CCSP certification: requirements, exam format and passing score
CCSP stands for Certified Cloud Security Professional, the cloud-security certification from ISC2. The exam runs three hours with 100 to 150 questions, the passing score is 700 out of 1,000, and ISC2 requires five years of cumulative IT experience before the certification is granted.
- CCSP exam format
- 100–150 multiple choice and advanced item typesISC2 “Before your exam”, checked 24 September 2026
- Time allowed
- 3 hoursISC2 “Before your exam”, checked 24 September 2026
- CCSP passing score
- 700 out of 1,000ISC2 “Before your exam”, checked 24 September 2026
- Languages
- English, Chinese, German, JapaneseISC2 “Before your exam”, checked 24 September 2026
- CCSP requirements
- 5 years cumulative full-time IT experience — 3 in cybersecurity, 1 in a CCSP domainISC2 CCSP experience requirements, checked 24 September 2026
- Domains
- 6ISC2 CCSP page, checked 24 September 2026
- Annual maintenance fee
- $135ISC2 AMF overview — same fee as CISSP and SSCP, checked 24 September 2026
- CCSP exam cost
- Not published by ISC2ISC2 shows a currency switcher and quotes the fee at registration; no public figure on the certification or exam pages, checked 24 September 2026
Know if you're ready for CCSP — before you book.
Certsqill measures your CCSP readiness across every official exam domain — one 0–100 score from coverage, accuracy and consistency that tells you whether to book, keep studying, or sit.
Why people switch to Certsqill
Everything you need to walk in ready
Know where you stand, understand every mistake, and study in your language — one payment, no subscription.
Your CCSP Readiness Score, not a guess
One number from three signals — coverage, accuracy, and consistency — tells you whether to book the exam or keep studying.
Understand every CCSP mistake
When you miss a question, it explains why — using your own answer history to catch the patterns you keep repeating. Included, no subscription.
Explanations in your language, questions stay exam-accurate
Get every explanation in your language while the questions stay in exam-accurate English. Technical terms stay in English — the way the exam writes them.
Everything you need to pass
Why you can trust these CCSP questions
What is CCSP, and what does CCSP stand for?
CCSP stands for Certified Cloud Security Professional. It is ISC2’s cloud-security certification, the sibling of CISSP, and it is accredited to ISO/IEC 17024 by ANAB and approved under U.S. DoDM 8140.03.
A CCSP certification is meant to show that you can design, manage and secure data and applications in the cloud. ISC2 splits that across six domains — Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design; Cloud Data Security; Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security; Cloud Application Security; Cloud Security Operations; and Legal, Risk and Compliance.
One note on the CCSP meaning, because two unrelated things share the letters: CCS-P is a medical-coding credential from AHIMA, and in some U.S. states CCSP is the name of a Medicaid waiver programme. If you were looking for the Medicaid programme or for CCS-P medical coding, this is the wrong page — this one is the ISC2 cloud-security certification.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP certification. Checked 24 September 2026.
What are the CCSP requirements and prerequisites?
The CCSP certification requirements are experience, not coursework. ISC2 requires a minimum of five years of cumulative, full-time IT experience, of which three years must be in cybersecurity and one year in one or more of the six CCSP domains.
There are three ways to shorten that. A post-secondary degree in computer science, IT or a related field may cover up to one year. Earning the Cloud Security Alliance’s CCSK certificate may cover one year. And an active CISSP credential substitutes for the whole experience requirement. Only one year can be waived in total, so the degree and the CCSK do not stack.
The CCSP prerequisites do not block you from sitting the exam. Pass it without the experience and you become an Associate of ISC2, with time to earn the years afterwards.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP experience requirements. Checked 24 September 2026.
How much does CCSP cost?
ISC2 does not publish a CCSP exam cost on its certification or exam pages. The site carries a currency switcher and quotes the fee during registration, which is why the exam fee differs by region. We would rather say ISC2 states no figure than repeat one from a third-party site as if ISC2 had.
So if you want the cost before you commit, you will see it at registration, in your own currency.
What ISC2 does publish is the recurring cost: an annual maintenance fee of $135, the same as for CISSP and SSCP. That is the long tail of the cost — it is charged every year the credential is held, not once.
Source: ISC2 — Annual Maintenance Fees. Checked 24 September 2026.
