CCSP Certification: Overview And Career Path

What is the CCSP Certification?
The Certified Cloud Security Professional Certification (CCSP), is an information technology certification that assesses applicants’ knowledge on cloud security topics. It is administered by ISC2, the International Information System Security Certification Consortium. This certification was created in partnership with CSA. The ISC2 Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) is a certification for mid-level security professionals looking to demonstrate their expertise in cloud security. It is similar in difficulty and topics to the ISC2 CISSP exam, but focuses on cloud security.
One of the few certifications that focuses on cloud security is the CCSP certification. Other Information Technology certifications focus on general security topics, while others have a deeper understanding of one area of information security. The ISC2 CCSP exam, on the other hand, is designed to assess knowledge and skills in the application of cloud computing techniques, tools, procedures, and techniques. The CCSP exam focuses a lot on the areas where cloud computing requires a different approach to security. The CCSP certification is not the only one that is cloud-focused. Cloud vendors and other certification agencies have created many other certifications to assess candidates’ understanding of cloud computing concepts. The CCSP’s emphasis on cloud security allows it to be different from other certifications. The closest certification to the CCSP’s is the Cloud Security Alliance’s CCSK (Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge). ISC2 and the CSA teamed up to create the CCSP exam. According to the CSA blog the CCSP covers much of the same content as the CCSK, but also tests knowledge about governance, traditional security and user privacy in cloud environments. The CSSP certification is the most comprehensive on the topic. It is designed to assess knowledge of cloud security topics at a level comparable with the CISSP certification. ISC2 CCSP Exam Summary
Exam Name: ISC2 Certified Cloud Security Professionals (CCSP).
Exam Code: CCSP
Exam Price: $549 (USD).
Duration: 240 minutes
Number of questions: 125
Passing Score: 700/1000
Sample Questions: ISC2 and CCSP Sample Questions
Practice Exam: ISC2 Certification Practice Exam
What does the CCSP Exam Cover
The ISC2 Cloud Security Professional exam is designed to assess an applicant’s knowledge about cloud security. The CCSP exam is a 125 question multiple-choice test that takes 4 hours to complete. There are 1000 points total, and passing scores require a minimum of 70% of these. The CCSP exam questions can be divided into six domains.
Domain 2: Cloud Data Security (19%)
Domain 3: Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Security (17%)
Domain 4: Cloud Application Security (17%)
Domain 5: Cloud Security Operations (17%)
Domain 6: Legal, Compliance and Risk (13%)
The remainder of this section will give a brief overview about the topics covered in each domain of CCSP exams. Domain 1 – Architectural Concepts & Design Requirements
This domain is about fundamental cloud computing concepts. Candidates should be familiar with cloud security issues like encryption, network security and access control. This domain focuses on the security of cloud computing environments, including software, infrastructure, and platform services. Candidates must be able demonstrate their understanding of cloud security design principles as well as cloud service certification programs.
Domain 2 – Cloud Data Security
It assesses a candidate’s understanding of technical security issues related to the cloud. It covers cloud data storage architecture and controls used to secure them, e.g. encryption, data masking and tokenization, as well as data life cycle management. This domain also includes Data Rights Management (DRM), and the deletion, retention, and archiving policies. It includes all principles, concepts and standards used to design, implement, monitor and secure networks, operating systems and equipment.
Domain 3 – Cloud Platform Infrastructure Security
It covers both physical and virtual security risks associated with cloud infrastructure. This includes communication between cloud services, safeguarding virtualization platforms, and execution of audit mechanisms. Candidats should be able to perform cloud risk assessments and create security controls to address identified security risks. The