SecProve
ProfessionalVendor-neutralEC-Council· issued from US

CND

EC Council Certified Network Defender

EC Council Certified Network Defender

Official page at EC-Council↔ Compare with another cert
Exam fee
$950
Ongoing
$80/yr AMF · 40 CPE/yr
Study time
80–160 hrs
Delivery
Hybrid
Validity
3 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

25.0 / 40

Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.

Blueprint rigor
How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.
Certified Network Defender ECO covers blue-team fundamentals.
6.5/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
Includes scenario items but largely MCQ.
5.0/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
Updated to v3 in 2024.
7.0/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
DoD 8570 / 8140 baseline keeps it on listings.
6.5/10

› Exam format

100 multiple-choice questions, 4 hours, proctored. Passing score: 70%.

Retake policy
Fee: $499 per attempt
Wait: 0d between attempts

First retake immediate; 14 days between attempts 2-3, 1 month between 3-4, 3 months between 4-5. Max 5 attempts/year.

› Recertification

Valid for 3 years. 120 ECE credits over 3 years + annual AMF (80 USD).

› 3-year cost of ownership

Exam (1×)
$950
AMF (3×)
$240@$80/yr
Total
$1190

Excludes study materials, training, retake risk, and lost-wage opportunity. Use as a floor estimate.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

PD-WRL-001PD-WRL-003PD-WRL-004IO-WRL-004
Recognition
Global
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

The 2 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A2Network Security

Firewalls, IDS/IPS, network segmentation, DNS security, SD-WAN, VPN, traffic analysis, wireless security.

A10Security Operations

SOC operations, SIEM tuning, SOAR playbooks, alert triage, log analysis, runbook development.

› Prerequisites

Experience

No formal prerequisites. Recommended: Basic knowledge in network security.

› Progression

requiredrecommended

Where this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.

Required prereqs (0)

No vendor-gated prereqs.

Recommended priors (0)

No de facto priors typically expected.

CND
EC-Council
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (1)
CNDAEC-Council

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