Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate

Credential: Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate  ANAB (ANSI) resource
Credentialing Agency: Cisco Systems, Inc.

Renewal Period: 3 years

The Cisco Systems Inc., Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate (formerly CCNA Cyber Ops) certification is an entry-level certification in the area of cybersecurity. With a focus on basic security principles and concepts, the certifcation is targeted towards associate-level cybersecurity analysts within security operations centers. To earn the CyberOps Associate certifcation, candidates must pass two written exams requiring knowledge in the area of network and security concepts, security monitoring and analysis, and incident response and handling.  Although there are no formal pre-requisities, candidates should have a basic knowledge of computer operating systems and one to three years of experience. 


More information can be found on the certifying agency's website.

Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Attainability:    high

Eligibility Requirements (View Details)

  • Credential Prerequisite
  • Experience: 1 year recommended
  • Education
  • Training
  • Membership
  • Other
  • Fee

Note: This credential may have multiple options for a Service member to meet eligibility requirements. Requirements listed here are based on the minimum degree required.

Exam Requirements (View Details)

  • Exam
  • Written Exam
  • Oral Exam
  • Practical Exam
  • Performance Assessment

Exam Administration (View Details)

  • In-person exam
  • Remote proctored on-line exam
  • Third-party test vendor

RECERTIFICATION SUMMARY

Renewal Period: 3 years

  • Continuing Education
  • Exam
  • Continuing Education OR Exam
  • Fee
  • Other

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

Cisco Systems, Inc.

