ProfessionalVendor-neutralAltered Security· issued from IN

CRTP

Certified Red Team Professional

Hands-on Active Directory attacker — Kerberos abuse, trust attacks, and lateral movement against a real multi-domain forest.

Exam fee
$499
Ongoing
$0/yr AMF
Study time
80–160 hrs
Delivery
Hands-on practical lab
Validity
Lifetime

› Quality score

31.0 / 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.
Course syllabus is well-structured around AD attack primitives (Kerberoast, DCSync, delegation abuse, trust attacks). No formal weighted blueprint, but the lab maps 1:1 to taught content.
7.5/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
Pure lab exam with required written report. Considered the de facto starting point for AD red-team practitioners alongside CRTO.
9.0/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
Lab content is refreshed when major Windows / AD attack techniques emerge (e.g., post-Certified Pre-Owned ADCS additions). Cadence is irregular but not stale.
7.0/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
Strong recognition in offensive-security / red-team hiring. Frequently listed alongside OSCP and CRTO for AD-heavy roles. [Holders: vendor doesn't publish]
7.5/10

› Market signals

public, citable inputs to the recognition score
Holders worldwide
15,000
as of 2024-12 · source

Vendor doesn't publish exact holder counts; estimate based on community indicators.

› Built for these roles

Red Team OperatorPenetration Tester (AD-focused)Adversary Simulation EngineerInternal Security Assessor

› Exam format

24-hour hands-on lab exam against a multi-domain Windows AD forest, followed by 48 hours to submit a written report. Five flag captures required across enumeration, privilege escalation, and cross-domain compromise.

› Recertification

Credential is permanent — no recertification or AMF.

› NICE Framework work roles

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

PD-WRL-001PD-WRL-007
Recognition
GlobalUSEUUK
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

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

› Also touched

Present in the blueprint but not the primary focus — you’ll be introduced but shouldn’t expect depth.

› Prerequisites

Experience

Comfort with Windows command line, PowerShell, and basic AD concepts. Prior pentesting exposure recommended but not strictly required — the course covers fundamentals.

Knowledge assumed
  • Active Directory objects, trusts, and Kerberos
  • PowerShell scripting basics
  • Windows privilege model and tokens

› 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 (2)
CRTP
Altered Security
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (1)

› Careers that commonly pursue this cert

Threat Exposure Management / Attack Surface Analyst

External-first role: inventories what an attacker can see, tracks what's new, and drives closure through the org. The outside-in counterpart to vuln management.

See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.