(ISC)2 CERTIFIED CLOUD SECURITY PROFESSIONAL (CCSP) (SF)

Course Overview

Cloud computing is ever-present, with businesses opting for multiple platforms to reap the benefits of flexible capacity and scalability, improved availability, and increased agility. Despite the advantages that cloud environments introduce, organizations are facing new challenges as cloud security is ranked as a top concern for cloud customers.

More cyberattacks are targeting cloud workloads and organizations are becoming less confident about their cloud security posture. Organizations in all industries and sectors are looking to hire cloud security accredited professionals to address the challenges of the expanded threat landscape. However, the skills gap is the greatest barrier to effective cloud security.

To bridge this critical gap, organizations are seeking to train and certify IT staff interested in

transitioning to cybersecurity to assure their evolving security needs are met. The CCSP is a vendor neutral certification that broadens the operational knowledge and provides learners with the big picture about cloud computing and security. This vendor agnostic cloud certification can help learners understand concepts like legal compliance, roles and responsibilities, alignment of security objectives with business goals.

CCSP is an essential partner for your organization to excel in cloud security. Earning the globally recognized CCSP cloud security certification is a proven way to better secure critical assets in the cloud. The CCSP shows that your employees have the technical skills and

knowledge to manage and secure data, applications and infrastructure in the cloud using best practices, policies and procedures established by the cybersecurity experts at (ISC)².

Course Objectives

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

• Describe the physical and virtual components of and identify the principle technologies of cloud based systems
• Define the roles and responsibilities of customers, providers, partners, brokers and the various technical professionals that support cloud computing environments
• Identify and explain the five characteristics required to satisfy the NIST definition of cloud computing
• Differentiate between various as a Service delivery models and frameworks that are incorporated into the cloud computing reference architecture
• Discuss strategies for safeguarding data, classifying data, ensuring privacy, assuring compliance with regulatory agencies and working with authorities during legal investigations
• Contrast between forensic analysis in corporate data center and cloud computing environments
• Evaluate and implement the security controls necessary to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability in cloud computing
• Identify and explain the six phases of the data lifecycle
• Explain strategies for protecting data at rest and data in motion
• Describe the role of encryption in protecting data and specific strategies for key management
• Compare a variety of cloud-based business continuity / disaster recovery strategies and select an appropriate solution to specific business requirements
• Contrast security aspects of Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) in standard data center and cloud computing environments
• Describe how federated identity and access management solutions mitigate risks in cloud computing systems
• Conduct gap analysis between baseline and industry-standard best practices
• Develop Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for cloud computing environments
• Conduct risk assessments of existing and proposed cloud-based environments
• State the professional and ethical standards of (ISC)² and the Certified Cloud Security Professional

Pre-requisites

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Practicing security, ICT professional or anyone that has the necessary IT qualifications that wants to enter the field of Cloud Security.

Below are the certification requirements, if you are taking the course just for knowledge it is not mandatory to possess the below requirements:

*Find out more about getting certified (https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/CCSP/experience-requirements)

Candidates must have a minimum of five years cumulative paid work experience in information technology, of which three years must be in information security and one year in one or more of the six domains of the CCSP CBK. Earning CSA’s CCSK certificate can be substituted for one year of experience in one or more of the six domains of the CCSP CBK. Earning (ISC)²’s CISSP credential can be substituted for the entire CCSP experience requirement.

A candidate who doesn’t have the required experience to become a CCSP may become an Associate of (ISC)² by successfully passing the CCSP examination. The Associate of (ISC)² will then have six years to earn the five years required experience.

Part-time work and internships may also count towards your experience.

Domain List

• Domain 1. Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design
• Domain 2. Cloud Data Security
• Domain 3. Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Security
• Domain 4. Cloud Application Security
• Domain 5. Cloud Security Operations
• Domain 6. Legal, Risk and Compliance

Please Note: Effective August 1, 2022, the CCSP exam will be based on a new exam outline. Please refer to the CCSP Exam Outline and our FAQs for details.

