How to pass AWS Security Specialty certification exam?

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AWS Security Specialty

You can successfully complete your certification requirements for entering the industry in which you are most interested in earning an Amazon Web Service (AWS) certification. Specialty-level certificates for professionals with in-depth and advanced expertise are included in the AWS certifications. The AWS Certified Security Specialist certification exam was created for those who have an extensive understanding of security services in a similar vein.

Moreover, AWS certified security specialty certification offers professionals the chance to advance their knowledge and expertise, as well as get them a prestigious job in their organization with a better salary. The exam is designed to test the skills and knowledge required to design and implement secure applications and architectures on the AWS platform.

AWS Security Specialty Exam Overview

The AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam is a certification exam for IT professionals who want to demonstrate their expertise in securing AWS workloads. The exam covers a range of security-related topics, including:

  • Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  • Detective Controls
  • Infrastructure Security
  • Data Protection
  • Incident Response
  • Compliance

To pass the AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam, candidates must demonstrate a deep understanding of these topics and how to apply them to secure AWS workloads. The exam consists of 65 multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, and candidates have 130 minutes to complete the exam.

The AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam is designed for experienced IT professionals who have hands-on experience with AWS security services, and a strong understanding of security best practices. To prepare for the exam, candidates should study the official AWS documentation, enroll in an AWS certification course, use practice exams, and focus their studies on the exam objectives.

EXAM DETAILS

Exam CodeSCS-C01
Exam TypeSpeciality
Exam Duration170 minutes
Exam Codt$300 USD
Exam FormatMultiple Choice questions and Multiple Responses
Exam ScoringScaled score from 100 to 1000
Passing Score75% – 80%
Exam LanguageEnglish, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese

Exam Question Format 

AWS Certified Security Specialty questions comes with two questions types,

  • There will be multiple choice questions in which you only have select one correct option out of four options.
  • And multiple responsive questions in which there can be multiple correct answers from the options given.

Exam Score Guidelines

  • In AWS Security Specialty exam certification you can select one or more best suitable answers depends on the type of questions.
  • In AWS exam no marks will be deducted on giving wrong answer.
  • There may be some content in the exam which does not have any score, it is just for gathering general information and it will not have any effect on the exam.

Exam Result Process

  • Score is scaled between 100 to 1000.
  • On percentage basis you need to score between 75% to 80%.
  • AWS Security Specialty exam is based on pass or fail format. And also the exam result will be mailed to you within five business days from the day of the exam.
  • For this exam you just have to get the overall passing score so it is not necessary to pass each section.
  • Each section in this exam has a varying weighting, with differ in number of questions listed against each section in the exam.

Examination Retake policy

Amazon has rules for retaking the certification test. According to the policy, you must wait 14 days before retaking the test. There is no such limit on how many times you can take the exam; you can keep taking it until you pass and are certified. Moreover, you are required to pay the entire registration price for each try.

How to register?

  • You need to register first and then sign in to aws.training.
  • After that, click on Certification on the top of the page.
  • Then click on AWS Certification account, Schedule new exam.
  • Check for the exam you want to take and click schedule at Pearson VUI button or PSI.

And at the time of exam before entering the test center you are required to provide two government issued ID’s with matching your name on it as on the application form.

AWS Security Specialty Skills Required

  • You should have at least two years of hands on experience in securing AWS workloads.
  • It is also recommended to have 5 years of experience in IT security for designing and implementing security solutions.
  • This exam will examine your knowledge about how to secure AWS platform.
  • You should have a good understanding in data encryption methods, secured internet protocols and AWS mechanism for implementing them.
  • It also recommended having working knowledge of security services of AWS, specialized data classification and mechanism of AWS data protection.
  • You should have experience of 2 or more years in production deployment for using AWS security services.
  • A good knowledge of operations and risk in security. 

Why AWS Security Specialty (SCS-C01)?

