The SSCP is the ISC2 certification for hands-on security practitioners who run day-to-day operations such as access control, monitoring and incident handling. This page gives you free practice sets mapped to the official content areas, worked explanations of sample questions, a study plan, and plain answers on fees, scoring, eligibility and renewal.
The SSCP takes about 2 hours and costs $249[1][2] (ISC2, verified Oct 25, 2026).
Numbers in brackets link to the official sources listed under Sources & last verified. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.
| Item | Detail | Source · Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Time limit | 2 hours[1] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Passing score | 700 out of 1000[1] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Exam fee | US$249[2] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Renewal | 60 CPE credits every 3 years + US$135 annual fee[2] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Delivery | Pearson testing center; English, Japanese, Spanish[1] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Eligibility | 1 year paid experience in 1+ of 7 domains (degree can substitute)[2] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
| Score release | Unofficial result at test-center checkout; official result by email[3] | ISC2 · Oct 25, 2026 |
According to ISC2, “One year of cumulative, paid work experience in one or more of the seven SSCP domains.”[2]
The SSCP is issued by ISC2 and is aimed at people who implement, monitor and administer IT infrastructure using security policies and procedures. The exam outline covers seven domains, from access controls and cryptography to incident response and systems security.
Delivery. The exam is taken at a Pearson testing center. It is offered in English, Japanese and Spanish, and you have 2 hours to finish it.
Scoring. The passing grade is 700 out of 1000 points. This is a scaled score, so it is not the same as a raw percentage of questions answered correctly. Your proctor gives you an unofficial result when you check out at the test center, and the official result follows by email.
Fee and eligibility. The exam fee is US$249. ISC2 asks for 1 year of cumulative, paid work experience in 1 or more of the 7 SSCP domains. A degree can substitute for some or all of that requirement, so check the exact terms with ISC2 before you book.
Renewal. After certification you earn 60 CPE credits every 3 years and pay an annual maintenance fee of US$135.
We do not list retake rules here because they are not in the facts we have verified, and policies and prices can change. Confirm retake waiting periods, local taxes and any regional differences on the official ISC2 pages before you pay.
The content areas below are copied from the official SSCP content outline published by ISC2, with the share of the exam each area carries. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.
| Official content area | Weight | Practice on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Access Controls[1] | 15% | SSCP Access Control & Identity Management Practise authentication, authorization, accounting and identity lifecycle, and apply least privilege to each scenario. |
| Cryptography[1] | 9% | SSCP Cryptography & PKI Know when to use symmetric, asymmetric and hashing methods, and how certificates and key management support them. |
| Incident Response and Recovery[1] | 14% | SSCP Incident Response & Recovery Work through the order of incident handling steps, and the difference between containment, recovery and lessons learned. |
| Network and Communications Security[1] | 16% | SSCP Network Security Fundamentals Practise protocols, segmentation, firewalls and secure remote access, and which control fits which threat. |
| Risk Identification, Monitoring and Analysis[1] | 15% | SSCP Security Monitoring & Incident Detection Practise reading logs and alerts, spotting weak signals, and choosing the right response to a finding. |
| Security Concepts and Practices[1] | 16% | SSCP Security Policies & Risk Management Be able to explain core principles such as least privilege and defense in depth, plus policy and risk basics. |
| Systems and Application Security[1] | 15% | SSCP Systems & Application Security Practise hardening, malware defenses, secure development practices and how to reduce flaws before deployment. |
Prepare for the SSCP - Security Operations and Administration exam with our free practice test modules. Each quiz covers key topics to help you pass on your first try.
These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.
Question: Which of the following best represents 'least privilege'?
Answer: B. Providing access only necessary for specific job roles
Explanation:
The correct answer is that least privilege means providing only the access necessary for specific job roles. A person or process receives the minimum permissions needed for its tasks, which limits the damage from mistakes, misuse or a compromised account.
Giving all users full administrative rights is the opposite: every account becomes a high-value target. Blocking all access requests is not least privilege either, because people still need enough access to do their work. Granting access to entire departments is too broad, since not everyone in a department needs the same data or systems.
Rule to remember: least privilege is matched to the role, not to the whole team and not to nothing. Ask what the task needs, grant that, and review it when the role changes.
Question: Which security measure involves using multiple independent systems to perform the same function to verify results?
Answer: C. Diversity of defense
Explanation:
The correct answer is diversity of defense. It uses different, independent controls so that one flaw or bypass does not take down every layer at once, and different systems can cross-check each other.
Redundancy is wrong because it usually duplicates the same component for availability, so a shared flaw affects every copy. Defense in depth is wrong because it describes stacking multiple layers of controls, not making them independent implementations of the same function. Failover clustering is wrong because it keeps a service running when a node fails, which is about availability, not about verifying results.
Rule to remember: redundancy copies, defense in depth layers, and diversity makes the layers different from each other.
Question: Which secure software development practice involves reviewing code to identify security flaws before deployment?
Answer: B. Static code analysis
Explanation:
The correct answer is static code analysis. It examines source code without running it, so security flaws can be found early in development, before the software is deployed.
Penetration testing is wrong because it attacks a running system, normally later in the lifecycle, rather than reviewing the code itself. Fuzz testing is wrong because it feeds malformed or random input to a running program to see how it fails. Runtime application self-protection is wrong because it is a control that operates while the application runs in production, not a review done before deployment.
Rule to remember: when the question says reviewing code before deployment, think of static analysis. When the program must be running, think of dynamic testing or runtime controls.
Start with the official ISC2 exam outline and read the list of content areas. Mark each area as strong, shaky or unfamiliar. This takes little time and decides where your effort goes.
Our questions are written by us with AI tools and are not real exam questions. Use them to check understanding, and rely on ISC2 for the official scope and rules.
The exam fee listed by ISC2 is US$249. Taxes, regional pricing or retake fees may differ, so confirm the final amount on the ISC2 site or at Pearson when you schedule. After certification there is also an annual maintenance fee of US$135.
The passing grade is 700 out of 1000 points. It is a scaled score, so it does not translate directly into a percentage of questions answered correctly. Use practice scores only as a rough guide to which areas need more work.
You have 2 hours. The exam is delivered at a Pearson testing center and is available in English, Japanese and Spanish. Check the ISC2 exam outline for the current format details before you book your appointment.
ISC2 asks for 1 year of cumulative, paid work experience in 1 or more of the 7 SSCP domains. A degree can substitute for some of that requirement. Read the current ISC2 eligibility terms to see how your background counts.
Your exam proctor gives you an unofficial result when you check out at the test center. The official result is sent to you by email. Treat the email as the final word and see the ISC2 page on what happens after your exam.
You need 60 CPE credits every 3 years and pay an annual maintenance fee of US$135. ISC2 sets the rules for which activities count as credits, so check its current guidance and record your credits as you earn them.
How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.