Full-Time Experience: Your work experience is accrued monthly. Thus, you must have worked a minimum of 35 hours/week for four weeks in order to accrue one month of work experience

Part-Time Experience: Your part-time experience cannot be less than 20 hours a week and no more than 34 hours a week.

1040 hours of part-time = 6 months of full-time experience

2080 hours of part-time = 12 months of full-time experience

Internship: Paid or unpaid internship is acceptable. You will need documentation on company/organization letterhead confirming your position as an intern. If you are interning at a school, the document can be on the registrar’s stationery.

One Year Prerequisite Pathway

CSA’s CCSK certificate can be substituted for one year of experience in one or more of the six domains of the CCSP CBK.

Course Outline

Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design

1.1 Understand cloud computing concepts

• Cloud computing definitions
• Cloud computing roles (e.g., cloud service customer, cloud service provider, cloud service partner, cloud service broker)
• Key cloud computing characteristics (e.g., on-demand self-service, broad network access, multi-tenancy, rapid elasticity and scalability, resource pooling, measured service)
• Building block technologies (e.g., virtualization, storage, networking, databases, orchestration)

1.2 Describe cloud reference architecture

• Cloud computing activities
• Cloud service capabilities (i.e., application capability types, platform capability types, infrastructure capability types)
• Cloud service categories (e.g., Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS))
• Cloud deployment models (e.g., public, private, hybrid, community)
• Cloud shared considerations (e.g., interoperability, portability, reversibility, availability, security, privacy, resiliency, performance, governance, maintenance and versioning, service levels and Service Level Agreements (SLA), auditability, regulatory)
• Impact of related technologies (e.g., machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), containers, quantum computing)

1.3 Understand security concepts relevant to cloud computing

• Cryptography and key management
• Access control
• Data and media sanitization (e.g., overwriting, cryptographic erase)
• Network security (e.g., network security groups)
• Virtualization security (e.g., hypervisor security, container security)
• Common threats

1.4 Understand design principles of secure cloud computing

• Cloud secure data lifecycle
• Cloud based Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) planning
• Cost benefit analysis
• Functional security requirements (e.g., portability, interoperability, vendor lock-in)
• Security considerations for different cloud categories (e.g., Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS))

1.5 Evaluate cloud service providers

• Verification against criteria (e.g., International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27017, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS))
• System/subsystem product certifications (e.g., Common Criteria (CC), Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2)

Cloud Data Security

2.1 Describe cloud data concepts

• Cloud data life cycle phases
• Data dispersion

2.2 Design and implement cloud data storage architectures

• Storage types (e.g., long term, ephemeral, raw-disk)
• Threats to storage types

2.3 Design and apply data security technologies and strategies

• Encryption and key management
• Hashing
• Masking
• Tokenization
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
• Data obfuscation
• Data de-identification (e.g., anonymization)

2.4 Implement data discovery

• Structured data
• Unstructured data

2.5 Implement data classification

• Mapping
• Labeling
• Sensitive data (e.g., Protected Health Information (PHI), Personally Identifiable Information (PII), card holder data)

2.6 Design and implement Information Rights Management (IRM)

• Objectives (e.g., data rights, provisioning, access models)
• Appropriate tools (e.g., issuing and revocation of certificates)

2.7 Plan and implement data retention, deletion, and archiving policies

• Data retention policies
• Data deletion procedures and mechanisms
• Data archiving procedures and mechanisms
• Legal hold

2.8 Design and implement auditability, traceability, and accountability of data events

• Definition of event sources and requirement of identity attribution
• Logging, storage, and analysis of data events
• Chain of custody and non-repudiation

Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Security 

3.1 Comprehend cloud infrastructure components

• Physical environment
• Network and communications
• Compute
• Virtualization
• Storage
• Management plane

3.2 Design a secure data center

• Logical design (e.g., tenant partitioning, access control)
• Physical design (e.g., location, buy or build)
• Environmental design (e.g., Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), multi-vendor pathway connectivity)

3.3 Analyze risks associated with cloud infrastructure

• Risk assessment and analysis
• Cloud vulnerabilities, threats and attacks
• Virtualization risks
• Counter-measure strategies

