Certified SOC Analyst (CSA)

What is CSA?

It is engineered for current and aspiring Tier I and Tier II SOC analysts to achieve proficiency in performing entry-level and intermediate-level operations.

CSA is a training and credentialing program that helps the candidate acquire trending and in-demand technical skills through instruction by some of the most experienced trainers in the industry. The program focuses on creating new career opportunities through extensive, meticulous knowledge with enhanced level capabilities for dynamically contributing to a SOC team. Being an intense 3-day program, it thoroughly covers the fundamentals of SOC operations, before relaying the knowledge of log management and correlation, SIEM deployment, advanced incident detection, and incident response. Additionally, the candidate will learn to manage various SOC processes and collaborate with CSIRT at the time of need.

Course Outline

• Module 01: Security Operations and Management
• Module 02: Understanding Cyber Threats, IoCs, and Attack Methodology
• Module 03: Incidents, Events, and Logging
• Module 04: Incident Detection with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
• Module 05: Enhanced Incident Detection with Threat Intelligence
• Module 06: Incident Response

About the Course

The Certified SOC Analyst (CSA) program is the first step to joining a security operations center (SOC). It is engineered for current and aspiring Tier I and Tier II SOC analysts to achieve proficiency in performing entry-level and intermediate-level operations.

CSA is a training and credentialing program that helps the candidate acquire trending and in-demand technical skills through instruction by some of the most experienced trainers in the industry. The program focuses on creating new career opportunities through extensive, meticulous knowledge with enhanced level capabilities for dynamically contributing to a SOC team. Being an intense 3-day program, it thoroughly covers the fundamentals of SOC operations, before relaying the knowledge of log management and correlation, SIEM deployment, advanced incident detection, and incident response. Additionally, the candidate will learn to manage various SOC processes and collaborate with CSIRT at the time of need.

As the security landscape is expanding, a SOC team offers high quality IT-security services to actively detect potential cyber threats/attacks and quickly respond to security incidents. Organizations need skilled SOC Analysts who can serve as the front-line defenders, warning other professionals of emerging and present cyber threats.

The lab-intensive CSA program emphasizes the holistic approach to deliver elementary as well as advanced knowledge of how to identify and validate intrusion attempts. Through this, the candidate will learn to use SIEM solutions and predictive capabilities using threat intelligence. The program also introduces the practical aspect of SIEM using advanced and the most frequently used tools. The candidate will learn to perform enhanced threat detection using the predictive capabilities of Threat Intelligence.

Recent years have witnessed the evolution of cyber risks, creating an unsafe environment for the players of various sectors.

To handle these sophisticated threats, enterprises need advanced cybersecurity solutions along with traditional methods of defense. Practicing good cybersecurity hygiene and implementing an appropriate line of defense, and incorporating a security operations center (SOC) have become reasonable solutions. The team pursues twenty-four-hour and “follow-the-sun” coverage for performing security monitoring, security incident management, vulnerability management, security device management, and network flow monitoring.

A SOC Analyst continuously monitors and detects potential threats, triages the alerts, and appropriately escalates them. Without a SOC analyst, processes such as monitoring, detection, analysis, and triaging will lose their effectiveness, ultimately negatively affecting the organization.

Exam

The CSA exam is designed to test and validate a candidate’s comprehensive understanding of the jobs tasks required as a SOC analyst. Thereby validating their comprehensive understanding of a complete SOC workflow.

• Credit Towards Certification: Certified SOC Analyst
• Exam Code: 312-39
• Number of Questions: 100
• Passing Score: 70%
• Test Duration: 3 Hours
• Test Format: Multiple Choice
• Test Delivery: ECC Exam Portal

Passing Criteria:

In order to maintain the high integrity of our certification exams, EC-Council Exams are provided in multiple forms (i.e., different question banks). Each form is carefully analyzed through beta testing with an appropriate sample group under the purview of a committee of subject matter experts that ensure that each of our exams not only have academic rigor but also have “real world” applicability. We also have a process to determine the difficulty rating of each question. The individual rating then contributes to an overall “Cut Score” for each exam form. To ensure each form has equal assessment standards, cut scores are set on a “per exam form” basis. Depending on which exam form is challenged, cut scores can range from 60% to 85%.