Cloud Security Certifications and which one is for you

10 cloud security certifications

Posted By : Sanjeev Jaiswal

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Cybersecurity is always an evergreen domain for job aspects, higher salary, and even job security. Cloud Security is like ice on the cake to the security domain. But, it’s really tough to maintain the pace, ever-changing, and challenging aspect of the security domain. It can be frustrating sometimes too. But, if you have patience and a will to hone the skill, you would ace in this domain. I also shared Cloud Computing Basics in 10 minutes earlier. In this article, we would discuss 10 Cloud Security Certifications and which one is for you.

Fundamentally, Cloud Security concepts would be the same for all Cloud Based services, solutions and it will also depend on how we implement it, what tools you are going to use, be it in-house developed or third-party services or Cloud Service providers make it available for you as a managed service. 

It is always good to go through well-organized concepts on Cloud Security to understand its usage, implementation, security risks, and other concepts like compliance, audit, incident response, etc. The more you practice, the more you get skilled in this domain. Well, Getting some Cloud Security Certifications is one of those ways.

So, what are the advantages of getting security certification?

  1. It’s one of the requirements of JD (Job Details) these days
  2. It shows that you are aware of overall concepts related to that certification
  3. Helps to get your CV screened with a positive response and you can get a call. I call it a competitive advantage over other candidates ;). Well,  Rest is now how you present yourself and how much you actually understand
  4. This way you can expand your knowledge and skills horizontally or vertically
  5. Never forget, it can increase your earning potential.
  6. Helpful for good hikes or promotion 

I think these are the main reasons that people try to get certified. So, If you can think of any other advantages, please share, we will add here.

Various available Cloud Security Certifications for you

Once you decide that you have to try for Cloud Security Certifications, this article can help you to understand various options available for you. I will discuss each one of those 10 Cloud Security Certifications which can help you in one way or the other. 

Here is the mindmap that I created for Cloud Security Certifications available. It shows 9 only because the 10th one is the wild card entry. Sit tight to see who’s that and you would love to give it a try as well.

Cloud Security Certifications

CompTIA Cloud+

If you are a beginner and want to understand what covers inside Cloud Computing and Cloud Security, it could be a good start. This Certification would be helpful for college students, freshers, or who want to make a career into Cloud Computing.

CompTia Cloud+ Cloud Certificate

Here is the exam details:

  • Number of Questions: 90
  • Exam Duration: 90 minutes
  • Passing Score: 750/900
  • Exam Fee: $329

CCSK

This is one of the popular Cloud Security certifications available in the market from CSA (Cloud Security Alliance). CSA is non-profit organization which promotes the best use of Cloud Security and Compliance and also provides many training around it.

It covers wide range of Cloud Security including:

  • Infrastructure Security
  • Data Security and Encryption
  • Virtualization and container
  • Application Security
  • Compliance and Audit management
  • Cloud Control Matrix and so on as shown in below image
CCSK domains

CCSK exam details:

  • Number of Questions: 60
  • Passing Score: 80%
  • Exam Duration: 90 Minutes
  • Exam fee: $395

CCAK

Well, this is another Certification in Cloud Domain meant for Auditors mainly and to complement CCSK. It is still in draft mode and expected to be released in Q4 2020.

CCAK would be helpful for those professionals or aspirants who want to make a career in Cloud Auditing, Risk & Compliance.

for whom CCAK Cloud Security Certification

It is expected to cover Cloud Audit and Risk based modules as shown in below image.

CCAK domains

There are no such Exam details available at present. I will update once CCAK becomes public and available to take the exam.

CCSP

Here comes another excellent hero from (ISC)2 apart from the most famous certification CISSP  Here is the CCSP exam outline. It is one of the interesting, very useful, and a little tougher exams than CCSK. This is one of the Cloud Security vendor-neutral certifications which I would recommend you to go for.

It covers six Cloud Security domains including Data Security, Infrastructure Security, Application Security and Cloud Security Operations.

The exam cost is $599. Here is the other  exam details:

GCSA

It’s definitely an interesting and highly valued Cloud Security and Automation certification from GIAC. But it’s the costliest certification amongst this list. So, I would only go for it if my organisation pays for it 😉

Here are the all essential details in one image including for whom it is, who should try for it and exam fee.

GCSA Cloud Security Certification details

SANS Cloud Security Training

There are some Cloud Security based training which SANS provide in online or classroom mode. 

You can go for selected trainings like:

  • Cloud-Native Container and Kubernetes Security (SEC584)
  • Cloud Penetration Testing (SEC588)
  • Cloud Security Architecture (SEC545) and so on as shown in the below image
SANS training for Cloud Security

Those were vendor neutral Cloud Security Certifications and now let’s talk about Cloud Service Provider based Cloud Security Certifications.

AWS Security

Out of 3 most popular Cloud Service Providers, AWS Security Specialty is in high demand and requires good hands-on of AWS and its security concepts.

Question will be from 5 security domains:

  1. Incident Response
  2. Logging and Monitoring
  3. Infrastructure Security
  4. IAM
  5. Data Security
AWS Security Certification details.

Here is AWS Security Specialty Exam details:

  • Number of Questions: 65
  • Exam fee: $300
  • Exam Duration: 170 minutes
  • Passing Score: 750/1000

Azure Security (AZ-500)

As compared to AWS, Azure and GCP security certifications Azure Security Engineer certification is little easier. Azure provides self-paced online materials to prepare as well.

AZ-500 Certificate details.

GCP Security

Google Cloud Certified Cloud Security Engineer (Professional) is one of the certifications that would want to have in your CV for sure. The reason is obvious: its Google and its contents are not just up to date but its security features are even better than AWS in some domains.

Here is the Certification details as shown in the image:

Google Cloud Security Engineer Certification details

CDA from PDSO

CDA stands for Certified DevSecOps Architect and you should pass CDP before you try for CDA. I added it as a wild card entry here, because of its course content and I love its exam format. I had enjoyed 12 hours exhausting practical exam for CDP and you can read more about CDP exam review on medium

CDA is a 24 hours exam and I bet you would enjoy every minute of it. Its course content is based on the Cloud DevSecOps concept including everything that you can do in AWS. This would be a real tough exam though. So, prepare well before taking the exam.

CDA certified DevSecOps Architect in AWS

Summary

Here is the Youtube Video explaining these certifications in 15 minutes.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about available Cloud Security Certifications and I hope you would be preparing for one of them. My take is for CCSP and AWS Security Specialty as my first 2 Cloud Security Certifications. 

Do comment, if you have further questions and let us know which certification you have cleared or preparing for. Happy Learning!

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