How did I prepare for AWS Certified Security Specialty Exam? | Expert Interview with Ritabrata Dey

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AWS Security Specialty Expert Interview

Before we begin understanding the preparation strategy for AWS Certified Security Specialty Exam, it is very important to understand how cybersecurity function in a multi-cloud environment. The demand for cybersecurity in multi-cloud environments is increasing rapidly as more organizations adopt multi-cloud strategies to leverage the benefits offered by different cloud service providers. It has therefore becomes essential to implement robust security measures to mitigate potential risks and protect against cyber threats.

Cybersecurity in multi-cloud environments refers to the measures and practices employed to protect data, applications, and infrastructure across multiple cloud platforms. A comprehensive and well-implemented cybersecurity strategy, incorporating these considerations, can help organizations protect their assets and data in multi-cloud environments. It is also important to stay informed about the evolving threat landscape and leverage trusted security partners and solutions to enhance the security posture in multi-cloud deployments.

7 key considerations for Cybersecurity in Multi-Cloud Environments

  1. Data Encryption: Encrypting data at rest and in transit is crucial to ensure that sensitive information remains protected, even if it is accessed or intercepted by unauthorized parties. Encryption should be applied consistently across all cloud platforms used in the multi-cloud environment.
  2. Identity and Access Management (IAM): Implementing a strong IAM strategy is essential in multi-cloud environments. It involves managing user identities, enforcing strong authentication mechanisms, and implementing role-based access controls (RBAC) to ensure that only authorized individuals can access resources in the cloud.
  3. Privileged Access Management (PAM): Managing privileged accounts and credentials is critical to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse of administrative privileges. Implementing PAM solutions, such as those offered by CyberArk, can help secure and monitor privileged access in multi-cloud environments.
  4. Security Monitoring and Logging: Deploying robust security monitoring and logging mechanisms allows for the detection and investigation of potential security incidents. By monitoring cloud infrastructure, applications, and user activities, organizations can identify suspicious behaviors or unauthorized access attempts.
  5. Threat Intelligence and Incident Response: Staying updated with the latest threat intelligence and establishing an effective incident response plan are essential components of cybersecurity in multi-cloud environments. Organizations should continuously monitor for new threats, vulnerabilities, and emerging attack techniques, and have processes in place to respond promptly and effectively to security incidents.
  6. Cloud Provider Security Controls: Understanding the security offerings and capabilities of each cloud provider is crucial. Different cloud providers may offer various security features and tools that organizations can leverage to enhance their multi-cloud security posture. It’s important to configure and utilize these security controls effectively.
  7. Regular Auditing and Assessments: Conducting regular security audits and assessments of the multi-cloud environment helps identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and potential areas of improvement. These assessments can help ensure that security measures are up to date and aligned with industry best practices.

Career in Cybersecurity in Multi-Cloud Environments

A career in cybersecurity in multi-cloud environments can be rewarding and offers various opportunities for professionals with the right skills and expertise. As organizations increasingly adopt multi-cloud strategies, the demand for cybersecurity professionals who can secure and protect these environments continues to grow. A career in cybersecurity in multi-cloud environments offers a combination of high demand, competitive salaries, continuous learning, professional growth, variety, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact. It is an exciting and rewarding field for professionals passionate about securing digital infrastructures and combating cyber threats.

So if you are preparing for the AWS Certified Security Specialty Exam we have with us Ritabrata Dey. He is a Cybersecurity professional, a holder of nine security certifications across domains. Ritabrata is also focused on upskilling & cross-skilling himself across various domains of Cybersecurity as well as earning various security certifications which include:

  1. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
  2. AWS Certified Security Specialty
  3. Microsoft Certified Cybersecurity Architect Expert
  4. Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer
  5. Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Security Engineer
  6. CyberArk Certified Trustee
  7. CyberArk Certified Defender
  8. CyberArk Certified Sentry
  9. IBM Certified Cybersecurity Analyst Professional
  10. API Academy Certified – API Security Architect

Read ahead to know more about how he prepared and qualified these exams.

Q1. How did you prepare for AWS Security Specialty Exam?

Answer: think the best way to prepare for any certification exam is to start from the basics. To prepare for AWS Security exam I did the following things:

  • Prepared myself and got myself certified in AWS Cloud Practitioner that is I started from the basics. Cloud Practitioner is a fundamental level examination/training that can help you to get a high-level overview of various AWS services and their functions. I feel if someone is new to AWS then knowledge of Cloud Practitioner will be very helpful to get accustomed with various AWS services and their capabilities at a high-level.
  • Once I got the knowledge of AWS services and their functions, I started to learn what role they perform in an infrastructure and how can I use these services to design an AWS infrastructure as per customer requirements. For these you can refer to the course material/syllabus of Solutions Architect Associate certification. It’s quite a popular certification and you can find various online courses/videos from YouTube or ed-tech platforms. Personally, I followed YouTube videos to get knowledge about various AWS architectures.
  • Once you are done with the above points, I feel you are good to go for AWS Security Specialty certification. I personally followed Zeal Vora & Stephane Maarek’s courses. I would also suggest the same as both are great courses to start with for the exam. I also followed various medium blogs and YouTube videos to understand the exam experience and for the concepts where I faced difficulties before I sat for the same.

Q2. How difficult is the AWS Security Specialty Exam?

Answer: AWS Security Specialty just like all other Specialty Certifications from AWS are advanced level certifications which demands clear& in-depth understanding of AWS services, how those services can be used to implement/enhance customer’s infrastructure & also understanding AWS shared responsibility models. So I felt the exam was a bit complicated as almost every question I came across demanded time and patience to understand the given customer requirement imagine the architecture and provide the best possible solution as per AWS best practices, but it is not something rocket science. If someone follows the above points I mentioned and gives his/her best, he/she will definitely be able to crack it in one go. Also, some hands-on experience can be a huge plus.

Q3. Is the AWS Exam worth it?

Answer: Definitely Yes!! This exam covers almost all of the AWS security services, logging services etc. That gives someone enough knowledge to design a secured infrastructure or enhance an already provisioned infrastructure, design a perfect security monitoring & logging solution on AWS following security best practices, understanding the modern threat landscape and meeting customer security requirements. This certificate validates your in-depth knowledge of security architecting in AWS.

Q4. What are the career opportunities available after passing the Exam?

Answer: This certification validates your security knowledge on AWS. Being in the security industry for the past two and a half years keeping in mind the modern threat landscape I can say that the demand for skilled security professionals is increasing day by day. The customers are also preferring to move their workloads to cloud from on premises to take advantage of Scalability, Cost optimization etc. This certification can open paths to take-up jobs in various high demand security roles as well as cloud engineer roles in the industry.

Q5. What advice would you like to give freshers who are preparing for the AWS Security Specialty Exam?

Answer: If you are someone who wants to step into Cloud security/Cybersecurity industry then getting this certification is definitely worth it. This certification can also be a validation for your skill sets to the recruiter. Having this specialty certification in the resume will increase your profile visibility in the security industry.

So what are you waiting for start your preparation Journey now with the latest and updated practice exam. Try Free Practice Test Now!

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