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AWS Certified Security Specialty 2026 SCS-C02

Become an AWS security expert — threat detection, encryption, IAM, and compliance — and earn the most sought-after cloud security certification.

★ 4.8 (300 learners) 60 hrs total 8 modules 3 capstones
AWS EC2 S3 IAM VPC Lambda +5 more
Only 7 seats left · Next batch starts 12 Sept 2026
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60 hrs
of content
8 modules
in curriculum
19 projects
hands-on builds
Advanced
difficulty

Curriculum covers

Frameworks you'll master

11 tools & frameworks
AWS EC2 S3 IAM VPC Lambda RDS CloudFormation EKS ECS AWS Glue

Course Curriculum

8 modules · 60 hours · 24 live sessions

Threat Detection & Incident Response 2 sessions
  • Domain 1 – Threat Detection and Incident Response
  • [CCP/SAA] GuardDuty Overview
  • GuardDuty – Advanced
  • [CCP] Security Hub Overview
  • Security Hub – Advanced
  • [CCP] Detective Overview
  • Detective – Architectures
  • [CCP/SOA] Penetration Testing on AWS
  • DDoS Simulation Testing on AWS
  • Compromised AWS Resources
  • Compromised AWS Credentials
  • EC2 Key Pairs & Remediating Exposed EC2 Key Paris
  • EC2 Instance Connect
  • EC2 Serial Console
  • Lost EC2 Key Pair – Windows
  • EC2 Rescue Tool for Linux & Windows
  • AWS Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
  • AWS Abuse Report
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] IAM Security Tools
  • [Important] AWS Console UI Update
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] IAM Security Tools Hands On
  • IAM Access Analyzer
Security Logging & Monitoring 3 sessions
  • Domain 2 – Security Logging and Monitoring
  • Definitions & Terms
  • [CCP/SAA/SOA] Amazon Inspector
  • [SOA/DOP] Amazon Inspector Hands On
  • [SOA] Logging in AWS for security and compliance
  • [SOA] Systems Manager Overview
  • [SOA] Start EC2 Instances with SSM Agent
  • [SOA] AWS Tags & SSM Resource Groups
  • [SOA] SSM Documents & SSM Run Command
  • [SOA] SSM Automations
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] SSM Parameter Store Overview
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] SSM Parameter Store Hands On (CLI)
  • [SOA] SSM Inventory & State Manager
  • [SOA] SSM Patch Manager and Maintenance Windows
  • [SOA] SSM Patch Manager and Maintenance Windows Hands On
  • [SOA] SSM Session Manager Overview
  • [SOA] SSM Session Manager Hands On
  • [SOA] SSM Cleanup
  • [SOA] CloudWatch Unified CloudWatch Agent Overview
  • [SOA/DOP] CloudWatch Unified CloudWatch Agent Hands On
  • CloudWatch Unified Agent Troubleshooting
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudWatch Logs
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudWatch Logs Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudWatch Alarms
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudWatch Alarms Hands On
  • CloudWatch Contributor Insights
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Amazon EventBridge
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Amazon EventBridge Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Amazon Athena
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Amazon Athena Hands On
  • Amazon Athena Troubleshooting
  • [SAA] CloudTrail
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudTrail Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudTrail EventBridge Integration
  • [SOA] CloudTrail for SysOps
  • CloudTrail to CloudWatch Metrics Filter Example
  • CloudTrail Integration with Athena
  • Monitoring Account Activity
  • [CCP/SAA/SOA] Macie
  • Macie Advanced
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Event Notifications
  • [SAA/SOA] VPC Flow Logs
  • VPC Flow Logs Advanced
  • [SAA/SOA] VPC Traffic Mirroring
  • VPC Traffic Mirroring Architectures
  • VPC Network Access Analyzer
  • Route 53 Query Logging
  • [SAA] OpenSearch
  • OpenSearch Advanced
Infrastructure Security — Network 2 sessions
  • Domain 3 – Infrastructure Security
  • [SAA/SOA] Bastion Host
  • [SAA/SOA] Site to Site VPN
  • [SAA/SOA] Site to Site VPN Hands On
  • [CCP] Client VPN
  • Client VPN Client Authentication Types
  • [SAA/SOA] VPC Peering
  • [SAA/SOA] VPC Peering Hands On
  • [SOA] DNS Resolution Options in VPC
  • [SOA] DNS Resolution Options in VPC Hands On
  • VPC Endpoints Overview
  • VPC Endpoint Policies
  • VPC Endpoint Examples
  • [SOA] Private Link
  • [SOA] Private Link Hands On
  • [SAA/SOA] NACL & Security Groups
  • [SAA/SOA] NACL & Security Groups Hands On
  • Security Groups Outbound Rules & Managed Prefixes
  • Security Groups Extras
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Transit Gateway
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudFront Overview
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudFront Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudFront Geo Restriction
  • [DVA] CloudFront Signed URL & Cookies
  • [DVA] CloudFront Signed URL & Cookies Hands On
  • [DVA] CloudFront Field Level Encryption
  • CloudFront Origin Access Control and Origin Access Identity (OAC & OAI)
  • CloudFront Other
Infrastructure Security — Application & Edge 2 sessions
  • WAF
  • [SAA] Shield
  • [SAA] AWS Firewall Manager
  • WAF Hands On
  • AWS Shield Advanced Metrics
  • [SAA] DDoS Attack Protection
  • [SAA/DVA] API Gateway
  • [SAA/DVA] API Gateway Hands On
  • API Gateway Advanced
  • [CCP/SOA] AWS Artifact
  • Route 53 DNSSEC
