George Goh

First Looks at the Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)

On July 15 2020, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation(CNCF) announced a new certification program for Kubernetes named the Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist, or the CKS for short. This brings the total number of CNCF Kubernetes certifications to 3 - with the prior ones being the Certified Kubernetes Administrator, and the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer).

This certification comes at a time when many enterprises are starting to expand and map out their container strategy, and need to shift their operations and development teams into gear with security best practices.

The first tests are expected to roll out and be generally available before November 2020, so it might be a good idea in the meantime, to brush up on the fundamentals again and formulate a strategy to prepare for the exam.

Not much material has emerged at this point, so I’ll share what I know in this post.

Exam Format

The CKS test will be online, proctored and performance-based, and candidates have 120 minutes to complete the test.

This is the same deal as the CKA and CKAD exams, so the same strategies would apply:

Read through all questions before attempting any of them.
Rank them in the order of easy to hard, and how time-consuming the task is.
Attack the easiest and least time-consuming questions first.

Remember this is a test of your skill, as well as your time management. Don’t dwell longer than necessary on a single question when you can easily score on another.

Kubernetes v1.19 is used in the exam, so practice with that version in your environment.

Certification Path

The first 2 Kubernetes certifications (the CKA and CKAD) are standalone and you are free to take them in the order you choose.

However, the CKS assumes the candidate already has competencies in Kubernetes, and therefore requires the CKA as a prerequisite prior to attempting the CKS.

If you haven’t attained the CKA, and need some help, then check out Mumshad Mannambeth’s CKA prep course. It’s probably the only resource that you need to pass the CKA.

What You Need To Know

The broad split of competencies tested are:

Cluster Setup – 10%
Cluster Hardening – 15%
System Hardening – 15%
Minimize Microservice Vulerabilities – 20%
Supply Chain Security – 20%
Monitoring, Logging and Runtime Security – 20%

The detailed breakdown of each competency is documented in the CKS Curriculum.

Over the coming weeks(or months), as I prepare for the CKS, I’ll document my journey and share it here for the curious. Stay tuned!

George Goh

Other articles

Logging with Fluent Bit and Fluentd in Kubernetes, pt.1

Logging with Fluent Bit and Fluentd in Kubernetes, pt.2

Logging with Fluent Bit and Fluentd in Kubernetes, pt.3

Logging with Fluent Bit and Fluentd in Kubernetes, pt.4

KubeCon Copenhagen 2018 (part 3)

KubeCon Copenhagen 2018 (part 1)

KubeCon Copenhagen 2018 (part 2)