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Four tracks, one table each. Filter by track, level or study-notes availability, or search by name, provider or job title.
32 certifications match these filters
Offensive Security 20
| Cert name | Target job title | Level | Prerequisites | Study notes | Recent updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEH EC-Council | Ethical Hacker / Junior Penetration Tester | Entry | Two years of infosec experience, or official EC-Council training (which waives the experience requirement). | CEH Notes | v13 (312-50v13) is the current version, with AI woven into all five hacking phases. The optional 6-hour CEH Practical plus CEH earns CEH Master. |
| OSWP OffSec | Wireless Penetration Tester | Entry | Linux command line and networking fundamentals. | OSWP Notes | PEN-210 is included in OffSec's Learn subscriptions. Short proctored practical exam (under 4 hours) on Wi-Fi attacks. |
| eJPT INE Security | Junior Penetration Tester | Entry | None. Networking and Linux basics help. | eJPT Notes | Rebuilt on 31 March 2026: new web-app and recon content, a new Offensive AI course, and a revised practical exam. |
| TryHackMe PT1 TryHackMe | Junior Penetration Tester | Entry | TryHackMe's Jr Penetration Tester path recommended. | THM PT1 Notes | Positioned by TryHackMe as the practical step before OSCP. Business list price includes training and a free retake. |
| HackTheBox CJCA Hack The Box | Junior Security Analyst / Junior Pentester | Entry | Complete the HTB Academy Junior Cybersecurity Associate path. | HackTheBox CJCA Notes | HTB's entry-level certification, covering offensive and defensive fundamentals before CPTS or CDSA. |
| OSCP OffSec | Penetration Tester | Intermediate | No formal prerequisite. Comfortable with Linux/Windows, TCP/IP, web basics and light scripting (Python/Bash). | OSCP Notes | Passing PEN-200 now awards both OSCP (lifetime) and OSCP+ (valid 3 years, renewable via CPE or another OffSec exam). Bonus points are gone and the Active Directory set is scored with partial credit. |
| HackTheBox CPTS Hack The Box | Penetration Tester | Intermediate | Complete the HTB Academy Penetration Tester job-role path (required before the exam voucher can be used). | HackTheBox CPTS Notes | Exam voucher is bundled with HTB Academy's Silver Annual plan. 10-day practical engagement ending in a commercial-grade report. |
| CRTP Altered Security | Active Directory Pentester / Junior Red Teamer | Intermediate | Basic Active Directory concepts, PowerShell and Windows administration. No formal prerequisite. | CRTP Notes | Still the most common first Active Directory attack cert. 24-hour hands-on exam against an AD lab followed by a report. |
| OSWA OffSec | Web Application Penetration Tester | Intermediate | HTTP, HTML/JavaScript basics, Burp Suite familiarity and Linux command line. | OSWA Notes | WEB-200 focuses on black-box web testing (XSS, SQLi, SSTI, SSRF and more) with a 24-hour proctored exam. |
| CompTIA PenTest+ CompTIA | Penetration Tester / Vulnerability Analyst | Intermediate | None required. Network+/Security+ and 3–4 years of hands-on security experience recommended. | COMPTIA Pentest+ Notes | PT0-003 is the current version, adding AI, cloud and attack-surface management topics. DoD 8140 approved. |
| eCPPT INE Security | Penetration Tester | Intermediate | eJPT-level skills; Active Directory and basic exploit development knowledge. | eCPPT Notes | Current v3 format is a hands-on practical exam aligned to INE's Professional Penetration Tester path. |
| TCM PNPT TCM Security | Penetration Tester | Intermediate | Networking, Linux and Active Directory basics. PJPT is a useful stepping stone. | TCM PNPT Notes | 5-day practical engagement (OSINT → external → Active Directory), 2 days for the report, then a live debrief. |
| HackTheBox CWES Hack The Box | Web Application Pentester / Bug Bounty Hunter | Intermediate | Complete the HTB Academy Bug Bounty Hunter path. | HackTheBox CWES Notes | Renamed from CBBH to CWES. Exam voucher is bundled with HTB Academy's Silver Annual plan. |
| CRTE Altered Security | Red Team Operator | Advanced | CRTP-level Active Directory attack skills; comfort with multi-forest trusts and PowerShell tradecraft. | CRTE Notes | 48-hour practical exam across multiple domains and forests, followed by a report. |
| OSEP OffSec | Red Team Operator / Senior Penetration Tester | Advanced | OSCP-level skills plus C#/PowerShell and Active Directory exploitation. | OSEP Notes | 48-hour proctored exam centred on AV/EDR evasion, lateral movement and Active Directory attacks. |
| OSED OffSec | Exploit Developer / Vulnerability Researcher | Advanced | x86 assembly, C, Python and debugging with WinDbg. | OSED Notes | 48-hour exam on Windows user-mode exploit development: DEP/ASLR bypass, ROP chains and custom shellcode. |