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Network Firewall
  • AWS Network Firewall Advanced
  • Amazon SES
Identity & Access Management 2 sessions
  • Domain 4 – Identity and Access Management
  • IAM Policies in Depth
  • IAM Condition Operators
  • IAM Global condition context keys
  • IAM Permission Boundaries
  • IAM Policy Evaluation Logic
  • IdentityBased Policies vs. ResourceBased Policies
  • ABAC (Attribute based access control)
  • IAM MFA
  • IAM Credentials Report
  • IAM Roles and Pass Role to Services
  • [SOA] STS Overview
  • STS Version 1 & Version 2
  • STS External ID
  • STS Revoking IAM Role Temporary Security Credentials
  • Sample SCP
  • EC2 Instance Metadata Overview
  • EC2 Instance Metadata IMDSv1 vs IMDSv2
  • S3 Authorization Evaluation Process
  • S3 Cross Account Access and Canned ACL
  • S3 Samples S3 Bucket Policies
  • S3 VPC Endpoint Strategy
  • S3 Regain Access to Locked S3 Bucket
  • S3 Block Public Access Settings
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Access Points
  • [SOA] S3 Access Points Hands On
  • [SOA] S3 MultiRegion Access Points
  • [SOA] S3 MultiRegion Access Points Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 CORS
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 CORS Hands On
  • [DVA/SOA] Cognito User Pools
  • [DVA/SOA] Cognito Identity Pools
  • Cognito User Pool User Groups
  • Identity Federation & Cognito
  • SAML 2.0 Metadata File Troubleshooting
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS IAM Identity Center
  • AWS Directory Services
Data Protection & Encryption 3 sessions
  • Domain 5 – Data Protection
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Encryption 101
  • CloudHSM
  • CloudHSM Advanced
  • [SAA] KMS Multi Region Key
  • [DVA] KMS Envelope Encryption
  • [SOA] KMS Key Rotation
  • KMS Key Deletion
  • KMS Key Policies Deep Dive
  • KMS Grants
  • KMS Condition Keys
  • KMS Key Policies Evaluation Process
  • KMS Key CrossAccount Access
  • KMS Asymmetric Encryption
  • KMS API Calls Limits and Data Key Caching
  • KMS with EBS
  • EFS Encryption
  • KMS with ABAC
  • KMS with Parameter Store
  • [SAA] Secrets Manager
  • [SAA] Secrets Manager Hands On
  • Secrets Manager Advanced
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Encryption
  • S3 Encryption Summary
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Default Encryption
  • S3 Bucket Policies Examples
  • [DVA] S3 Bucket Key
  • Large File Upload to S3 with KMS Key
  • S3 Batch Encryption
  • [SAA/SOA] S3 Object Lock & Glacier Vault Lock
  • Glacier Vault Lock Deep Dive
  • [SOA] Glacier Vault Lock Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Lifecycle Rules (with S3 Analytics)
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Lifecycle Rules Hands On
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Replication
  • [CCP/SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Replication Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] S3 Replication Notes
  • [CCP] Elastic Load Balancing Overview
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] Network Load Balancer Overview
  • Network Load Balancer Advanced
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] ELB Sticky Sessions
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] ELB SSL Certificates
  • ELB SSL Certificates Advanced
  • Network Load Balancer TLS Listeners
  • AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
  • [DVA/SOA] AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) Hands On
  • ACM Advanced
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Backup
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Backup Hands On
  • Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager
  • [DVA] AWS Nitro Enclaves
Compliance & Security Governance 2 sessions
  • Domain 6: Management and Security Governance
  • [SAA/SOA] Organizations
  • [CCP/SAA/SOA] Organizations Hands On
  • [SOA] AWS Organizations IAM Policies & Tag Policies
  • AWS Control Tower
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Config
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Config Hands On
  • [SOA] AWS Config Aggregators
  • AWS Config Use Cases
  • [CCP/SAA/SOA] Trusted Advisor + Hands On
  • [SAA/SOA] AWS Cost Explorer
  • [CCP] AWS Cost Anomaly Detection
  • [SAA] AWS WellArchitected Framework & WellArchitected Tool
  • Audit Manager
  • [CCP/SAA] CloudFormation
  • [CCP/SAA] CloudFormation Hands On
  • [SAA/DVA/SOA] CloudFormation Service Role
  • [DVA/SOA] CloudFormation Stack Policy
  • CloudFormation Dynamic References
  • [DVA/SOA] CloudFormation Termination Protection
  • CloudFormation Drift
  • CloudFormation Guard
  • [CCP] AWS Service Catalog
  • AWS Resource Access Manager (AWS RAM)
Additional Security Services & Exam Preparation 1 sessions
  • Other Services
  • [SAA/SOA] Direct Connect
  • [SAA/SOA] Direct Connect + S2S VPN
  • [SAA/DVA] Elastic Container Registry (ECR)
  • ECR Security
  • ECS Secret Management
  • EKS Concepts
  • Lambda Security
  • [DVA] Lambda in VPC
  • [DVA] Lambda in VPC Hands On
  • AWS Signer
  • AWS Verified Access
  • [SAA] Glue Overview
  • Glue Security
  • Workspaces Security
  • ASG Instance Refresh
  • EBS Data Volume Wiping
  • Cloud Shell
  • RDS & Aurora Security
  • [CCP/SOA] EC2 Image Builder
  • [SOA] EC2 Image Builder Hands On
  • EC2 Image Builder Troubleshooting
  • Redshift Security
  • DynamoDB Time To Live (TTL)

