Free Practice Questions for ISC2 Systems Security Certified Practitioner Certification

🔄 Last checked for updates July 3rd, 2026

Study with 349 exam-style practice questions designed to help you prepare for the ISC2 Systems Security Certified Practitioner.

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Exam Details

Key information about ISC2 Systems Security Certified Practitioner

Official study guide

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Question formats CertSafari offers

Multiple choice
Matching

language:

English, Japanese, Spanish

exam format:

Multiple choice and advanced item types

passing score:

700 out of 1000 points

prerequisites:

Minimum of one-year full-time experience in one or more of the SSCP domains. A post-secondary degree in computer science, IT, or related fields may satisfy up to one year of experience. Part-time work and internships may also count.

delivery method:

Pearson VUE Testing Center

time limit minutes:

120 minutes

number of questions:

100 - 125

Exam Topics & Skills Assessed

Skills measured (from the official study guide)

Security Concepts and Practices(16%%)

Comply with codes of ethics

ISC2 Code of Ethics
Organizational code of ethics

Understand security concepts

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Accountability
Non-repudiation
Least privilege
Separation of duties (SoD)

Identify and implement security controls

Technical controls
Physical controls
Administrative controls
Assessing compliance requirements
Periodic audit and review

Document and maintain functional security controls

Deterrent controls
Preventative controls
Detective controls
Corrective controls
Compensating controls

Support and implement asset management lifecycle

Process, planning, design and initiation
Development /Acquisition (DevSecOps, testing)
Inventory and licensing (open source, closed-source)
Implementation/Assessment
Operation/Maintenance/End of Life (EOL)
Archival and retention requirements
Disposal and destruction

Support and/or implement change management lifecycle

Change management
Security impact analysis
Configuration management (CM)

Support and/or implement security awareness and training

Social engineering
Phishing
Tabletop exercises
Awareness communications

Collaborate with physical security operations

Data center/facility assessment
Badging and visitor management
Personal device restrictions

Access Controls(15%%)

Implement and maintain authentication methods

Single/Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Single sign-on (SSO)
Device authentication
Federated access

Understand and support internetwork trust architectures

Trust relationships
Internet, intranet, extranet, and demilitarized zone (DMZ)
Third-party connections

Support and/or implement the identity management lifecycle

Authorization
Proofing
Provisioning/De-provisioning
Monitoring, Reporting, and Maintenance
Entitlement
Identity and access management (IAM) systems

Understand and administer access controls

Mandatory
Discretionary
Role-based
Rule-based
Attribute-based

Risk Identification, Monitoring and Analysis(15%%)

Understand risk management

Risk visibility and reporting
Risk management concepts
Risk management frameworks
Risk tolerance
Risk treatment

Understand legal and regulatory concerns

Jurisdiction
Limitations
Privacy

Perform security assessments and vulnerability management activities

Risk management frameworks implementation
Security testing
Risk review
Vulnerability management lifecycle

Operate and monitor security platforms

Source systems
Events of interest
Log management
Security information and event management (SIEM)

Analyze monitoring results

Security baselines and anomalies
Visualizations, metrics, and trends
Event data analysis
Document and communicate findings

Incident Response and Recovery(14%%)

Understand and support incident response lifecycle

Preparation
Detection, analysis, and escalation
Containment
Eradication
Recovery
Post incident activities

Understand and support forensic investigations

Legal and ethical principles
Evidence handling
Reporting of analysis
Organization Security Policy Compliance

Understand and support business continuity plan (BCP) and disaster recovery plan (DRP) activities

Emergency response plans and procedures
Interim or alternate processing strategies
Restoration planning
Backup and redundancy implementation
Testing and drills

Cryptography(9%%)

Understand reasons and requirements for cryptography

Confidentiality
Integrity and authenticity
Data sensitivity
Regulatory and industry best practice
Cryptography entropy

Apply cryptography concepts

Hashing
Salting
Symmetric/Asymmetric encryption/Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC)
Non-repudiation
Strength of encryption algorithms and keys
Cryptographic attacks and cryptanalysis

Understand and implement secure protocols

Services and protocols
Common use cases
Limitations and vulnerabilities

Understand and support public key infrastructure (PKI) systems

Fundamental key management concepts
Web of Trust (WOT)

