AWS Security Specialty Certification

 

AWS Certification Path

If anyone is interested in preparing for other AWS certifications, please refer this link in order to understand the certifications paths. AWS certifications are divided into 4 main levels -

  1. Foundational,
  2. Associate,
  3. Professional, and
  4. Specialty

The complexity of these certification exams increase in the same sequence - Foundational being the easiest.

AWS Certified Security Specialty - Exam Details

AWS Certified Security - Specialty validates your expertise in creating and implementing security solutions in the AWS Cloud. This certification also validates your 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. Details about the exam can be found here.

The target candidate for this certification is expected to have 5 years of IT security experience in designing and implementing security solutions. Additionally, the target candidate should have 2 or more years of hands-on experience in securing AWS workloads.

In total, there are 65 questions (either multiple choice or multiple response) that need to be answered in 170 minutes. That's ~3 hours and one can easily add .5 hours in check-in process and another .5 hours if availing exam accommodation; so that becomes 4 hours !!  

==> Current exam (SCS-01) is going to be available only till 10th July 2023. New version of this exam i.e. SCS-02 will be available post that.

AWS Certified Security Specialty - Resources used

I prepared for around 6+ months for this certification because I didn't had regular bandwidth from my personal time. If someone has daily bandwidth of 2-3 hours, I believe this certification can be achieved in around 4-6 weeks. I went through following reference courses/links for preparation:

  1. Udemy : https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-security-specialty-exam/
  2. Acloudguru course:  https://acloudguru.com/course/aws-certified-security-specialty
  3. Udemy Practice Sets: https://www.udemy.com/course/new-aws-certified-security-specialty-exams
  4. AWS Whitepapers: https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers
  5. AWS Skill builder: https://skillbuilder.aws/products#security-identity-and-compliance

Apart from above, there are multiple other sources which are useful for preparation but I didn't use them:

AWS Certified Security Specialty - Exam Options vs Accommodations

  • First and foremost, due to lengthy questions and their similar multiple response options, TIME MANAGEMENT becomes very crucial during the exam. A 30-minute exam extension is available upon request to non-native English speakers when taking the exam in English. You'll need to "Request for Accommodation" before registering / booking the examination. This way, you'll have 200 minutes to write the exam.
  • Exam Options:
    • Test Center: The certification exam can be taken at nearby Test centres. AWS has tie-up with independent testing facilities. There are advantages of choosing Test Centres:
      1. You get access to Paper and Pencil at Test Center which is helpful to write, draw and visualise the question (not allowed in online proctoring)
      2. You can take breaks during the exam, although the countdown for exam will not stop. Whereas, you can't take any break or move away from the camera for that matter in an online proctoring exam.
      3. Relaxed Environment - No worry about PC, Camera, internet connectivity, private space
    • Online Proctoring: I took it from home as I am little lazy to go to test centre  (smile) 
  • I took my exam on a Sunday night at 9 PM - I booked it on Sunday so that I get last 2 non-working days and can focus completely on my last-minute preparations. In the night, there is less chance of disturbance from guests or visitors. Please feel free to choose a suitable time for yourself as this not a small duration, we are talking about ~ 3-4 hours of exam duration (including proctor verification time)
  • There is no negative marking. So, that's good. But, one can't spend more than 2-3 mins on one question; so when in doubt, choose your best possible answer and mark it for 'review'. One can come back to those marked questions later. 

This is the link that can be accessed to understand the formalities on the Test day.

Note: If any of you are interested in taking up AWS Certified Solution Architect - Associate exam, feel free to have a glance over my old blog here in public domain.

Please feel free to comment on this blog or reach out to me if you need any other information. Will be glad if I can help in any way. All the Best !!


Signing off for now..

Amit Kumar

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