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SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner

Standardize your team on SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner with a structured ISC2 training path — virtual labs, a blueprint-weighted practice exam, and team admin reporting included on every CBT Nuggets Teams seat.

Book a DemoAll ISC2 certs
1
Course
1
Practice exam
14
Core skills
$249
Exam fee (ISC2)
Security operations center analysts monitoring threat dashboards
Difficulty
Difficulty: 3 of 5 (Moderate)
Moderate
Exam fee (ISC2)
$249
Courses on path
1
Official source
ISC2’s official exam page
Exam code
  • SSCP

Exam datasheet

Format
Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT); multiple choice and advanced item types.
Prerequisites
Minimum one-year full-time experience in one or more SSCP domains; relevant degree, part-time work, and internships may count toward the requirement.
Recommended experience
1+ year implementing, monitoring, and administering security infrastructure in hands-on security operations roles.
Recertification
3 years
Testing center

Exams

Exams for this certification

Exam fees per engineer, paid to the exam vendor$249

Exam — Required

Every engineer on the SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner path takes SSCP.

  1. SSCPSystems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)Practice exam included on every Teams seat
    Exam fee
    $249
    Exam length
    2 hours
    Questions
    100-125
    Passing score
    700 out of 1000 points

    Exam blueprint: SSCP

Skills your team builds

Security Concepts and PracticesAccess ControlsRisk IdentificationMonitoringand AnalysisIncident Response and RecoveryCryptographyNetwork and Communications SecuritySystems and Application SecurityVulnerability managementSecurity information and event management (SIEM)Public key infrastructure (PKI)Endpoint device securityCloud security

Training path

Your team's training path

One CBT Nuggets course covers the full SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner path. Your team can start today and have admin reporting visible from day one.

  1. Start here · primary course

    SSCP

    This (ISC)² Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) training is designed for cybersecurity professionals seeking hands-on expertise in securing IT systems. This course covers application security, network defense, access control mechanisms, cryptographic solutions, and incident response techniques. It also covers cutting-edge topics like the MITRE ATT&CK framework, quantum cryptography, organizational compliance, and advanced network security appliances. A premier credential for systems administrators, the SSCP certifies your ability to implement, monitor, and manage secure infrastructure environments following globally recognized (ISC)² standards. The course includes interactive virtual labs and realistic practice exams, ensuring you’re ready to pass the SSCP exam and succeed in real cybersecurity roles.

    Bob Salmans
    139 videos1 labsPractice exam17h
    Open course

Every certification course includes

  • Expert-led video training
  • Hands-on virtual labs
  • Certification practice exams
  • Per-team completion reporting

ISC2 career ladder

Where SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner sits in your team's ISC2 progression

The cert your team is on now, plus the levels above and below. Use this to map an engineer's next-step credential or to plan headcount coverage across tiers.

  1. Entry level

    1 cert

    CC – Certified in Cybersecurity

    CC

  2. Associate level

    1 cert

    SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner

    SSCP

    You are here

  3. Professional level

    2 certs

    CCSP – Certified Cloud Security Professional

    CCSP

    CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional

    CISSP

Customer outcome

Build SSCP capability across the whole team, not one engineer

Assign the SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner course to the engineers who need it, and the team report shows who has started, who has finished, and who has passed the practice exam — the view leadership uses to see ISC2 skills coverage across the team and where the gaps are.

See team pricing

Team capability

Make SSCP a number on your team capability sheet, not a single engineer’s certificate.

Standardizing your team on SSCP gives leadership a clear picture of ISC2 skills coverage — who has completed the training, who is still on the path, and where the gaps are — so staffing and escalation plans rest on known capability instead of on one engineer.

Credential: SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner

Exam
  • SSCP

Frequently asked questions about SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner training

Common questions IT directors ask when evaluating SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner training for their team.

How does the SSCP fit into our security compliance or governance program?

Teams often cite the ISC2 SSCP when documenting that the staff running access controls, security monitoring and incident response hold a recognized operational security credential. CBT Nuggets team reporting provides per-learner progress, completion and completion exports for audit evidence, while the auditor's control crosswalk decides how the credential formally maps to the framework the organization follows.

Who on the team should hold the SSCP, and what can a certified team own?

The SSCP suits the hands-on practitioners who keep security controls running day to day, such as security and systems administrators, network security staff and security operations analysts. The linked course prepares them to own access controls and asset protection, network and wireless security, security monitoring and analysis, endpoint and malicious code defense, cryptography, and support for incident response, forensic investigations and BC/DR planning.

What does CBT Nuggets SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner training include for a team?

CBT Nuggets SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner courses are built by named expert trainers. Where a course includes hands-on virtual labs or a practice exam mapped to ISC2's published exam objectives, the course list on this page says so. Team admin reporting tracks assignment, completion and exam readiness per engineer — the view managers use to run a team training program.

How do I assign and track SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner training for my team?

From the admin console, managers assign the SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner courses directly to specific engineers or role groups and track completion and practice-exam scores per learner. Team-wide reporting rolls up to a single dashboard you can review or export for leadership reviews or compliance reporting.

How long does it take to certify a team on the SSCP?

The linked CBT Nuggets training totals about 17 hours of video. How long a team takes to reach certification depends on its starting point, since staff already strong in networking and risk management will move through the material differently than those newer to operational security.

What if ISC2 updates the SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner exam objectives?

CBT Nuggets updates ISC2 course content as exam objectives refresh, and this page shows the current exam's status and any retirement date the vendor has announced. When ISC2 restructures or renames a track, the assigned training stays aligned with the same team training plan, and the training stays current without anyone losing their progress mid-stream.

Ready to SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner-certify your team?

Build SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner capability across your team

See how CBT Nuggets helps IT leaders plan and track SSCP – Systems Security Certified Practitioner training across the team — labs, a practice exam, and reporting included.

Book a Demo