How to pass the AWS Security Specialty exam?
First, we need to know why would we want to be AWS Certified Security Specialists.
Why would you even want to take this certificate?
As you might know, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully-featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers — including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies — are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster
This certificate will prove to companies that you are an expert in securing data and workloads in the cloud
Note: what you will learn in this exam will be applicable to other cloud providers
How much does a certified security specialist make?
According to zip recruiter “As of Jun 17, 2022, the average annual pay for an AWS Security Specialist in the United States is $143,677 a year”
Who should take this exam?
AWS Certified Security — Specialty is intended for individuals who perform a security role and have at least two years of hands-on experience securing AWS workloads. Before you take this exam, we recommend you have:
- AWS recommends that you have at least two years of hands-on experience securing AWS workloads.
- Working knowledge of the AWS services and features to provide a secure production environment and understanding of security operations and risks
- Knowledge of the AWS shared responsibility model and its application; security controls for workloads on AWS; logging and monitoring strategies; cloud security threat models; patch management and security automation; ways to enhance AWS security services with third-party tools and services; and disaster recovery controls, including BCP and backups, encryption, access control, and data retention
- Understanding of specialized data classifications and AWS data protection mechanisms, data-encryption methods and AWS mechanisms to implement them, and secure internet protocols and AWS mechanisms to implement them
- Ability to make tradeoff decisions with regard to cost, security, and deployment complexity to meet a set of application requirements
Exam Overview
Level: Specialty
Length: 170 minutes to complete the exam
Cost: 300 USD (Visit Exam pricing for additional cost information.)
Format: 65 questions; either multiple choice or multiple responses
Delivery method: Pearson VUE and PSI; testing center or online proctored exam
You can schedule the exam from the official AWS website
How to pass the exam?
That depends on your background if you have 0 cloud experience then I recommend taking this track
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner — Foundational
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate
- AWS Certified Security — Specialty
Why?
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner will help you learn the basics of cloud computing and get you familiar with the different terminologies.
I always recommend that anyone interested in AWS in any part should get the Solutions Architect Associate as that cert “goes several miles wide but just a few feet deep” and is an excellent level setter.
Of course, you can always dig straight into the Security specialty course but you may find it harder to start, I also recommend solving a lot of practice exams, you can find really good ones at Tutorials Dojo
Note:
you don’t have to take all those exams if you can’t afford them, studying well for it can be enough
TL;DR
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner >> AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate >> AWS Certified Security