CCSP vs CISSP: which one, and in which order?
CISSP vs CCSP is not really a choice between equals. Both are ISC2 certifications, both run three hours with 100 to 150 items, and both need 700 of 1,000 to pass. CISSP is the broad information-security credential across eight domains; CCSP is the cloud specialisation across six.
The order is answered by ISC2 itself: an active CISSP substitutes for the entire CCSP experience requirement. If you already hold CISSP, CCSP is one exam away. If you do not, CCSP still needs its own five years.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP experience requirements. Checked 24 September 2026.
CCSK vs CCSP, and SSCP vs CCSP
CCSK is the Cloud Security Alliance’s cloud-security certificate, not an ISC2 certification, and the two are not competitors — ISC2 accepts CCSK in place of one year of the CCSP experience requirement. In practice CCSK is the lighter, earlier step and CCSP is the credential with the experience gate behind it.
SSCP vs CCSP is a difference of level and subject. SSCP is ISC2’s two-hour exam with 100 to 125 items, aimed at hands-on security operations; CCSP is three hours, 100 to 150 items, and specific to cloud.
Source: ISC2 — Before your exam. Checked 24 September 2026.
How hard is CCSP, and what is the passing score?
The CCSP passing score is 700 on a scale to 1,000 — a scaled score, not a percentage, so it does not translate into a number of questions answered correctly. ISC2 applies the same 700 to its other cybersecurity exams.
How hard is CCSP in practice is shaped less by the cut score than by the item types. ISC2 states the exam as multiple choice plus advanced item types, and lists charts and tables, calculation, order-response, drag-and-drop, hotspot, scenario-based and video-based questions among them. A question you can half-answer is still wrong.
Source: ISC2 — Before your exam. Checked 24 September 2026.
CCSP study guide, books and study materials
The most searched material here is the official CCSP study guide, often its 4th edition. ISC2 publishes the CCSP Exam Outline itself, and that outline is the authoritative scope: an official study guide follows it, and a study guide PDF circulating for an older outline does not.
Whatever CCSP study materials you pick, check them against the current exam outline rather than the edition number on the cover. That applies to every book and study guide, including second-hand copies: ISC2 revises the outline periodically, and a new CCSP exam outline has been in place since 1 August 2026. The six domain names on this page are the ones in that outline, checked 10 October 2026.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP Certification Exam Outline. Checked 10 October 2026.
CCSP practice questions and practice exams
Certsqill’s CCSP practice questions are expert-developed CCSP exam questions with an explanation for every option, not just a marked answer — more useful than a handful of CCSP questions called a practice exam or practice test.
We will not publish a CCSP exam dump either. Copied live questions breach the ISC2 exam agreement and can cost you the credential, and on an exam scored to 700 out of 1,000 across scenario and drag-and-drop items, memorised answers transfer poorly anyway.
CCSP questions people ask
What does CCSP stand for?
Certified Cloud Security Professional, the ISC2 cloud-security certification.
What is the CCSP passing score?
700 out of a possible 1,000 points. Source: ISC2, checked 24 September 2026.
How long is the CCSP exam?
Three hours, with 100 to 150 multiple-choice and advanced items. Source: ISC2, checked 24 September 2026.
What are the CCSP experience requirements?
Five years of cumulative full-time IT experience, three of them in cybersecurity and one in a CCSP domain. A degree or CSA’s CCSK can cover one year; an active CISSP covers all of it. Source: ISC2, checked 24 September 2026.
How much does the CCSP exam cost?
ISC2 does not publish a figure on its certification or exam pages; the fee is quoted at registration and varies by region, checked 24 September 2026. The annual maintenance fee is $135.
Can you take CCSP without the experience?
Yes. Passing without the required years makes you an Associate of ISC2 until you earn them. Source: ISC2, checked 24 September 2026.
The CCSP syllabus: the exam outline revised from 1 August 2026
ISC2 does not use the word syllabus; the document that plays that role for the ISC2 CCSP exam is the CCSP Certification Exam Outline. ISC2 announced on 30 June 2026 that a new outline would be in place beginning 1 August 2026, and the outline page now carries that date.
The revised outline lists the same six domains named above. What the date changes is how you judge study material: anything written before the revision may still cover most of the ground, but it was not written against the outline you will be tested on. Check the date first, the edition number second.