3.4 Design and plan security controls

• Physical and environmental protection (e.g., on-premise)
• System and communication protection
• Virtualization systems protection
• Identification, authentication, and authorization in cloud infrastructure
• Audit mechanisms (e.g., log collection, packet capture)

3.5 Plan Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC)

• Risks related to the cloud environment
• Business requirements (e.g., Recovery Time Objective (RTO), Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Recovery Service Level (RSL))
• Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery strategy
• Creation, implementation and testing of plan

Cloud Application Security

4.1 Advocate training and awareness for application security

• Cloud development basics
• Common pitfalls
• Common cloud vulnerabilities

4.2 Describe the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process

• Business requirements
• Phases and methodologies

4.3 Apply the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

• Avoid common vulnerabilities during development
• Cloud-specific risks
• Quality Assurance
• Threat modeling
• Software configuration management and versioning

4.4 Apply cloud software assurance and validation

• Functional testing
• Security testing methodologies

4.5 Use verified secure software

• Approved Application Programming Interfaces (API)
• Supply-chain management
• Third party software management
• Validated open source software

4.6 Comprehend the specifics of cloud application architecture

• Supplemental security components (e.g., Web Application Firewall (WAF), Database Activity Monitoring (DAM), Extensible Markup Language (XML) firewalls, Application Programming Interface (API) gateway)
• Cryptography
• Sandboxing
• Application virtualization and orchestration

4.7 Design appropriate Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions

• Federated identity
• Identity providers
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Multi-factor authentication
• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

Cloud Security Operations

5.1 Implement and build physical and logical infrastructure for cloud environment

• Hardware specific security configuration requirements (e.g., Basic Input Output System (BIOS) settings for virtualization and Trusted Platform Module (TPM), storage controllers, network controllers)
• Installation and configuration of virtualization management tools
• Virtual hardware specific security configuration requirements (e.g., network, storage, memory, Central Processing Unit (CPU))
• Installation of guest Operating System (OS) virtualization toolsets

5.2 Operate physical and logical infrastructure for cloud environment

• Configure access control for local and remote access (e.g., Secure Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM), Console-based access mechanisms, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP))
• Secure network configuration (e.g., Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), Virtual Private Network (VPN))
• Operating System (OS) hardening through the application of baselines (e.g., Windows, Linux, VMware)
• Availability of stand-alone hosts
• Availability of clustered hosts (e.g., Distributed Resource Scheduling (DRS), Dynamic Optimization (DO), storage clusters, maintenance mode, high availability)
• Availability of guest Operating System (OS)

5.3 Manage physical and logical infrastructure for cloud environment

• Access controls for remote access (e.g., Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Secure Terminal Access, Secure Shell (SSH))
• Operating System (OS) baseline compliance monitoring and remediation
• Patch management
• Performance and capacity monitoring (e.g., network, compute, storage, response time)
• Hardware monitoring (e.g., disk, Central Processing Unit (CPU), fan speed, temperature)
• Configuration of host and guest Operating System (OS) backup and restore functions
• Network security controls (e.g., firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), honeypots, vulnerability assessments, network security groups)
• Management plane (e.g., scheduling, orchestration, maintenance)

5.4 Implement operational controls and standards (e.g., Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 20000-1)

• Change management
• Continuity management
• Information security management
• Continual service improvement management
• Incident management
• Problem management
• Release management
• Deployment management
• Configuration management
• Service level management
• Availability management
• Capacity management

5.5 Support digital forensics

• Forensic data collection methodologies
• Evidence management
• Collect, acquire and preserve digital evidence

5.6 Manage communication with relevant parties

• Vendors
• Customers
• Partners
• Regulators
• Other stakeholders
• 5.7 Manage security operations
• Security Operations Center (SOC)
• Monitoring of security controls (e.g., firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), honeypots, vulnerability assessments, network security groups)
• Log capture and analysis (e.g., Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), log management)
• Incident management

