The AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) certification is the latest version of AWS’s professional-level security certification designed for individuals responsible for securing cloud workloads and AWS environments.
The previous AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C02) exam was retired in December 2025 and replaced with the updated SCS-C03 exam, which introduces revised domains, modern security practices, advanced incident response strategies, governance concepts, and emerging cloud security topics.
The AWS SCS-C03 certification is ideal for cloud security professionals, security engineers, DevSecOps practitioners, and architects who want to validate their expertise in securing AWS services, managing identity and access controls, protecting sensitive data, and responding to security incidents in enterprise cloud environments.
What is the AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) Exam
The AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) certification is designed for professionals responsible for securing AWS cloud environments and implementing security controls across cloud workloads, applications, and infrastructure.
The exam validates a candidate’s expertise in areas such as threat detection, incident response, identity and access management, infrastructure security, data protection, governance, logging, monitoring, and compliance within AWS environments.
The AWS SCS-C03 exam also evaluates the ability to design and implement secure architectures, respond to security incidents, manage access controls, protect sensitive data, and apply AWS security best practices in enterprise cloud environments.
The certification is intended for professionals with hands-on experience in securing AWS workloads and managing cloud security operations at scale.
AWS SCS-C03 Exam Overview
| Exam Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Certification Name | AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) |
| Exam Type | Specialty |
| Question Types | Multiple-choice, multiple-response, ordering, and matching |
| Exam Delivery | Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored exam |
| Scored Questions | 50 scored questions + 15 unscored questions |
| Exam Duration | 170 minutes |
| Exam Cost | USD 300 (pricing may change over time) |
| Available Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese |
| Passing Score | Minimum scaled score of 750 out of 1000 |
AWS may include unscored questions for evaluation purposes. These questions do not impact the final exam result. Official Exam Guide
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AWS SCS-C03 Exam Domains
The AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) exam guide includes detailed information about the exam domains, task statements, and security concepts covered in the certification exam.
The AWS SCS-C03 exam is divided into the following content domains:
Domain 1: Detection (16% of scored content)
This domain focuses on designing and implementing monitoring, logging, alerting, and threat detection solutions across AWS environments.
Key topics include:
- Security monitoring and alerting strategies
- Logging and log analysis solutions
- Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub, and Amazon Security Lake, security threats
- CloudTrail and CloudWatch monitoring
- Troubleshooting logging and monitoring solutions
Domain 2: Incident Response (14% of scored content)
This domain evaluates your ability to design, test, and implement incident response strategies for AWS workloads and cloud environments.
Key topics include:
- Incident response planning and runbooks
- Security event investigation and remediation
- Automated response workflows
- Root cause analysis and forensic investigations
- AWS Systems Manager and AWS Step Functions automation
Domain 3: Infrastructure Security (18% of scored content)
This domain focuses on securing network infrastructure, compute workloads, and edge services within AWS environments.
Key topics include:
- AWS WAFs, Shields, and Route 53 protections
- Network security controls and segmentation
- Security controls for Amazon EC2 and container workloads
- AWS Network Firewall and AWS Verified Access
- Secure hybrid and multi-cloud connectivity
Domain 4: Identity and Access Management (20% of scored content)
This domain focuses on authentication, authorization, and identity management strategies across AWS services and workloads.
Key topics include:
- AWS IAM Identity Center and Amazon Cognito
- Least privilege access controls
- Role-based and attribute-based access control
- IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Temporary credentials and AWS STS
Domain 5: Data Protection (18% of scored content)
This domain evaluates your ability to secure sensitive data across AWS environments both in transit and at rest.
Key topics include:
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- AWS KMS and AWS CloudHSM
- AWS Secrets Manager
- Secure backup and replication strategies
- Key management and certificate management
Domain 6: Security Foundations and Governance (14% of scored content)
This domain focuses on governance, compliance, centralized security management, and secure deployment strategies across AWS organizations.
Key topics include:
- AWS Organizations and AWS Control Tower
- Service Control Policies (SCPs)
- Compliance monitoring and remediation
- AWS Audit Manager and AWS Config
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security practices
Difference between SCS-C02 and SCS-C03
The AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam has been updated from SCS-C02 to SCS-C03 with revised exam domains, updated weightage distribution, modern cloud security concepts, and expanded security operations coverage.
One of the most significant changes in SCS-C03 is the restructuring of the exam domains. The previous “Threat Detection and Incident Response” and “Security Logging and Monitoring” domains have now been separated into two dedicated domains: Detection and Incident Response.
Compared to SCS-C02, the AWS SCS-C03 exam places greater emphasis on:
- Centralized security governance
- Threat detection and monitoring
- Incident response automation
- Identity and access management
- Cloud-native security operations
- Compliance and governance strategies
The updated exam also introduces modern AWS security services and concepts such as Amazon Security Lake, AWS IAM Identity Center, AWS Verified Access, and automated security response workflows.
I Recently Earned the AWS SCS-C02 Certification. Do I Need to Take the SCS-C03 Exam?
If you have already earned the AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C02) certification, your certification will remain valid for three years from the date you passed the exam. You are not required to take the AWS SCS-C03 exam immediately if your current certification is still active.
However, AWS retired the SCS-C02 exam in December 2025, and the AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) exam is now the current version available for new candidates pursuing this certification.
The updated SCS-C03 exam includes revised domains, modern cloud security concepts, updated governance practices, and expanded coverage of security operations and incident response workflows. Professionals who want to stay aligned with the latest AWS security services and best practices may consider preparing for the updated SCS-C03 certification objectives.
NOTE : Candidates should always verify the latest recertification and renewal policies through the official AWS Certification portal.
AWS SCS-C03 Exam Results
The AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03) exam is graded on a pass/fail basis. The exam is scored against a minimum standard established by AWS professionals who follow certification industry best practices and guidelines.
Your results for the exam are reported as a scaled score of 100–1,000. The minimum passing score is 750. Your score shows how you performed on the exam as a whole and whether you passed. Scaled scoring models help equate scores across multiple exam forms that might have slightly different difficulty levels.
Your score report could contain a table of classifications of your performance at each section level. The exam uses a compensatory scoring model, which means that you do need to achieve a passing score in each section. You need to pass only the overall exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
AWS Certified Security - Specialty is intended for experienced individuals who have five years of IT security experience in designing and implementing security solutions and two or more years of hands-on experience in securing AWS workloads. This certification complements the skills and expertise required for multiple job roles across cloud architecture, database, networking, and DevSecOps
This certification can build your credibility and position you as a trusted advisor to your stakeholders and customers. As an AWS Certified Security - Specialty certification holder, you can bring best practices and security solutions that meet organizations and customers unique needs.
You are not required to earn any specific certifications prior to preparing for this certification. However, candidates commonly earn the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate and/or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional before attempting the AWS Certified Security - Specialty exam. Who should take this exam
How will the AWS Certified Security help my career?
What certifications should I earn before taking this exam?
Related Links/References
- AWS Certified Security Specialty: Everything You Need To Know
- AWS Cloud Certifications
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C01) Step By Step Activity Guides (Hands-On Labs)
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam guide
- AWS Security Services and Compliance
- AWS VPC and Subnets – A Comprehensive Guide
- Amazon API Gateway: Concepts and Use Cases
- AWS Certification Savings Guide: Maximizing Discounts with Expert Navigation
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