Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Demonstrate expert knowledge across cloud architecture, design, data security, platform and infrastructure protection, cloud application security, security operations, and legal risk compliance.
Official Exam Specification & Quick Facts
Question Difficulty Breakdown
Exam Guidelines & Simulation Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
CCSP is a globally recognized credential developed by (ISC)2 and the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) validating high-level technical skills and knowledge to design, manage, and secure cloud environments.
The CCSP exam consists of 150 multiple-choice questions to be completed within 4 hours (240 minutes) administered at Pearson VUE testing centers.
The passing scaled score is 700 out of 1000 points (70%).
Domains include: (1) Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design (17%), (2) Cloud Data Security (20%), (3) Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Security (17%), (4) Cloud Application Security (17%), (5) Cloud Security Operations (16%), and (6) Legal, Risk and Compliance (13%).
In IaaS, the customer manages the OS, middleware, and applications; in PaaS, the provider manages the OS and runtime, leaving applications and data; in SaaS, the provider manages everything except data and user access.
The CSA CCM is a cybersecurity control framework covering 17 domains that maps cloud security controls to international standards like ISO 27001, NIST, and PCI DSS.
Using volume encryption, object encryption, database transparent data encryption (TDE), customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK), or Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) backed by dedicated cloud HSMs.
Encryption uses mathematical algorithms and keys to obscure data, which can be decrypted. Tokenization replaces sensitive data with a non-sensitive random token, storing the true value in an isolated, secure token vault.
CASBs are on-premises or cloud-hosted policy enforcement points between cloud service consumers and cloud providers, providing visibility, compliance, data security, and threat protection.
SOC 1 focuses on internal controls over financial reporting. SOC 2 evaluates security, availability, integrity, confidentiality, and privacy (Type II tests operational effectiveness over time). SOC 3 is a public summary of SOC 2.
Confidential computing protects data in use by performing computations inside hardware-based, attested Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) or memory enclaves, shielding data from cloud hypervisors and administrators.
Enterprise cloud architects, security engineers, systems architects, security consultants, and CISOs managing multi-cloud enterprise deployments.