Source: ISC2 — ISC2 Refreshes CCSP Exam (30 June 2026). Checked 9 October 2026.
Buying the CCSP test: exam only, voucher or bundle
ISC2 sells the CCSP test directly from its exam page. If you are looking for a CCSP voucher, note that the page, as checked on 9 October 2026, does not describe vouchers: it offers the exam on its own, or with Peace of Mind Protection, which gives two attempts at a lower cost than two single exams, to be taken within 180 days of purchase.
The third route is a training bundle. ISC2’s official courses can be bought with the exam included: one attempt within 365 days, or two attempts within 180 days with Peace of Mind Protection. The exam price itself is still shown only at checkout, as the main page above explains.
Source: ISC2 — Purchase the CCSP exam. Checked 9 October 2026.
CCSP training from ISC2
Training is optional — the CCSP requirement is experience — but ISC2 offers official training in three formats: online self-paced, live online with an ISC2 Authorized Instructor on full-time or part-time schedules, and in-person classroom training. ISC2 states that its courseware is developed by ISC2, the creator of the exam outline. Our CCSP training and courses page compares the formats in detail.
Source: ISC2 — Choose your CCSP training. Checked 9 October 2026.
CCSP salary: what ISC2 publishes
ISC2’s CCSP certification page states no salary figure, so this page does not quote a CCSP salary either. Numbers circulating online come from surveys and job boards with their own samples and methods, and none of them is ISC2’s statement about the credential.
What ISC2 does publish about demand is broader. Announcing the revised outline, it cited its workforce study ranking cloud security as the second most in-demand skill, behind AI. That is a statement about the skill area, not a CCSP certification salary figure.
Source: ISC2 — ISC2 Refreshes CCSP Exam (30 June 2026). Checked 9 October 2026.
Is CCSP worth it?
Is CCSP worth it for you? The official facts that bear on the decision are these. The credential is accredited by ANAB to ISO/IEC 17024 and approved under U.S. DoDM 8140.03. An active CISSP covers the entire experience requirement, so for CISSP holders the cost is mostly one more exam. And the annual maintenance fee is $135 for every year you hold it.
Whether it is worth it in your case depends on how much of your work is in cloud security. If it is central, a credential built on six cloud-specific domains says more than a general one; if it is peripheral, the five-year experience gate and the recurring fee weigh heavier.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP certification. Checked 9 October 2026.
Holding the CCSP credential
The CCSP credential is the ISC2 certification itself; passing the exam is one step of it. If you pass without the required experience you become an Associate of ISC2 and earn the years afterwards, as described above. Once certified, the annual maintenance fee keeps the credential in good standing.
Source: ISC2 — CCSP certification. Checked 9 October 2026.
Not this CCSP: Cisco and chiropractic
Two older or unrelated credentials share the letters. The Cisco certification called CCSP is retired: Cisco’s list of retired certifications shows CCSP retiring in November 2011. Anyone looking for a CCSP Cisco certification today will not find one to book; this page is about the ISC2 cloud credential.
In healthcare, CCSP also stands for Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician. A CCSP chiropractic certification has nothing to do with cloud security, and neither does any CCSP certification chiropractic course — the ISC2 CCSP cert described on this page is an information-security credential.
Source: Cisco — Retired certifications. Checked 9 October 2026.
More CCSP questions
What is CCSP certification in one sentence?
The ISC2 Certified Cloud Security Professional: a cloud-security certification across six domains, earned by passing the exam and documenting five years of qualifying experience.
Is there an official CCSP syllabus?
ISC2 publishes the CCSP Certification Exam Outline, revised from 1 August 2026. It defines the scope of the exam. Source: ISC2, checked 9 October 2026.
What is the average CCSP salary?
ISC2 does not publish a salary figure on its CCSP page, and we do not quote unofficial figures as if they were official.
Can I buy a CCSP voucher?
ISC2’s exam page, as checked on 9 October 2026, sells the exam directly — exam only or with Peace of Mind Protection — and training bundles include the exam. It does not describe vouchers.
Is CCSP a Cisco certification?
No. Today’s CCSP is from ISC2. Cisco once had a certification called CCSP, but it was retired in November 2011. Source: Cisco, checked 9 October 2026.
Exam fee: $599 — what the CCSP exam costs, retakes included →