Network and Communications Security(16%%)

Understand and apply fundamental concepts of networking

Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) models
Network topologies
Network relationships
Transmission media types
Software-defined networking (SDN)
Commonly used ports and protocols

Understand network attacks

Distributed denial of service (DDoS)
Man-in-the-middle (MITM)
Domain Name System (DNS) cache poisoning
Countermeasures

Manage network access controls

Network access controls, standards and protocols
Remote access operation and configuration

Manage network security

Logical and physical placement of network devices
Segmentation
Secure device management

Operate and configure network-based security appliances and services

Firewalls and proxies
Intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS)
Routers and switches
Traffic-shaping devices
Network Access Control (NAC)
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Secure wireless communications

Technologies
Authentication and encryption protocols

Secure and monitor Internet of Things (IoT)

Configuration
Network isolation
Firmware updates
End of Life (EOL) management

Systems and Application Security(15%%)

Identify and analyze malicious code and activity

Malware
Malware countermeasures
Types of malicious activity
Malicious activity countermeasures
Social engineering methods
Behavior analytics

Implement and operate endpoint device security

Host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS)
Host-based intrusion detection system (HIDS)
Host-based firewalls
Application whitelisting
Endpoint encryption
Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
Secure browsing

Endpoint detection and response (EDR)

Endpoint detection and response (EDR)

Understand and configure cloud security

Deployment models
Service models
Virtualization
Legal and regulatory concerns
Third-party/Outsourcing requirements
Shared responsibility model
Data storage, processing, and transmission

Operate and maintain secure virtual environments

Provisioning techniques
Containerization
Encryption
Mobile application management
Hypervisor
Virtual appliances
Containers
Continuity and resilience
Storage management
Threats, attacks, and countermeasures

Techniques & products

ISC2 Code of Ethics

Organizational code of ethics

Confidentiality

Integrity

Availability

Accountability

Non-repudiation

Least privilege

Separation of duties (SoD)

Technical controls

Firewalls

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)

Access Control List (ACL)

Physical controls

Mantraps

Cameras

Locks

Administrative controls

Security policies

Standards

Procedures

Baselines

Compliance requirements

Periodic audit and review

Deterrent controls

Preventative controls

Detective controls

Corrective controls

Compensating controls

Asset management lifecycle

DevSecOps

Testing

Inventory and licensing

Open source

Closed-source

End of Life (EOL)

Archival and retention

Disposal and destruction

Change management

Security impact analysis

Configuration management (CM)

Security awareness and training

Social engineering

Phishing

Tabletop exercises

Awareness communications

Physical security operations

Data center/facility assessment

Badging and visitor management

Personal device restrictions

Single/Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Single sign-on (SSO)

Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS)

OpenID Connect

Device authentication

Certificate

Media Access Control (MAC) address

Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

Federated access

Open Authorization 2 (OAuth2)

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)

Internetwork trust architectures

Trust relationships

Internet

Intranet

Extranet

Demilitarized zone (DMZ)

Third-party connections

Application programming interface (API)

App extensions

Middleware

Identity management lifecycle

Authorization

Proofing

Provisioning/De-provisioning

Monitoring, Reporting, and Maintenance

Entitlement

Identity and access management (IAM) systems

Mandatory access control

Discretionary access control

Role-based access control

Subject-based access control

Object-based access control

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Rule-based access control

Attribute-based access control

Risk management

Risk visibility and reporting

Risk register

Threat intelligence

Indicators of Compromise (IOC)

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)

MITRE/ATT&CK model

Impact assessments

Threat modeling

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Risk tolerance

Risk appetite

Risk quantification

Risk treatment

Legal and regulatory concerns

Jurisdiction

Privacy

Security assessments

Vulnerability management

Security testing

Vulnerability management lifecycle

Security platforms

Continuous monitoring

Source systems

Security appliances

Network devices

Hosts

Events of interest

Log management

Security information and event management (SIEM)

Security baselines and anomalies

Correlation

Noise reduction

Visualizations

Metrics

Dashboards

Timelines

Event data analysis

Incident response lifecycle

Incident communication

Public relations

Containment

Eradication

Recovery

Post incident activities

Forensic investigations

Legal principles

Ethical principles

Evidence handling

First responder

Triage

Chain of custody

Preservation of scene

Business continuity plan (BCP)

