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AssociateVendor-specificCyberArk· issued from US

CyberArk Defender

CyberArk Defender — PAM (CDE-PAM)

Day-to-day administration of CyberArk PAM — the dominant enterprise privileged-access platform.

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Exam fee
$200
Ongoing
$0/yr AMF
Study time
40–80 hrs
Delivery
Online proctored
Validity
2 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

21.0 / 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.
Vendor-published exam guide tied to the current PAM Self-Hosted/Privilege Cloud release. Clear scope, narrow.
6.5/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
Pure MCQ — no required hands-on assessment, though training labs are available.
1.0/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
Tracks CyberArk product releases; refreshed with major version changes.
7.0/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
The de facto entry credential for CyberArk admins. Frequently required on PAM-engineer job specs in regulated industries. [Holders: vendor doesn't publish]
6.5/10

› Market signals

public, citable inputs to the recognition score
Holders worldwide
30,000
as of 2024-12 · source

CyberArk does not publish certified-holder counts; estimate based on partner-network and community-channel signals.

› Built for these roles

PAM AdministratorIAM Engineer (CyberArk-track)Identity Operations Engineer

› Exam format

Multiple-choice exam, ~65 questions, 90 minutes, English. Online proctored via Pearson VUE. Covers Vault administration, password management policies, session management, and routine break/fix.

› Recertification

Credential is valid for two years. Renewal requires passing the current Defender exam version or the Sentry exam.

› NICE Framework work roles

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

DD-WRL-004IO-WRL-005
Recognition
GlobalUSEUUK
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

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

A6Identity & Access Management

AuthN/AuthZ, SSO, MFA, PAM, RBAC/ABAC, identity governance, FIDO2/passkeys, plus non-human identity: service accounts, workload identity, agent / plugin identities.

A3Zero Trust Architecture

Zero trust principles, micro-segmentation, NIST SP 800-207, ZTNA, continuous verification, BeyondCorp.

› Also touched

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

A1Governance, Risk & Compliance

Risk frameworks (NIST RMF, ISO 31000, FAIR), policy development, audit, regulatory compliance, third-party risk.

A10Security Operations

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

› Prerequisites

Experience

Hands-on access to a CyberArk PAM environment. Vendor-led training course strongly recommended.

Knowledge assumed
  • Privileged access management concepts
  • Windows / Linux account lifecycle
  • Basic networking and firewalling

› 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.

CyberArk Defender
CyberArk
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (1)
CyberArk SentryCyberArk

› Careers that commonly pursue this cert

IAM / Identity Engineer

Design and operate the identity fabric that every other control inherits. Federated identity, MFA/passkeys, PAM, identity governance, and the policy glue between them.

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