Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT)
The industry's first, most authoritative, vendor-neutral Zero Trust training and certificate program.
Gartner predicts over 60% of organizations will embrace Zero Trust principles for security by 2025. Become an accredited Zero Trust professional with the first, independent training and certificate program backed by industry titans.
The CCZT includes foundational Zero Trust components released by CISA and NIST, innovative work in the Software Defined Perimeter by CSA Research, and guidance from renowned Zero Trust experts such as John Kindervag, Founder of the Zero Trust philosophy.
Enhance your skills, value, career, and organization with the best foundational Zero Trust certificate in the market.
Winner of the 2025 Globee Award for Cybersecurity
The Globee Awards for Cybersecurity spotlight the achievements of companies and individuals excelling in risk management, threat detection, cloud-security AI driven defense, data privacy, zero-trust architecture, compliance, and other cutting-edge cybersecurity innovations.
CSA's Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) recieved a Silver award for Cybersecurity Education and Training as part of the 21st Annual 2025 Globee Awards for Cybersecurity. The CCZT, the industry's first authoritative Zero Trust training and credential, was chosen for its groundbreaking contributions to digital security, innovation in its threat defense, and commitment to cybersecurity solutions.
Winner of the 12th Annual Global InfoSec Awards at RSAC 2024
Winner of the Cutting Edge Cybersecurity Training Award, the CCZT is recognized as a leader in equipping professionals with advanced skills for implementing Zero Trust security architectures.
"CSA embodies three major features we look for: understanding tomorrow's threats today, providing a cost-effective solution, and innovating in unexpected ways that can help mitigate cyber risk and get one step ahead of the next breach." - Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine.
What are the benefits of earning the CCZT?
Close the Skills Gap
The CCZT equips you with the skills to architect, implement, and manage Zero Trust security solutions, bridging the skills gap.
Increase Value to Employers
Demonstrate your advanced knowledge and capabilities in Zero Trust, making you a valuable asset and increasing your marketability in the industry.
Earn a Digital Badge & Certificate
Gain industry recognition by displaying the CCZT digital badge and certificate on your digital profiles and resumes to demonstrate your verified expertise.
Gain Comprehensive Knowledge
Informed by industry experts, leverage the extensive resources and flexible study options to master Zero Trust principles at your own pace.
Preparing for the CCZT
Study on Your Own
You can study for the exam yourself using our free Prep Kit. The kit comes with everything you need to study and prepare for the CCZT exam.
Enroll in Training
Available training formats include:
- Self-paced (online)
- Instructor-led (online or in-person)
*The training and exam is only offered in English.
Train Your Team
Our team training offerings are design and proven to:
- Fill your cloud security skills gaps.
- Get all your stakeholders trained, certified, and aligned.
- Meet your organization's staff training needs with exactly what fits your needs and budget.
- Recognize training completion and incentivize staff with certificates for passing the exam.
*Note that CSA Corporate Membership includes discounts on the CCZT and team training credits.
The CCZT exam is open-book and online. It contains 60 multiple-choice questions selected randomly from a larger pool, and you must complete it in 120 minutes. The minimum passing score is 80%.
Purchase of the exam costs $175 and provides you with two test attempts, which you will have 2 years to use.
The CCZT covers the following topics:
Zero Trust Architecture
Software Defined Perimeter
Zero Trust Strategy
Zero Trust
Planning
Zero Trust Implementation
NIST and CISA Best Practices
Zero Trust Foundational Concepts
Who should take the CCZT?
The CCZT is designed for all key stakeholders in organizations planning to adopt, architect, and implement Zero Trust governance and risk posture to modernize and optimize their cybersecurity protection against evolving threats.
This includes:
- C-Suite executives, managers, and decision-makers
- Security engineers, architects, analysts, and administrators
- Compliance managers
Which career paths does the CCZT help with?
CCZT training and accreditation
create a motivated workforce and security team proficient
in a pivotal approach to cloud security. It helps improve
each participant's skills and knowledge, increasing their
value to any organization and preparing them for the next
steps in their careers, whether in security, engineering,
management, product marketing, auditing/compliance, or
executive positions.
What are the prerequisites?
While the CCZT does not require any official work
experience or prior qualification, it's helpful for
participants to have a basic grounding in cloud security.
The CCSK is an excellent precursor to CCZT training.
Industry Support
I’m extremely grateful to the Cloud Security Alliance for taking up the Zero Trust banner with the delivery of the CCZT, the world’s first authentic, non-vendor-specific training and certificate that delivers the knowledge needed to understand the core concepts of Zero Trust. The sheer volume of passionate volunteers CSA has been able to bring together to collaborate on the development of Zero Trust tools and best practices is incredibly exciting.
Senior Vice President, Cybersecurity Strategy at ON2IT Cybersecurity
I found the threat intelligence training in CCZT most relevant to my role as it provided crucial knowledge to help me stay ahead of emerging threats.
CEO at Securosis
With Zero Trust becoming a key competence for IT professionals, CCZT will become an essential prerequisite enabling a proper understanding of what Zero Trust is and how to implement it.
CEO at Global Identity Foundation & Board Member of CSA UK Chapter
Zero Trust is a game changer and is going to be a focus of interest for security professionals. To keep up with the evolving interests, I highly recommend completing the Zero Trust online course before taking the CCZT. The training courses give the knowledge needed to understand the core concepts of Zero Trust and pass a challenging exam. CCZT is not an easy exam. I recommend reading all of the provided study materials, and then reading them again.
Information Security Architect, Elexon
Zero Trust consolidates our industry's best practices and guidance into a comprehensive and coherent model. The CCZT will provide you with validation that you have a solid grasp of the breadth and depth of Zero Trust, and confidence to lead your organization's investment in this effective strategy.
Founder and Principal at Numberline Security
Zero Trust is the future of information security. Investing in Zero Trust and the CCZT is an investment in our organization’s future. Through the CCZT, our team was able to gain invaluable insights into Zero Trust best practices. Professionals seeking validation on their understanding and implementation of Zero Trust should strongly consider obtaining the CCZT.
VP, Information Security & Compliance, and CISO at Hudl
Additional Zero Trust Courses
These supplemental Zero Trust courses offer valuable insights but are not required for or included in the CCZT exam or study materials.
CCZT Community Highlights
Earn a Commission & Promote the CCZT
Join us in promoting the CCZT certificate and its benefits. By sharing this certificate within your network, you position yourself at the forefront of cloud security best practices and earn a commission.
Get involved
Acknowledgements
Meet the dedicated professionals who played a pivotal role in creating and developing the CCZT exam. Their expertise and commitment to cloud security have shaped this certificate into a comprehensive program.
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CCZT Inaugural Class
Celebrate the industry pioneers who received the first CCZT badges. These professionals are recognized for their exceptional knowledge and commitment to advancing Zero Trust principles.
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