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Compare certifications Pick up to 3 certifications and compare them side-by-side on cost, exam format, recertification, salary signal, quality, and domain coverage.
ISC2 · professional
CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional
Cloud security architecture: shared responsibility, identity, data protection, crypto, and cloud-native detection.
Official page Cloud Security Alliance · professional
CSA CCSK Cloud Security Alliance Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge
The CCSK from the Cloud Security Alliance is one of the most widespread vendor-neutral cloud security certifications worldwide. It is based on three core sources: the CSA Security Guidance v4, the ENISA Cloud Computing Risk Assessment, and the CSA Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM). The exam is fully online and open-book — this lowers the entry barrier but also means less practical proof than e.g. CCSP. No professional experience required, no expiration date. Good as an entry point into cloud security and as preparation for the CCSP, but not a strong career building block on its own.
Official page Comparing
ISC2 CCSP
Cloud Security Alliance CSA CCSK
› Cost Annual maintenance fee
$135/yr
—
3-year cost of ownership
$1,004
$295
› Exam mechanics Pass mark
CCSP 700/1000 (scaled)
CSA CCSK 80% (60/75 questions correct)
Pass mark
700/1000 (scaled)
80% (60/75 questions correct)
Retake policy
CCSP $599 fee · 30d wait · 4/yr cap
CSA CCSK $0 fee · 0d wait
Retake policy
$599 fee · 30d wait · 4/yr cap
$0 fee · 0d wait
Study time
CCSP 100–180 hrs
CSA CCSK 40–100 hrs
Study time
100–180 hrs
40–100 hrs
› Salary signal (US base) Range
CCSP $130K – $190K
CSA CCSK $90K – $130K
Range
$130K – $190K
$90K – $130K
Median
CCSP $155,000
CSA CCSK $108,000
Role context
CCSP Cloud security engineer / architect, US, 4+ years.
CSA CCSK Cloud security analyst / cloud generalist, US, 2–5 years.
Role context
Cloud security engineer / architect, US, 4+ years.
Cloud security analyst / cloud generalist, US, 2–5 years.
› Quality (4-axis rubric · 0–10) › Recognition & lifecycle Recognition
CCSP Global · US · EU · UK · DACH
CSA CCSK Global
Recognition
Global · US · EU · UK · DACH
Global
Current version
CCSP 2022 CBK refresh (2022-08)
CSA CCSK v5 (2024-04)
Current version
2022 CBK refresh (2022-08)
v5 (2024-04)
› Domain coverage A10 Security Operations
○ touched
·
A11 Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
A11 Detection Engineering & Threat Hunting
○ touched
·
A12 Data Security, Privacy & Protection
A12 Data Security, Privacy & Protection
● core
·
A13 Supply Chain Security
○ touched
·
A23 Recovery, Resilience & Cyber Recovery
A23 Recovery, Resilience & Cyber Recovery
● core
·
A25 Security Architecture & Engineering
A25 Security Architecture & Engineering
● core
·
A3 Zero Trust Architecture
A3 Zero Trust Architecture
○ touched
·
A5 Cloud Security
● core
● core
A6 Identity & Access Management
A6 Identity & Access Management
● core
·
A9 Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
A9 Penetration Testing & Red Teaming
⚠ gap
·
C1 Adversarial Machine Learning
C1 Adversarial Machine Learning
⚠ gap
·
C6 AI Infrastructure Security
C6 AI Infrastructure Security
⚠ gap
·
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