Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA)

The Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA) is a pre-professional certification designed for candidates interested in advancing to the professional level through a demonstrated understanding of foundational knowledge and skills of security technologies in the cloud native ecosystem. Once you pass the exam, be sure to add your new badge to your LinkedIn, LFX, GitHub & other profiles to help you better connect with the open source community and distinguish yourself as certified for prospective employers.

You don’t need years of experience to start your cloud security career. Earning your KCSA is the perfect first step.

The KCSA certification proves your high-demand security skills, delivers career advancement, grants industry-wide credential recognition, and provides valuable networking opportunities.

Overview of Cloud Native Security - 14%

The 4Cs of Cloud Native Security

Cloud Provider and Infrastructure Security

Controls and Frameworks

Isolation Techniques

Artifact Repository and Image Security

Workload and Application Code Security

Kubernetes Cluster Component Security - 22%

API Server

Controller Manager

Scheduler

Kubelet

Container Runtime

KubeProxy

Pod

Etcd

Container Networking

Client Security

Storage

Kubernetes Security Fundamentals - 22%

Pod Security Standards

Pod Security Admissions

Authentication

Authorization

Secrets

Isolation and Segmentation

Audit Logging

Network Policy

Kubernetes Threat Model - 16%

Kubernetes Trust Boundaries and Data Flow

Persistence

Denial of Service

Malicious Code Execution and Compromised Applications in Containers

Attacker on the Network

Access to Sensitive Data

Privilege Escalation

Platform Security - 16%

Supply Chain Security

Image Repository

Observability

Service Mesh

PKI

Connectivity

Admission Control

Compliance and Security Frameworks - 10%

Compliance Frameworks

Threat Modelling Frameworks

Supply Chain Compliance

Automation and Tooling

How to register & take exam: TBC (Link to FAQ pages of the website)

Linux Foundation Global Certification & Confidentiality Agreement: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/lf-cert-agreement/

Candidate Handbook: https://training.linuxfoundation.org/go/LFCA-candidate-handbook

Important Instructions: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/important-instructions-mc

Frequently Asked Questions: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/faq-mc

Curriculum Overview: https://github.com/cncf/curriculum/blob/master/KCSA%20Curriculum.pdf