Planning to make Cloud Security as your career? Then here’s the list of top cloud security certifications for IT professionals.
CISSP Certification- This certification has been around for years and looks evergreen on the professional front. Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification has nowadays included new cloud-specific attacks, such as man-in-the cloud attacks. Some certification providers have taken the subject so seriously that they have introduced dedicated, in-depth cloud security certifications in their training modules. Thus, this single certificate related course covers a ton of material in the field of cloud security.
Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)- This is the best-known cloud security certification in the industry for 20 years and is probably treated as the de-facto standard in IT security certifications. The certification related course covers a broad range of cloud-related topics, such as cloud application security and cloud platform security from depth. It’s not an easy course to pass and the exam tests the individual to the core of his/her knowledge.
Cloud Security of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK)- CCSK certification is dedicated to cloud security and covers a lot of technicalities like CCSP. It is offered by the Cloud Security Alliance and is considered as a lighter version of CCSP by industry professionals. The most interesting fact is that the study material related to CCSK is available freely on the internet and is also available on request on LinkedIn related groups of cloud security. Moreover, an IT professional with this CCSK knowledge doesn’t require an experience certificate, unlike CCSP. The fee to write a CCSK exam is only $350 USD. So, if you want to become an entry level professional with middle-level security knowledge in cloud platforms, this seems to be the best alternative.
SANS Institute’s Cloud Security Fundamentals (SEC524)- All the exams conducted by SANS institute are expensive. But they have their own value in the IT field and the certified professionals in this background are known to draw heavy pay cheques. The training is hosted by experienced instructors and is a two-day program, followed by an optional exam, which can be scheduled for a later stage. Both the training and the exam are expensive- as you need to shell out around $4,000 USD + extra. Unlike CCSP and CCSK which can be taken up with self-study, SEC524 has to be attended only after a 2-day training module. Some labs appoint the trained professionals as mentors or knowledge sharing professionals in cloud security field for some smart bucks, while some insist on a certificate.
For anyone looking to take a dive into the field of cloud security, certification offers a good opportunity to display your talent to your employer. And if you want to go through the field in a step by step format, then the flagship will be CCSP certification, followed closely by the CCSK offering.