| OSAI OffSec | AI Red Teamer / AI Security Engineer | Advanced | OSCP-level offensive skills, Python, and working knowledge of LLM applications, RAG and AI agents. | OSAI Notes | AI-300 launched in 2026. Passing the proctored practical exam against an AI-enabled enterprise environment awards OSAI plus the 3-year OSAI+. |
| HackTheBox CAPE Hack The Box | Active Directory Pentester / Red Teamer | Advanced | Complete the HTB Academy Active Directory Penetration Tester path; CPTS-level skills strongly recommended. | HackTheBox CAPE Notes | Exam voucher is bundled with HTB Academy's Gold Annual plan. Expert-level multi-day AD engagement with a commercial report. |
| OSWE OffSec | Senior Application Security Engineer / Web Pentester | Advanced | Ability to read PHP, Java, .NET, JavaScript and Python code; OSWA-level web skills. | OSWE Notes | 48-hour exam on white-box source review, chaining auth bypasses into remote code execution. |
| HackTheBox COAE Hack The Box | AI Red Teamer | Expert | Complete the AI Red Teamer job-role path (co-developed with Google); solid Python and ML fundamentals. | HackTheBox COAE Notes | Launched April 2026: a 7-day practical assessment of AI-driven infrastructure plus a commercial-grade report. Available on the Silver Annual plan. |
Defensive Security 11
| Cert name | Target job title | Level | Prerequisites | Study notes | Recent updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTL1 Centri (formerly Security Blue Team) | SOC Analyst (Tier 1) | Entry | None. Basic networking and operating-system knowledge helps. | BTL1 Notes | Security Blue Team rebranded as Centri on 1 June 2026. Still a 24-hour practical incident-response exam with lifetime certification. |
| TryHackMe SAL1 TryHackMe | SOC Analyst (Tier 1) | Entry | TryHackMe's SOC Level 1 path recommended. | TryHackMe SAL1 Notes | First rung of TryHackMe's SEC1 → SAL1 → SAL2 defensive ladder. Business list price includes training and a free retake. |
| CompTIA Security+ CompTIA | Security Analyst / Security Administrator | Entry | None required. Network+ and 2 years of IT experience recommended. | COMPTIA SEC+ Notes | SY0-701 is live; its objectives were refreshed in April 2026. SY0-801, with a dedicated LLM objective, has a tentative preview launch around 20 October 2026. |
| Google Cybersecurity Google | Junior SOC Analyst / Cybersecurity Associate | Entry | None. Designed for complete beginners. | Google CyberSecurity Notes | Self-paced on Coursera; covers Linux, SQL, Python, SIEM tools and incident-response basics. Often paired with Security+. |
| Microsoft SC-900 Microsoft | IT / Security Associate (Microsoft stack) | Entry | None. | Microsoft SC-900 Notes | Still an active Fundamentals exam. Microsoft's 2026 security path adds SC-500 (Cloud & AI Security Engineer) while AZ-500 retired on 31 August 2026. |
| HackTheBox CDSA Hack The Box | SOC Analyst / Incident Responder | Intermediate | Complete the HTB Academy SOC Analyst path. | HackTheBox CDSA Notes | Multi-day practical incident investigation ending in a report. Voucher bundled with the Silver Annual plan. |
| CompTIA CySA+ CompTIA | SOC Analyst / Threat Intelligence Analyst | Intermediate | None required. Security+/Network+ and about 4 years of hands-on experience recommended. | COMPTIA CYSA+ Notes | CS0-004 launched 23 June 2026, adding AI and automation in security operations. |
| CompTIA SecAI+ CompTIA | AI Security Analyst / Security Engineer | Intermediate | None required. 3–4 years in IT with 2+ years in security; Security+, CySA+ or PenTest+ recommended. | COMPTIA SEC AI+ Notes | Launched 17 February 2026 as the first of CompTIA's Expansion Series. Valid three years. |
| SPLK-5001 Splunk | SOC Analyst (Splunk environments) | Intermediate | None required. Splunk Power User-level knowledge recommended. | SPLK-5001 Notes | 66 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes via Pearson VUE. Splunk is now part of Cisco. |
| BTL2 Centri (formerly Security Blue Team) | Threat Hunter / SOC Analyst (Tier 2–3) | Advanced | BTL1 recommended; 2–4 years in security operations. | BTL2 Notes | Up to 72-hour practical threat-hunting exam with a written report; certification valid for four years. |
| CCDL2 CyberDefenders | SOC Analyst (Tier 2) / DFIR Analyst | Advanced | SOC fundamentals, Windows/Linux artefacts and networking. CCDL1 is the associate-level step. | CCDL2 Notes | Renamed from CCD to CCDL2 when CCDL1 launched; existing CCD badges were updated automatically. 48-hour Elastic-based investigation exam. |
Leadership 1
| Cert name | Target job title | Level | Prerequisites | Study notes | Recent updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CISSP ISC2 | Security Manager / Security Architect (CISO track) | Advanced | 5 years of paid work in 2+ of the 8 domains (one year can be waived). Pass without it and you become an Associate of ISC2. | CISSP Notes | The experience-waiver list was cut from about 50 to 25 credentials on 1 April 2026 (CEH, CISA, CRISC and OSCP removed). |
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