Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)

The CCSP exam tests your skills in six domains. The domains draw from a range of cloud security topics within the (ISC)² Common Body of Knowledge (CBK). Here’s a closer look at the CCSP domains and how they’re weighted on the exam:

 Domains      -     Weight

 1. Architectural Concepts and Design Requirements 19%

 2. Cloud Data Security 20%

 3. Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security 19%

 4. Cloud Application Security 15%

 5. Operations 15%

 6. Legal and Compliance 12%

 Total 100%

Architectural Concepts:

• Architectural Concepts & Design Requirements – Cloud computing concepts & definitions based on the ISO/IEC 17788 standard; security concepts and principles relevant to secure cloud computing.
• Understand Cloud Computing Concepts.
• Describe Cloud Reference Architecture.
• Understand Security Concepts Relevant to Cloud Computing.
• Understand Design Principles of Secure Cloud Computing.
• Identify Trusted Cloud Services.
• Cloud Data Security – Concepts, principles, structures, and standards used to design, implement, monitor, and secure, operating systems, equipment, networks, applications, and those controls used to enforce various levels of confidentiality, integrity, and availability in cloud environments.
• Understand Cloud Data Lifecycle.
• Design and Implement Cloud Data Storage Architectures.
• Design and Apply Data Security Strategies.
• Understand and Implement Data Discovery and Classification Technologies.
• Design and Implement Relevant Jurisdictional Data Protections for Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
• Design and Implement Data Rights Management.
• Plan and Implement Data Retention, Deletion, and Archiving Policies.
• Design and Implement Auditability, Traceability and Accountability of Data Events.
• Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Security – Knowledge of the cloud infrastructure components, both the physical and virtual, existing threats, and mitigating and developing plans to deal with those threats.
• Comprehend Cloud Infrastructure Components.
• Analyze Risks Associated to Cloud Infrastructure.
• Design and Plan Security Controls.
• Plan Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Management.

Cloud Application Security:

• Cloud Application Security – Processes involved with cloud software assurance and validation; and the use of verified secure software.
• Recognize the need for Training and Awareness in Application Security.
• Understand Cloud Software Assurance and Validation.
• Use Verified Secure Software.
• Comprehend the Software Development Life-Cycle (SDLC) Process.
• Apply the Secure Software Development Life-Cycle.
• Comprehend the Specifics of Cloud Application Architecture.
• Design Appropriate Identity and Access Management (IAM) Solutions.
• Operations – Identifying critical information and the execution of selected measures that eliminate or reduce adversary exploitation of it; requirements of cloud architecture to running and managing that infrastructure; definition of controls over hardware, media, and the operators with access privileges as well as the auditing and monitoring are the mechanisms, tools and facilities.
• Support the Planning Process for the Data Center Design.
• Implement and Build Physical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Run Physical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Manage Physical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Build Logical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Run Logical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Manage Logical Infrastructure for Cloud Environment.
• Ensure Compliance with Regulations and Controls (e.g., ITIL, ISO/IEC 20000-1).
• Conduct Risk Assessment to Logical and Physical Infrastructure.
• Understand the Collection, Acquisition and Preservation of Digital Evidence.
• Manage Communication with Relevant Parties.
• Legal & Compliance – Addresses ethical behavior and compliance with regulatory frameworks. Includes investigative measures and techniques, gathering evidence (e.g., Legal Controls, eDiscovery, and Forensics); privacy issues and audit process and methodologies; implications of cloud environments in relation to enterprise risk management.
• Understand Legal Requirements and Unique Risks within the Cloud Environment.
• Understand Privacy Issues, Including Jurisdictional Variation.
• Understand Audit Process, Methodologies, and Required Adaption’s for a Cloud Environment.
• Understand Implications of Cloud to Enterprise Risk Management.
• Understand Outsourcing and Cloud Contract Design.
• Execute Vendor Management.