Validate your expertise in securing AWS workloads. Covers threat detection, incident response, infrastructure security, identity and access management, data protection, and security governance.
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Every in-scope security service, detection pattern, IAM and data-protection decision the SCS-C03 exam actually tests — organised by the six exam domains with policy patterns and runbooks
The AWS Certified Security Specialty (SCS-C03) is AWS's dedicated security certification. It validates your expertise in securing AWS workloads, including identity management, infrastructure protection, data encryption, incident response, and compliance. It's one of the most valued specialty certifications in the market.
This exam targets security engineers, security architects, cloud security analysts, and anyone whose primary role involves securing AWS environments. You should have at least two years of hands-on experience with AWS security services and a strong understanding of compliance frameworks and incident response.
The SCS-C03 exam has 65 questions (50 scored, 15 unscored) in multiple-choice and multiple-response format. You get 170 minutes, and the passing score is 750/1000 (approximately 75%). The exam costs $300 USD.
Recommended experience: At least two years of hands-on experience securing AWS workloads, plus familiarity with security frameworks, encryption, and identity management.
Absolutely. Cloud security roles are among the highest-paying in tech, and the SCS-C03 is widely recognized as proof of AWS security expertise. It's particularly valuable if you work in regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government) where security compliance is critical.
IAM (policies, roles, federation), KMS and CloudHSM (encryption), GuardDuty (threat detection), Security Hub, Config, CloudTrail, WAF, Shield, Macie, and AWS Organizations SCPs. Understanding how these services work together to build defense in depth is more important than memorizing individual features.
It's not required, but AWS recommends the Solutions Architect Associate or SysOps Administrator Associate as prerequisites. The Security Specialty assumes you understand core AWS networking, IAM, and infrastructure concepts. If you have 2+ years of AWS security experience, you can attempt it directly.
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