The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is important for IT professionals who want to demonstrate their expertise in securing AWS workloads. This certification is highly valued by organizations that use AWS as it demonstrates a deep understanding of the security features and capabilities of the AWS platform. Some benefits of earning the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification include:

  • Career advancement: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is recognized as a benchmark of expertise in securing AWS workloads, and can help IT professionals advance their careers and increase their earning potential.
  • Increased credibility: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with an industry-recognized credential that demonstrates their expertise in securing AWS workloads. This credibility can help IT professionals stand out in a competitive job market.
  • Improved job performance: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with a deep understanding of security best practices and AWS security services. This knowledge can help IT professionals improve their job performance and deliver more secure AWS workloads.
  • Access to new job opportunities: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification opens up new job opportunities for IT professionals in the growing field of cloud security.
  • Staying current with AWS updates: Earning the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification requires staying current with updates to the AWS platform, which can help IT professionals stay current with the latest security features and capabilities of AWS.

Overall, the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with the skills, knowledge, and credibility they need to succeed in the rapidly growing field of cloud security.

AWS Security Specialty (SCS-C01) Exam Layout

There are 6 domains to focus on in this Specialty Certification exam. Moreover, the Course Outline acts as the AWS certified security specialty exam blueprint.

The AWS certified security specialty course covers the following domains:

Domain-1: Incident Response

This domain covers 12% of the weightage in the exam. The sections which are included in this domain are,

  • Evaluating the suspected compromised instance when there AWS abuse notice.
  • Verifying the incident response plan with included AWS services.
  • Evaluating the configuration of automated alerting and executes possible remediation of security related and incidents issues.

Domain-2: Logging and Monitoring 

In this domain, you will learn about monitoring and implementation. It covers 20% of total weightage. The sections in this are,

  • Designing and implementation a logging solution.
  • Implementing and designing security monitoring and alerting.
  • Troubleshooting logging solutions.
  • Troubleshooting security and logging.

Use the AWS Certified Security Specialty Tutorial for a complete course outline!

Domain-3: Infrastructure Security

With having 26% weightage in the exam processing domains covers the following sections,

  • Designing edge security on AWS.
  • Designing and implementing a secure network infrastructure.
  • Troubleshooting secure network infrastructure.
  • Implementing and designing host based security.

Domain-4: Identity and Access Management 

This domain includes information about AWS resources. This domain has 20% weightage and sections in this area are,

  • Designing and implementing scalable authorization and authentication system for accessing AWS resources.
  • Troubleshooting authentication system and authorization to access AWS resources.

Domain-5: Data Protection

This domain has 22% of weightage and it includes detailed knowledge about data. Sections in this domain are,

  • Implementing and designing key management and its use.
  • Troubleshooting key management.
  • Implementing and designing data encryption solution for data at rest and data transmit.

AWS Specialty Security Exam Resources

For AWS Security Specialty exam there are many resources that are available both online and offline which will help you during preparation for the exam. This will help you in understanding the topics better and also provide an expert assistance to solve your queries. Here we provide you the learning resources to get the most from your efforts in the AWS Certified Security Specialty study guide.

AWS Security Specialty Recommended Books

The AWS certified security specialty book are a perennial source available for learning. There are various books available for the security specialty exam which you can find online or in libraries. Some of the books that can arm you are as follows:

  • AWS: Security Best Practices on AWS – By Albert Anthony
  • Mastering AWS Security: Create and Maintain a Secure Cloud Ecosystem By Albert Anthony
  • Cloud Security Automation – Get to grips with automating your Cloud Security on AWS and OpenStack by Prashant Priyam

And there are many websites available which provide online training for the exam with a full assistance to the course such as Simplilearn, Pluralsight, udemy and many more.