170 West Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA  95134

Phone: (800) 553-NETS

Contact Page

Written Exam 200-201 CBROPS

  • 1.0 Security Concepts (20%)
    • 1.1 Describe the CIA triad
    • 1.2 Compare security deployments
    • 1.3 Describe security terms
    • 1.4 Compare security concepts
    • 1.5 Describe the principles of the defense-in-depth strategy
    • 1.6 Compare access control models
    • 1.7 Describe terms as defined in CVSS
    • 1.8 Identify the challenges of data visibility (network, host, and cloud) in detection
    • 1.9 Identify potential data loss from provided traffic profiles
    • 1.10 Interpret the 5-tuple approach to isolate a compromised host in a grouped set of logs
    • 1.11 Compare rule-based detection vs. behavioral and statistical detection
  • 2.0 Security Monitoring (25%)
    • 2.1 Compare attack surface and vulnerability
    • 2.2 Identify the types of data provided by these technologies
      • 2.2.a TCP dump
      • 2.2.b NetFlow
      • 2.2.c Next-gen firewall
      • 2.2.d Traditional stateful firewall
      • 2.2.e Application visibility and control
      • 2.2.f Web content filtering
      • 2.2.g Email content filtering
    • 2.3 Describe the impact of these technologies on data visibility
      • 2.3.a Access control list
      • 2.3.b NAT/PAT
      • 2.3.c Tunneling
      • 2.3.d TOR
      • 2.3.e Encryption
      • 2.3.f P2P
      • 2.3.g Encapsulation
      • 2.3.h Load balancing
    • 2.4 Describe the uses of these data types in security monitoring
      • 2.4.a Full packet capture
      • 2.4.b Session data
      • 2.4.c Transaction data
      • 2.4.d Statistical data
      • 2.4.e Metadata
      • 2.4.f Alert data
    • 2.5 Describe network attacks, such as protocol-based, denial of service, distributed denial of service, and man-in-the-middle
    • 2.6 Describe web application attacks, such as SQL injection, command injections, and crosssite scripting
    • 2.7 Describe social engineering attacks
    • 2.8 Describe endpoint-based attacks, such as buffer overflows, command and control (C2), malware, and ransomware
    • 2.9 Describe evasion and obfuscation techniques, such as tunneling, encryption, and proxies
    • 2.10 Describe the impact of certificates on security (includes PKI, public/private crossing the network, asymmetric/symmetric)
    • 2.11 Identify the certificate components in a given scenario
  • 3.0 Host-Based Analysis (20%)
    • 3.1 Describe the functionality of these endpoint technologies in regard to security monitoring
      • 3.1.a Host-based intrusion detection
      • 3.1.b Antimalware and antivirus
      • 3.1.c Host-based firewall
      • 3.1.d Application-level whitelisting/blacklisting
      • 3.1.e Systems-based sandboxing (such as Chrome, Java, Adobe Reader)
    • 3.2 Identify components of an operating system (such as Windows and Linux) in a given scenario
    • 3.3 Describe the role of attribution in an investigation
    • 3.4 Identify type of evidence used based on provided logs
    • 3.5 Compare tampered and untampered disk image
    • 3.6 Interpret operating system, application, or command line logs to identify an event
    • 3.7 Interpret the output report of a malware analysis tool (such as a detonation chamber or sandbox)
  • 4.0 Network Intrusion Analysis (20%)
    • 4.1 Map the provided events to source technologies
    • 4.2 Compare impact and no impact for these items
      • 4.2.a False positive
      • 4.2.b False negative
      • 4.2.c True positive
      • 4.2.d True negative
      • 4.2.e Benign
    • 4.3 Compare deep packet inspection with packet filtering and stateful firewall operation
    • 4.4 Compare inline traffic interrogation and taps or traffic monitoring
    • 4.5 Compare the characteristics of data obtained from taps or traffic monitoring and transactional data (NetFlow) in the analysis of network traffic
    • 4.6 Extract files from a TCP stream when given a PCAP file and Wireshark
    • 4.7 Identify key elements in an intrusion from a given PCAP file
    • 4.8 Interpret the fields in protocol headers as related to intrusion analysis
    • 4.9 Interpret common artifact elements from an event to identify an alert
    • 4.10 Interpret basic regular expressions
  • 5.0 Security Policies and Procedures (15%)
    • 5.1 Describe management concepts
    • 5.2 Describe the elements in an incident response plan as stated in NIST.SP800-61
    • 5.3 Apply the incident handling process (such as NIST.SP800-61) to an event
    • 5.4 Map elements to these steps of analysis based on the NIST.SP800-61
    • 5.5 Map the organization stakeholders against the NIST IR categories (CMMC, NIST.SP800- 61)
    • 5.6 Describe concepts as documented in NIST.SP800-86
    • 5.7 Identify these elements used for network profiling
    • 5.8 Identify these elements used for server profiling
    • 5.9 Identify protected data in a network
    • 5.10 Classify intrusion events into categories as defined by security models, such as Cyber Kill Chain Model and Diamond Model of Intrusion
    • 5.11 Describe the relationship of SOC metrics to scope analysis (time to detect, time to contain, time to respond, time to control)

Exam Preparation Resources

There are a number of resources available to help you prepare for the Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate examination:

An additional resource is O'Reilly Learning Safari Books Online, a searchable digital library that provides online access to thousands of books, training videos and conference sessions. See the Educational Resources section on the Related Sites page here on COOL to learn how to get free access.

Testing Information

  • Exam Administration

    Credential exams may be administered in-person at a testing site, proctored on-line remotely, or have options for both. If an exam is administered through a test vendor, the third-party test vendor box will be checked. The following test administration options apply to the Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate credential where checked:

    • In-person exam
    • Remote proctored on-line exam
    • Third-party test vendor

  • For more information on the Cisco Systems, Inc. testing process, visit the agency website.

RECERTIFICATION

Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate

Renewal Period: 3 years

The Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate credential has the following recertification information:

Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate certifications are valid for three years. To recertify, certification holders may chose between passing an exam or earning Continuing Education (CE) credits. 

For the exam option, certification holders must pass ONE of the following before the certification expiration date:

  • Pass any one Associate exam
  • Pass any one professional concentration exam
  • Pass one technology core exam
  • Pass one CCIE lab exam

For the Continuing Education option, certification holders must earn 30 Continuing Education credits.  For additional information on earning CEs, visit the Cisco Continuing Education page on the Cisco website.

