(ISC)² announced domain refreshes to its CCSP certification exam, which took effect on August 1, 2019.

This is the first update that has been made to the CCSP exam since its inception in 2015, and the enhancements are the result of a rigorous, methodical process that (ISC)² follows to routinely update its credential exams. The details of these changes are outlined in a CCSP Domain Refresh FAQ on the association’s website.

“Our duty to our certified members necessitates regular assessments of our certification exams to ensure that they cover topics that are relevant and reflective of the current roles and responsibilities undertaken by cybersecurity professionals,” said Casey Marks, chief product officer and vice president, (ISC)². “Through a Job Task Analysis, we discovered some emerging skills that are now required of CCSP holders and we wanted to make sure these changes in cloud security were included in the knowledge base we’re testing during our exam process. It is through updates like these that we maintain the high standards we’ve set for the CCSP certification and ensure that it evolves in lockstep with what’s actually required in the field.”

The foundational elements of the CCSP exam remain, but some of the six domains – or core disciplinary areas of focus – covered have been renamed, and the weighting of each domain in the full test has been refined. The result is an exam that most accurately reflects the deep knowledge and hands-on experience required for cloud security architecture, design, operations and service orchestration. The content aligns with the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK), which is a comprehensive framework of all the relevant subjects a security professional should be familiar with, including skills, techniques and best practices.

In addition to new topics and renamed domains, the time allotted to complete the exam has also been reduced from four to three hours, after a timing analysis. While the test remains the same length, the shortened test time for the CCSP exam helps to standardize test times across all (ISC)² exams.

The CCSP Certification Exam Outline can be viewed here: https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/-/media/ISC2/Certifications/Exam-Outlines/CCSP-DCO. An updated Official (ISC)² CCSP Training Course will be available starting on October 1, 2019.

(ISC)² 2019 Security Congress will feature a Cloud Security track that will focus on the challenges practitioners face when dealing with all things cloud related. In addition to this track, there will also be pre-conference training available, which includes a CCSP Cloud Security Crash Course, and the third annual CSA Summit. Early Bird registration is still open.