prefer the learning resources provided by the ISC2 platform. These sources include:
CCSP Practice Questions
Just preparing for your exam is not enough to ace it on the first go. Your exam preparation should include an assessment process to make sure you are perfectly ready to attempt your exam. At this spot, the dumps are the best choice rather than choosing the practice and mock exams. CCSP dumps contain actual questions fetched from the original exams, to make you discover how the question can be asked.
CCSP Certification Benefits
No site or business is naturally privileged to cyber attacks. Let’s discover the perks of CCSP certification.
Promote Career Advancement
It is one of the globally known cybersecurity certifications. Earning this credential raises your visibility and credibility in a competitive market. Moreover, you may also get this cert to improve your job security and create new opportunities.
Provides Versatile Skills
Being a vendor-neutral certification, it consists of a range of skills that can be applied to different methodologies and technologies.
Help You Earn Respect
Learning new skills and having proof for that always makes you earn more respect you’re your fellows, peers, and employers. Moreover, you can gain an access to the community of cybersecurity leaders.Â
Develops Solid Foundation
If you are running a company, helping your employees earn this cert can make your business grow well. They will be prepared to halt cyber-attacks and will make your business a secure cyber world.
Open Doors To A Lucrative Career
It has been researched that certified individuals always make more than uncertified ones. On average, (ISC)² certified professionals were seen to earn 35% more than other individuals.
Enhances Your Knowledge
Earning a CCSP certification requires a deeper and broader knowledge of cloud computing and cybersecurity. Gaining new skills and knowledge always helps you excel in your career path.
Certified CCSP Professionals’ Job
Certified Cloud Security Professional individuals can apply for the following job roles
- Enterprise Architect
- Security AdministratorÂ
- Security ArchitectÂ
- Security Engineer
- Security Manager
- Systems Architect
- Systems Engineer
You can find jobs at Ziprecruiter
CCSP Certification Salary
According to (ISC)2, the salaries for Certified Cloud Security Professional professionals in different regions are as follows.
Globally | $80,717 |
Asia Pacific | $61,835 |
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa | $78,548 |
Latin America | $16,476 |
North America | $114,172 |
Final Notes
Following the pace of the world, many organizations and businesses are moving towards cloud platforms. So, the demand for professionals with web security skills and cloud knowledge is growing rapidly. Being one of the top cybersecurity certifications, Certified Cloud Security Professional is a little bit tricky. To ace, this exam on the first go, dedicate your time and efforts to prepare for the exam. We hope this blog will provide you with every bit of information required to start your exam preparation. What you have to do is utilize the best learning resources to avail of the sought-after cert and advance your career.
FAQ's
According to the Certification Magazine, CCSP is one of the top eight IT certifications. Earning this cert will help you land a better job, advance your career, a high salary, and self-satisfaction.
The learning span depends upon your efforts, dedication, prior knowledge, and preparation resources. There are different courses with 40-60 hours of preparation time. But having the best preparation resources can help you prepare for your exam in minimum time.
You can attempt the exam four times a year. After your first failed attempt, you have to wait for 30 days before the second attempt. On the other hand, spam is increased up to 60 days if you fail your second attempt.
There are 6 domains of the Certified Cloud Security Professional exam.
- Architectural concepts and design requirements
- Cloud Data Security
- Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security
- Cloud Application Security
- Cloud Security Operations
- Legal Risk and Compliance
You can use your digital badge to share your certification online. For that, you can attach this badge to your digital resume, email signature, and social media sites (such as LinkedIn and Twitter).
The CCSP exam contains 150 questions with a duration of 4-hour. To pass this exam one needs to score 700 out of 1000. Moreover, the Certified Cloud Security Professional exam cost is $599.
To register for this certification, the candidate is required to have a minimum of 5 years of paid experience in the IT field.
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