Amazon, Cisco, CompTIA and Their Best Security Certifications to Consider in 2022

Security is a crucial point for any IT company because it all depends on how secure is the system this organization is using. To keep the system safe from the current and new cyber threats, the companies should be ready to face them with dignity. For this purpose, many organizations try to create reliable security teams that will contain the certified professionals with the relevant skills. Therefore, if you are a security specialist and want to evaluate and demonstrate your professional skills, you can do it with the help of various security certificates. In this article, we are going to explore three certifications that are revolved around the security domain, and namely: Amazon AWS Certified Security – Specialty, Cisco CCNP Security, and CompTIA Security+. Let’s take a closer look at these sought-after options:

• Amazon AWS Certified Security – Specialty

This certification is about securing data and workloads in AWS Cloud. It concentrates on the AWS data protection mechanisms and specialized data classifications. You should also know how to secure the Internet protocols and AWS mechanisms for implementing them as well as know about the data-encryption methods. The certificate evaluates the applicants’ knowledge of security operations and risks as well as AWS security services and features of services. Besides that, it measures the competence of the specialists in making tradeoff decisions with regard to security, cost, and deployment complexity to meet a set of application requirements. It covers security controls for workloads on AWS, logging and monitoring strategies, Cloud security threat models, as well as the AWS shared responsibility model and its application. Additionally, the content includes the details of security automation, patch management, disaster recovery controls, including BCP and backups, data retention, encryption, access control, and ways to enhance AWS security services with the third-party tools and services.

To obtain this certification, you need to pass the Amazon SCS-C01 test, which lasts for 170 minutes and consists of 65 questions in total with 50 scored and 15 unscored items. The questions are presented in the multiple-response or multiple-choice formats, and the passing score is 750 points on a scale of 100-1000. This qualification exam is available in Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), and English and costs $300. It can be taken as an online proctored option or at a testing center.

• Cisco CCNP Security

This certification covers general threats against the on-premises and Cloud environments, cryptography components functions, security intelligence authoring, consumption, sharing, and deployment models of network security solutions and architectures, which provide intrusion prevention and firewall capabilities. Besides that, it measures the expertise of the individuals in implementing management options for network security solutions as well as implementing access control policies, segmentation, malware protection, AVC, and URL filtering. You should also have proficiency in configuring secure network management of perimeter security and infrastructure devices and configuring AAA for device and network access. In addition, the certificate concentrates on configuring and verifying site-to-site Virtual Private Network and remote access Virtual Private Network as well as configuring and verifying the network infrastructure security methods.

Those students who want to get this certification need to deal with one core exam, known as Cisco 350-701, and one of six concentration tests. The core exam lasts for 120 minutes and is available in Japanese and English for $400. The list of qualifying tests is as follows:

• 300-720 SESA;
• 300-710 SNCF;
• 300-730 SVPN;
• 300-715 SISE;
• 300-725 SWSA;
• 300-735 SAUTO;

These concentration exams have different points of focus, so the professionals should explore them to choose the most suitable option according to their needs.

• CompTIA Security+

This certification covers the domains of incident response, risk assessment and management, enterprise networks, forensics, security controls, and hybrid/Cloud operations. It focuses on monitoring and securing the hybrid environments, assessing the security posture of an enterprise environment, recommending and implementing the appropriate security solutions, as well as identifying, analyzing, and responding to security events and incidents. A potential candidate should know about access management, basic cryptography, PKI, wireless, and end-to-end security. The certificate is about the support of organizational risk management and compliance to regulations, such as SOX, PCI-DSS, CCPA, HIPAA, NIST, GDPR, and FISMA. It concentrates on threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities on the Internet from newer custom devices, which must be mitigated.

The exam associated with this certification is known as CompTIA SY0-601. This is a 90-minute test with a maximum of 90 performance-based and multiple-choice questions. You need to score 750 points out of 900 to get certified. The exam is available in Japanese and English and costs $370.

Preparation Options

Those individuals who think about passing one of the described exams and getting the related certificate may consider some preparation. Each of these tests has specific tools that you can utilize. For instance, the specialists who want to deal with Cisco 350-701 can take a look at the official training course available on the Cisco website. In the case of Amazon SCS-C01, the students can check such study resources as FAQs, whitepapers, sample questions, exam blueprints, classroom training, digital training, and practice tests. The applicants for CompTIA SY0-601 can pay attention to virtual labs, study guides, eLearning, and instructor-led training.

The candidates interested in these paths can try to find some useful preparation resources on the third-party training platforms. Many websites offer different materials for those who plan to ace any certification test. Usually, they contain study guides, video lectures, self-paced training courses, exam dumps, practice tests, and so on. Check the reliability of these sites and the relevancy of the tools you want to use and take advantage of these options wisely during your preparation phase.

Ending Notes

These are the security-related certificates that will be the most popular in 2022, so you may consider obtaining one of them. It is recommended that you get familiar with the content they cover to determine if one of them suits your needs or not. At the same time, you may explore a variety of security certifications from other vendors to find even more suitable options for you. Explore the market and future changes and decide what is best for you.

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