Legal, Risk and Compliance

6.1 Articulate legal requirements and unique risks within the cloud environment

• Conflicting international legislation
• Evaluation of legal risks specific to cloud computing
• Legal frameworks and guidelines
• eDiscovery (e.g., International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27050, Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Guidance)
• Forensics requirements

6.2 Understand privacy issues

• Difference between contractual and regulated private data (e.g., Protected Health Information (PHI), Personally Identifiable Information (PII))
• Country-specific legislation related to private data (e.g., Protected Health Information (PHI), Personally Identifiable Information (PII))
• Jurisdictional differences in data privacy
• Standard privacy requirements (e.g., International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27018, Generally Accepted Privacy Principles (GAPP), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR))

6.3 Understand audit process, methodologies, and required adaptations for a cloud environment

• Internal and external audit controls
• Impact of audit requirements
• Identify assurance challenges of virtualization and cloud
• Types of audit reports (e.g., Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE), Security Operations Center (SOC), International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE))
• Restrictions of audit scope statements (e.g., Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE), International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE))
• Gap analysis
• Audit planning
• Internal Information Security Management System (ISMS)
• Internal information security controls system
• Policies (e.g., organizational, functional, cloud computing)
• Identification and involvement of relevant stakeholders
• Specialized compliance requirements for highly regulated industries (e.g., North American Electric Reliability Corporation/Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC/CIP), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Payment Card Industry (PCI))
• Impact of distributed Information Technology (IT) model (e.g., diverse geographical locations and crossing over legal jurisdictions)

6.4 Understand implications of cloud to enterprise risk management

• Assess providers risk management programs (e.g., controls, methodologies, policies)
• Difference between data owner/controller vs. data custodian/processor (e.g., risk profile, risk appetite, responsibility)
• Regulatory transparency requirements (e.g., breach notification, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR))
• Risk treatment (i.e., avoid, modify, share, retain)
• Different risk frameworks
• Metrics for risk management
• Assessment of risk environment (e.g., service, vendor, infrastructure)

6.5 Understand outsourcing and cloud contract design

• Business requirements (e.g., Service Level Agreement (SLA), Master Service Agreement (MSA), Statement of Work (SOW))
• Vendor management
• Contract management (e.g., right to audit, metrics, definitions, termination, litigation, assurance, compliance, access to cloud/data, cyber risk insurance)
• Supply-chain management (e.g., International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27036)

Certificate Obtained and Conferred by

• Certificate of Completion from NTUC LearningHub

Upon meeting at least 75% attendance and passing the assessment(s), participants will receive a Certificate of Completion from NTUC LearningHub.

• Statement of Attainment (SOA) from SkillsFuture Singapore

Upon meeting at least 75% attendance and passing the assessment(s), participants will receive a SOA from SkillsFuture Singapore to certify that the participant has achieved the following Competency Standard(s): Code name, Cloud Computing (ICT-DIT-5020-1.1)

• External Certification
  • After completing the course, students may proceed to purchase the official ISC2 exam (not included in course fee)

TAKE AND PASS THE EXAM

To purchase ISC2 exam vouchers please click on this link: https://www.ntuclearninghub.com/g/-isc-2

After students pass the external official exam, they will receive a Certified Information Systems Security Professional certificate from International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium ((ISC)2).

Additional Details

Mode of Delivery: Virtual Live Class (VLC) via Zoom or Face to Face (F2F)

As this is a government subsidised programme, the entire training programme will be video recorded for audit purposes by the relevant funding agency. To ascertain their presence, Trainees / Participants are required to

• Turn on web camera to show real-time video, as opposed to using a profile picture / video for the entirety of the training and assessment session.
• Ensure that their faces are fully visible (not just the forehead / eyebrows)
• Use their full name as per NRIC / Passport as their Screen Name on Zoom

After registering for this course, you will be issued the following:

Courseware:  Official ISC2 Digital Student Kit

Trainer: Trainee Ratio is 1: 20

Price

Funding Eligibility Criteria:

Terms & Conditions apply. NTUC LearningHub reserves the right to make changes or improvements to any of the products described in this document without prior notice. 

Prices are subject to other LHUB miscellaneous fees.