Discussion Forums

Many websites provide good information and topic details related to the certification which can be helpful when having any doubt or want to know something about the exam. Some of them are,

  • Answers.com
  • Quora
  • Stackoverflow

Practice Questions

Practice questions for the AWS Certified Security Specialist might help you study more effectively and move more quickly. As a result, when you finish, there are many websites that provide practice exams and assess you based on your expertise and understanding of AWS Security Services. On Amazon, you may also look for practice sets, although not all of the topics will be included. At Testprep Training you get a bulk of practice sets of questions on the AWS Security Specialty exam in two ways,

Training at AWS

There are many free training that is provided for AWS Security Specialty exam at https://aws.amazon.com/training/. These AWS certified security specialty training require registration and are available at zero cost. AWS also gives access to various Learning libraries to get you know more about the AWS services.  AWS also includes AWS APN partner which helps you to accelerate your business on AWS

What are the benefits of AWS Certified Security Specialty?

The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides a number of benefits to IT professionals and organizations that use AWS. Some of the key benefits include:

  • Career advancement: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is recognized as a benchmark of expertise in securing AWS workloads, and can help IT professionals advance their careers and increase their earning potential.
  • Increased credibility: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with an industry-recognized credential that demonstrates their expertise in securing AWS workloads. This credibility can help IT professionals stand out in a competitive job market.
  • Improved job performance: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with a deep understanding of security best practices and AWS security services. This knowledge can help IT professionals improve their job performance and deliver more secure AWS workloads.
  • Staying current with AWS updates: Earning the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification requires staying current with updates to the AWS platform, which can help IT professionals stay current with the latest security features and capabilities of AWS.
  • Better security for AWS workloads: The knowledge and skills gained through the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification can help IT professionals design and implement more secure AWS workloads, reducing the risk of security breaches and data loss.
  • Increased confidence and competitiveness: The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification provides IT professionals with the confidence and credibility they need to compete for new job opportunities and succeed in their careers.

AWS Security Learning Path

This learning path is intended for those who carry out security-related tasks and want to feel in charge and confident when running apps on the Amazon cloud. You will learn about data encryption techniques, application security, and access control in this. You should get some expertise using the Amazon cloud for a specialty domain before applying.

“AWS Security Specialty exam will provide an advantage in enhancing your skills and experience in security solutions for securing AWS platform. For preparation of exam, tips are provided below and for tutorial you can reach out AWS Security Specialty tutorials.”

Preparing for AWS Security Specialty exam

For the preparation of this certification exam it is important that you should make a good mindset that you have to and you should pass this certification anyhow. This will require a disciplined schedule for studying for the examination as well as it is also important that you should have experience and practical knowledge in security solutions. This certification will open doors for many new opportunities and will improve your skills and knowledge.

Exam Tips:
  • Familiarize yourself with the exam format: Understanding the format of the exam and the types of questions that will be asked can help you better prepare and increase your chances of success.
  • Review the AWS Security Fundamentals: Familiarize yourself with the core security concepts and technologies used in AWS.
  • Study the AWS Well-Architected Framework: The Well-Architected Framework provides best practices for designing secure and scalable AWS workloads.
  • Use AWS official training resources: AWS provides a range of official training resources, including whitepapers, online courses, and certification preparation workshops, to help you prepare for the exam.
  • Practice using AWS services: Hands-on experience is key to success on the exam. Practice using AWS security services such as Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), and AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to build a solid understanding of how they work.
  • Create a study plan and stick to it: Create a study plan that works for you and stick to it. This can help you focus your efforts and make the most of your study time.
  • Practice with mock exams: Practicing with mock exams can help you identify areas where you need to improve and get a feel for the types of questions that will be on the real exam. Free practice questions for AWS Security Specialty exam
  • Seek out additional resources: Look for additional resources, such as study guides and practice exams, that can help you prepare for the exam.

Remember, the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is a challenging exam, and preparation and hard work are key to success. By following these tips and using the resources available, you can increase your chances of success on the exam and become an AWS Certified Security – Specialty.

Good luck for the exam!

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