SOC Analyst Online Certification

After passing the CCD certification exam, you qualify for up to 40 CPE credits for your GIAC/SANS, EC-Council, and (ISC)2 certifications.

You will have 4 months of access to course lessons and labs. The 1st exam attempt expires after 4 months, while the 2nd exam attempt remains valid for 1 year from the date of course purchase.
You can also purchase access extensions ($100 for 30 days and $150 for 60 days) and extra exam attempts ($100 each) within one year from the course purchase date.

No, we don't require a specific certification or work experience as a course prerequisite. We've certified students from diverse backgrounds and expertise levels, ranging from college students with zero work experience and no prior certifications to seasoned Level 3 SOC analysts.

Our core program philosophy revolves around teaching a mindset that empowers students to tackle any real-world challenge in the enterprise, regardless of their experience level. We place a strong emphasis on developing problem-solving skills and critical thinking rather than focusing on specific tools or certifications.

The only requirement for certification is having the right mindset—a dedicated commitment to enhance your problem-solving and analytical skills.

The exam is 100% practical. It will evaluate your technical skills across the following domains; threat hunting, perimeter defense, disk forensics, memory forensics, and network forensics. You will use Elastic SIEM to hunt threats and investigate a real-world intrusion, create an incident timeline, and analyze attack artifacts using digital forensics tools.

70% is the minimum score to pass the CCD certification exam.

You will have forty-eight (48) hours to complete your exam from the moment you click the Start button. Once started, you will see a timer at the top of your exam view. The exam duration does not necessarily mean it's difficult; we want to ensure you have enough time and do not feel pressured.

We suggest allocating 2-3 hours daily for CCD. With this focused study time, you can complete the course in under two months. However, it's important to note that the actual duration may vary from person to person based on individual experience and learning style.

All certified individuals will receive the CCD silver coin, except those who pass with a score higher than 85% will receive the gold coin.

We can speak only for ourselves. But we can highlight CCD core values in the following points:

• Challenging: unlike other similar certifications, CCD is not a spoon-fed experience. It challenges you to become a REAL DEFENDER by improving your research skills and changing your mindset 'Defend Smarter, Not Harder.' After getting certified, you will feel confident taking over a defender role in any organization.
  CCD should be your choice if you want real advancement. But, if you just need a certificate to grow your CV, then there are many other cheaper and easier certifications.
• Quality: we value quality over quantity. We put a lot of time and effort into developing course labs to be as realistic and valuable as possible and not only throw a bunch of lessons and labs at you. A single threat hunting or forensic lab may weigh in quality a bunch of other labs you see elsewhere. Our work is referenced by top industry organizations.
• Community: we have a fantastic private community for course students and certified professionals where you will experience cool technical discussions, suggestions, and even mentorship tips.

For more info, please check the course syllabus, community, and instructors' profiles and see if it meets your expectations.

At present, we do not share specific data regarding the number of individuals who have successfully achieved the Certified CyberDefender (CCD) certification or the overall success rate of the exam. We believe each candidate's experience with the exam is unique, and therefore, we avoid providing such statistics to ensure that potential candidates are neither discouraged nor given unrealistic expectations.

No, the CCD Certification does not expire. The reason behind this is that CCD focuses on developing a mindset that equips certified individuals with the ability to handle similar experiences in the future. We believe the core skills and perspectives gained through our certification are enduring, making the need for renewal unnecessary.