As cloud computing is taking more and more market share it is clear that new threats are emerging, but also new opportunities are presented to the security professionals.

Cloud Computing Security Professional (CCSP) is a cloud security certification announced by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and (ISC)² in order to address the growing industry need for cloud security knowledge.

I had the privilege to contribute this joint effort of creating the knowledge base for cloud security professional of tomorrow, and I can testify that CCSP was built to allow the security professionals to evaluate the cloud computing complexity and risk properly, while also learning how to appreciate the resilience, scalability and automation capabilities that the cloud encompass.

As cloud computing and as-a-service evolves to become the new standard,the necessity for security grows and more responsibilities are placed upon the security professionals. Cloud computing can do great things for IT departments and service providers, but it is require some change in the way you asset risk, evaluate your partners and configure your security arsenal.

Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK) was created by the Cloud Security Alliance in 2010, in order to address the growing need for security knowledge around cloud computing. Since it creation, CCSK gain momentum as the leading security certification and was ranked by CIO.com listed CCSK at #1 on the list of Top Ten Cloud Computing Certifications.

The certification covers all major aspects in information security including risk management, provider evaluation, infrastructure and application security, identity management and for each domain highlights the recommended approaches and tools required for secure cloud adoption.

The CCSK class is made from the following days:

CCSK Foundation (First Day): Frontal teaching of 6 modules that covers all topics relevant to Cloud Computing security.  Students can register to this day only. This day contain all the relevant information for passing the CCSK exam (Voucher for the exam are included in class fee)

CCSK Plus (Second Day): The second day of the CCSK is devoted for practicing cloud labs. In the labs students will practice the different security tools available for IaaS.

Class Syllabus:

CCSK Plus Syllabus

Each IT member should become aware of cloud threats and understand the overhaul organizational strategy dealing with cloud challenges. The “Cloud Security A-Z” class was built in order to make sure that all students will gain understanding of their role in security the cloud migration project.

Outline:

• Introduction to cloud
  • What are cloud service module and architecture, and how this affect security?
  • The shared responsibility model.
  • Cloud reference architecture (examples of deployments, orchestration & hypervisors, regions, zones and security groups, SDN)
• Cloud risks/threats and attack vectors
  • Overview of cloud computing threats, attack vectors, mitigating defenses, relevant architecture and more.
• Evaluating your cloud provider:
  • Evaluating providers is a methodology that organizations should adopt and master to perfection since choosing the right partner can sometimes be all the difference. In this chapter we will learn a methodology to how to efficiently  evaluate cloud services providers
• Infrastructure security
  • Protecting management dashboard
  • Protecting virtual machines
  • Encryption and data protection in the cloud
• Legal and compliance
  • Cloud computing is where the security officer and legal department should go hand in hand. Many of the technical controls once used can only be replaced by contractual agreements. This new state of mind require both departments to adapt
• Identity Management
  • Identity is the today new perimeter.  Building an identity management infrastructure that can extend one’s identities into cloud services can bring hug benefits or end up with ongoing end-user frustration.  This module will talk about federation services and other identity technologies in the cloud

Introduction

Introducing the Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge™(CCAK™), brought to you by Cloud Security Alliance®(CSA), a global leader in cloud security research, training and credentialing, and ISACA® a global leader in training, education, and certification for IS/IT professionals. This certificate fills a gap in the market for vendor neutral, technical education for IT audit, security and risk professionals to help their organizations reap the full benefits of cloud environments.

For more information about the CCAK, visit cloudsecurityalliance.org/education/ccak/

CCAK Objectives