  • Note: Marine Corps COOL will only pay recertification fees for the current year, no arrears will be paid. Voucher requests for recertification fees must be submitted with proof of the current status of the certification (for example, a screen shot of your credentialing agency dashboard or a copy of a current fee receipt).

Additional considerations for the Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate include:

  • Candidates are recommended to have a basic knowledge of computer operating systems such as Windows and Linux, and one to three years of experience.

In Demand

This certification is considered in demand. The U.S. Department of Labor sponsored CareerOneStop's analysis indicates the certification is frequently mentioned in online job postings.

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Some

Credential is related to some tasks associated with the duties of the military occupation (at least one critical task but less than 80%)

Most

Credential is directly related to most of the major duties associated with the military occupation (at least 80%)

Other

Credential is related to this military occupation, but is more advanced or specialized and therefore will likely require additional education, training, or experience

CA Eligible

This certification is eligible for CA.

Star

Star credentials are MOS enhancing, as designated by the Proponent. MOS enhancing credentials are directly related to an MOS or ASI, are taught either partially or completely as part of a Program of Instruction (POI), and improves the MOS technical proficiency.

Skill Level

The Skill Level reflects the level, based on MOS training and/or experience, the Soldier should be the most prepared to successfully earn the credential. See the Table Legend for details about each level.

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Credential voucher or reimbursement for credential exam, re-certification, or maintenance fee has been approved for payment through the Navy's Credential Program Office. To get a voucher request form, click Menu at the top of any page, then click "2 Complete Voucher and Apply" under Credentialing Steps.

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Early Career

1-3 years experience; Enlisted E1 through E4

Mid Career

4-10 years experience; Enlisted E5 through E6

Late Career

10+ years experience; Enlisted E7 through E9

Early Career

1-3 years experience; Enlisted “A” School through E5

Mid Career

4-10 years experience; Enlisted E6 through E7

Late Career

10+ years experience; Enlisted E8 through E9

Early Career

1-6 years experience; Officer O1 through O2

Mid Career

6-12 years experience; Officer O3 through O5

Late Career

12+ years experience; Officer O6 and Above

GI Bill®

Reimbursement for exam fees has been approved for payment through the GI Bill.

Note: GI Bill approval data is updated quarterly. For the latest information, visit the WEAMS Licenses/Certifications Search page. Make sure to select "Both" in the LAC Category Type drop-down before searching.

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ANAB (ANSI)

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ICAC

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ABSNC

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NCCA

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IAS

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Low

May be difficult to attain: minimum education requirement is a Bachelor's degree, and/or minimum experience is 10 or more years.

Note: In some cases “years of experience” refers to time actively on duty or while holding a certain occupation or prior certification and not always in consecutive calendar years. Additional years required for certain preliminary stages may not be included in this classification. For requirements measured in hours, 1080 hours was considered a year. For days, 365 days was considered a year. Please review all prerequisites and requirements for eligibility, and additional information for details.

Medium

Moderate ease of attainment: minimum education requirement = Associate's and/or prerequisite and/or minimum experience = more than 2 years and less than 10 years of experience.

Note: In some cases “years of experience” refers to time actively on duty or while holding a certain occupation or prior certification and not always in consecutive calendar years. Additional years required for certain preliminary stages may not be included in this classification. For requirements measured in hours, 1080 hours was considered a year. For days, 365 days was considered a year. Please review all prerequisites and requirements for eligibility, and additional information for details.

High

Highly attainable: minimum education requirement = HS or less and/or minimum experience = 2 years or less experience and no additional requirements.

Note: In some cases “years of experience” refers to time actively on duty or while holding a certain occupation or prior certification and not always in consecutive calendar years. Additional years required for certain preliminary stages may not be included in this classification. For requirements measured in hours, 1080 hours was considered a year. For days, 365 days was considered a year. Please review all prerequisites and requirements for eligibility, and additional information for details.

MOS is Military Occupational Specialty
ASI is Additional Skill Identifier
WOMOS is Warrant Officer Military Occupational Specialty
AOC is Area Of Concentration Officer
Functional Area
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Updated: January 29, 2021
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