After this course, you will

Skills you carry to every job

  • Detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents using GuardDuty, Security Hub, and Detective
  • Design comprehensive logging and monitoring architectures with CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and Macie
  • Implement layered network security using NACLs, WAF, Shield Advanced, and Network Firewall
  • Manage cryptographic keys and secrets at scale with KMS, CloudHSM, and Secrets Manager
  • Enforce least-privilege access using IAM policy conditions, permission boundaries, and SCP
  • Secure data at rest and in transit across S3, RDS, EBS, and EFS using KMS and ACM
  • Implement governance and compliance controls with AWS Config, Control Tower, and Audit Manager
  • Pass the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam

Hands-on learning

What you'll build

3 industry capstone projects · built from scratch · yours to keep

01

Automated Threat Detection & Response Platform

Build an automated security response system: GuardDuty findings trigger EventBridge rules, which invoke Step Functions to orchestrate Lambda-based remediation (isolate compromised EC2, rotate IAM credentials, snapshot EBS volumes). Publish findings to Security Hub and send PagerDuty alerts via SNS. Store all findings in an S3 security lake.

GuardDuty Security Hub EventBridge Step Functions Lambda SNS S3 CloudTrail
02

Enterprise Data Encryption Framework

Design and implement a comprehensive encryption strategy: multi-region KMS keys with key policies and grants, automatic rotation, S3 bucket keys for cost efficiency, encrypted RDS and EBS volumes, Secrets Manager for database credential rotation, and ACM private CA for internal mTLS. Document the full key hierarchy.

KMS AWS Secrets Manager ACM S3 RDS EBS CloudTrail CloudWatch
03

Multi-Account Security Governance Hub

Establish a centralised security governance model using AWS Organizations with SCPs, AWS Config Aggregator for compliance visibility across all member accounts, Security Hub delegated administrator for findings aggregation, and CloudFormation StackSets to deploy security baselines (GuardDuty, Config rules, CloudTrail) to every account.

AWS Organizations AWS Config Security Hub GuardDuty CloudFormation CloudTrail IAM SCP

Plus 16 guided mini-projects across the curriculum — Q&A bots, resume screeners, SQL helpers, and more.

Batch Schedule

⚡ Seats filling fast — only 7 remaining across all batches

Available Batches
Batch Type Schedule Duration Next Start Date Availability
Weekend Sat & Sun, 10am–1pm 10 weeks 12 Sept 2026 Available
Weekday Mon–Fri, 7–9pm 8 weeks 14 Sept 2026 Available
Fast-track Mon–Sun, 6 hours/day 2 weeks 21 Sept 2026 Available

Frequently Asked Questions

What prerequisites are recommended for the SCS-C02 exam?

AWS recommends 5+ years of IT security and 2+ years of active AWS experience. At minimum, you should hold an Associate-level AWS certification and have hands-on experience with IAM, VPC, CloudTrail, and S3 security.

Which domains are covered in the SCS-C02 exam?

Six domains: Threat Detection and Incident Response (14%), Security Logging and Monitoring (18%), Infrastructure Security (20%), Identity and Access Management (22%), Data Protection (18%), and Management and Security Governance (8%).

Is KMS coverage sufficient for the exam?

Absolutely. KMS gets an entire module covering key types, key policies, grants, condition keys, envelope encryption, cross-account access, ABAC, data key caching, integration with S3/EBS/RDS/EFS, and deletion/rotation policies.

How long is the exam?

170 minutes, 65 questions (multiple choice and multiple response), passing score of 750 out of 1000. Questions are scenario-heavy and require you to distinguish between multiple valid-looking approaches.

Does the course cover the exam lab component?

The SCS-C02 is currently a traditional multiple-choice exam (no lab component). The course's hands-on labs prepare you for real-world security work and deepen your understanding beyond what rote memorisation achieves.

What roles benefit most from the Security Specialty?

Security Engineers, Cloud Security Architects, Compliance Officers, GRC Analysts, and any cloud engineer who owns security posture in their organisation will find this certification significantly advances their career.

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