Disaster recovery plan (DRP)

Emergency response plans and procedures

Information systems contingency

Pandemic plans

Natural disaster plans

Crisis management

Interim or alternate processing strategies

Restoration planning

Restore Time Objective (RTO)

Restore Point Objectives (RPO)

Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)

Backup and redundancy

Testing and drills

Playbook

Tabletop exercises

Disaster recovery exercises

Cryptography

Data sensitivity

Personally identifiable information (PII)

Intellectual property (IP)

Protected health information (PHI)

Regulatory and industry best practice

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS)

Cryptography entropy

Quantum cryptography

Quantum key distribution

Hashing

Salting

Symmetric encryption

Asymmetric encryption

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC)

Digital signatures

Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC)

Audit trails

Advanced Encryption Standards (AES)

Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA)

Cryptographic attacks

Cryptanalysis

Secure protocols

Internet Protocol Security (IPsec)

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME)

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

Credit card processing

File transfer

Web client

Virtual private network (VPN)

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

Key management

Key storage

Key rotation

Key generation

Key destruction

Key exchange

Key revocation

Key escrow

Web of Trust (WOT)

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

GNU Privacy Guard (GPG)

Blockchain

Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model

Network topologies

Peer-to-peer (P2P)

Client server

Transmission media types

Wired

Wireless

Software-defined networking (SDN)

Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN)

Network virtualization

Automation

Commonly used ports and protocols

Network attacks

Distributed denial of service (DDoS)

Man-in-the-middle (MITM)

Domain Name System (DNS) cache poisoning

Content delivery networks (CDN)

Network access controls

Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS)

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1X

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS)

Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System Plus (TACACS+)

Remote access

Thin client

Virtual desktop infrastructure

Network security

Network device placement

Segmentation

Physical segmentation

Logical segmentation

Data plane

Control plane

Virtual local area network (VLAN)

Firewall zones

Micro-segmentation

Secure device management

Network-based security appliances and services

Proxies

Filtering methods

Web application firewall (WAF)

Cloud access security broker (CASB)

Intrusion prevention systems (IPS)

Routers

Switches

Traffic-shaping devices

Wide area network (WAN) optimization

Load balancing

Network Access Control (NAC)

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Wireless communications security

Cellular network

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

Near-Field Communication (NFC)

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)

Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)

Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3)

Internet of Things (IoT) security

Firmware updates

Malicious code and activity

Malware

Rootkits

Spyware

Scareware

Ransomware

Trojans

Virus

Worms

Trapdoors

Backdoors

Fileless malware

App/code/operating system (OS)/mobile code vulnerabilities

Malware countermeasures

Scanners

Anti-malware

Containment and remediation

Software security

Malicious activity

Insider threat

Data theft

Botnet

Zero-day exploits

Web-based attacks

Advanced persistent threat (APT)

Malicious activity countermeasures

User awareness/training

System hardening

Patching

Isolation

Social engineering methods

SPAM email

Smishing

Vishing

Impersonation

Scarcity

Whaling

Behavior analytics

Machine learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Data analytics

Endpoint device security

Host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS)

Host-based intrusion detection system (HIDS)

Host-based firewalls

Application whitelisting

Full disk encryption

Hardware security module management

Secure browsing

Digital certificates

Endpoint detection and response (EDR)

Cloud security

Deployment models

Public cloud

Private cloud

Hybrid cloud

Community cloud

Service models

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Virtualization

Hypervisor

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

Legal and regulatory concerns (cloud)

Surveillance

Data ownership

eDiscovery

Shadow information technology (IT)

Third-party/Outsourcing requirements

Service-level agreement (SLA)

Data portability

Data destruction

Data auditing

Shared responsibility model

Data storage, processing, and transmission (cloud)

Archiving

Backup

Recovery

Resilience

Secure virtual environments

Provisioning techniques

Corporate owned, personally enabled (COPE)

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Containerization

Mobile application management

Type 1 hypervisor

Type 2 hypervisor

Virtual appliances

Containers

Continuity and resilience (virtual)

Storage management (data domain)

Threats, attacks, and countermeasures (virtual)

Brute-force attack

Virtual machine escape

Threat hunting

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