The (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional exam, also known as the CCSP, showcases that you have a good command of designing, managing, and securing the cloud infrastructure, apps as well as data with the aid of best practices, procedures, and policies pertinent to the house of (ISC)2. Passing this test with flying colors qualifies you for obtaining the CCSP certificate.

What is CCSP Designation?

In more detail, this certificate ensures that you have the right skill set to handle the design for cloud security, implementation, compliance, architecture, and operations that are necessary for regulatory infrastructures. Also, the candidates should demonstrate their understanding of cloud computing, service orchestration, and risk, and to be eligible for such a certification, the potential takers need to meet certain criteria. This means that they need to have at best 5 years of related work experience, out of which, 3 years should be in the information security field and 1 year in one or several domains of the CCSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK). So, if you are an Enterprise Architect, Systems Engineer, Security Engineer, Security Manager, etc., opt for the CCSP exam soon enough to prepare yourself for an excellent career awaiting you ahead.

CCSP Exam Particularities & Topics

The actual CCSP exam has its peculiar nature that you need to familiarize yourself with beforehand. Thus, in the main evaluation, you’ll be presented with 125 multiple-choice items in English that are to be completed within 3 hours. To register for the test in question, use the Pearson VUE portal and be sure to harness a 700-point score out of 1000 to get the desired designation. To do so with ease, you need to explore the CCSP CBK and thoroughly study the domains tested. In particular, they are as follows:

• Concepts, design, and architecture for the cloud;
• Security for cloud data;
• Infrastructure security alongside the cloud platform;
• Cloud app security;
• Operations for cloud security;
• Compliance, risk, and legal.

Details for CCSP CBK Domains

Now that you know what topics you need to learn in detail for the CCSP evaluation, let's become familiar with the objectives set within each domain. Thus, the first tested area measures your ability to deal with cloud computing notions including definitions, roles, characteristics, and block technologies. Besides, here, you have to flaunt your mastery of defining the architecture for the cloud reference together with cloud computing activities, service capabilities, categories, models for deployment, etc. Next, the same topic talks about the way to grasp cloud computing security terms such as key management, access control, general threats, virtualization security, and so on. Once you’ve completed this, you need to tackle the principles of design necessary for cloud computing, which meticulously looks at disaster recovery, business continuity planning, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, portability, and data lifecycle. Finally, within the first topic, you’ll also learn to assess providers for cloud services via validation against criteria or product certifications for systems. After coping with the initial portion of the exam content you need to proceed with security for the cloud, which is the second area to be gauged in the official CCSP test. Therefore, under such an exam part, you’ll have to develop solid skills in defining cloud concepts for data, outline and execute the architecture for the cloud data storage, utilize the strategies for data security technologies, put into operation data discovery as well as the classification of data, and describe & deploy the IRM or Information Rights Management. What is more, the same area details the way to devise and execute the retention of data, archiving policies, and deletion as well as how to properly design and put into practice auditability, data event accountability, and traceability. Soon after, the third CCSP exam domain underlines the importance to discern the components of the cloud infrastructure, know the method to outline a protective data center, make an analysis of the risks that may be associated with the cloud infrastructure, design as well as plan varied controls for security, and finally, devise for disaster recovery & business continuity. The succeeding fourth measured topic will explicate the way to advocate the necessary training for app security and how to appropriately define & apply the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) operation. More than these, such a domain will also investigate the process of applying the assurance alongside validation for the cloud software, using verified protective software, getting the hang of characteristics of cloud app architecture, and designing the suitable solutions for the IAM process. The fifth tested area, in its turn, puts into the spotlight the cloud setting as well as how to construct and operate with physical & logical frameworks within the same. In addition to all these, you will have to know how to manage those frameworks, deploy operational standards together with controls, back up digital forensics, communicate with the relative parties, and be responsible for the operations for security. To finalize, there’s also the sixth topic that is all about compliance, risk, and legal. Thus, while studying its content, you’ll get acquainted with how to announce legal regulations & unique risks and will grasp the issues for privacy and the process of an audit including methodologies as well as the needed adaptations. On top of these, an area like this also expounds on some implications of the cloud necessary for enterprise risk management, outsourcing, and the design for the cloud contract.

Career Aspirations

With the CCSP certificate, you will be able to opt for versatile jobs that revolve around the security field. Thus, you can become a security architect, consultant, administrator, engineer, manager, and more. With regard to the median yearly salary, you have to take into account that a certified CCSP can receive at least $118k per annum as stated by Payscale.

Certification Path

With the (ISC)2 CCSP designation on hand, you will definitely strive for perfection by collecting more skills across the security domain. This way, it’d be sensible to explore and gain several other qualifications offered by the same vendor. In particular, these can be the CAP designation, the CSSLP one, and lastly, the HCISPP.