Certified Network Defender (CND)

Learn the skills that matter! EC-Council’s vendor-neutral network security certifications provide an unbiased approach to learning secure networking practices, as well as how to analyze and harden computing systems prevalent in the current IT infrastructure.

CND v2 has earned a reputation as the only program in the market that is 100% focused on network security and defense.

IT professionals need to be part of the cybersecurity ecosystem, especially in a post-COVID Digital Transformation era. If you think cybersecurity is the responsibility of cyber teams alone, think again!

How CND v2 Will Build Your Career

Your Pathway to a Career in a Blue Team
The Protect, Detect, Respond, and Predict approach defines the job roles for a Blue Team Security Professional. One can continue their career as a Network Defender or later transition into a niche job profile as CND v2 covers a base understanding of Blue Teams.

Mobile & IOT Security Defense
The first certification program to offer device and enterprise level security for its students. Career changers planning a move into cybersecurity will also benefit from this.

Tactical Defense of Cloud Services
Learn different ways to ensure security across various cloud platforms — Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure Cloud, and Google Cloud Platform.

Learning Beyond Technical Aspects
CND v2 is the only certification program that offers a chance to learn beyond the technological aspects of network security. The module has a strong focus on the strategical domain with special attention to adaptive & defense in depth security, framing network policies, achieving compliance, and the operational domain to learn the implementation of the above decisions.

Building Perimeter Defense Skills
CND v2 puts the spotlight on perimeter defense as the latest technologies have made networks too complex for everyone. Perimeter defense can help with modern security requirements.

80 Complex Labs
The only program that gives a chance to students to learn under simulated threat environments and gain real-world skills before they start their professional career.

How You Will Benefit from CND v2

The end goal of Certified Network Defender (CND v2) is to help Blue Teams defend and win the war against network breaches in a post-pandemic world. The program is the ideal cyber defense course for organizations and individuals for the following reasons:

• Based on Common Job Role frameworks recognized by organizations around the world.

• ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 accredited Certification Program.

• Mapped to the NICE 2.0 framework.

• Focuses on latest technologies including Cloud, IoT, Virtualization and Remote Worker Threats, Attack Surface Analysis, Threat Intelligence, Software Defined Networks (SDN), and Network Function Virtualization (NFV), as well as docker, Kubernetes, and container security.

• Covers the latest tools, techniques, and methodologies used by top cybersecurity experts around the world.

That’s why investing in the CND v2 training and certification is a wise move for employers looking to set up impregnable cyber defense practices.

The following individuals can consider EC-Council’s Network Security Certifications as the next move in their career:

• Cisco or Microsoft Certified Network Administrator/Engineers

• Wireshark Certified Network Analyst

• SolarWinds Certified Professional

• Juniper Certified Network Professional

• Professionals with CompTIA’s Network+/Security+ Certification

• University professors who are teaching cybersecurity courses

• IT professionals planning a career transition

• Students who wish to start a career in cybersecurity

Certified Network Defender v2 is recommended for individuals who have fundamental knowledge of networking concepts. It will also help individuals from the below mentioned job roles progress further in their career:

• Network Administrators

• IT Administrators

• Network Engineers

• Data Analysts

• Network Technicians

Individuals who complete the CND v2 cybersecurity course qualify for the following entry-level job roles:

• Entry-level Network Administrators

• Entry-level Network Security Administrators

• Data Security Analyst

• Junior Network Security Engineer

• Junior Network Defense Technician

• Security Analyst

• Security Operator

Network Security Engineer Salary

Professionals who complete a network security program with skills in IT Security & Infrastructure, Switches & Firewall Installation and Administration, and Network Security Management are correlated to above average pay, earning between $66,000 – $112,000 P.A.

The salary range depends on the job profile and experience. The further you progress, the more you’ll earn. The average network security engineer can earn $87,000 P.A. on an annual basis.

Number of Questions: 100

Test Duration: 4 hours

Test Format: Multiple Choice

EC-Council Certified Network Defender exams use multiple question banks in order to maintain the high integrity of our certification examinations. Each form is carefully analyzed through beta testing with an appropriate sample group under the guide of a committee of subject matter experts. This approach ensures that cyber defense certifications exams offer academic difficulty as well as real-world hacking experience.

Why is Security+ different?

• More choose Security+ - chosen by more corporations and defense organizations than any other certification on the market to validate baseline security skills and for fulfilling the DoD 8570 compliance.

• Security+ proves hands-on skills – the only baseline cybersecurity certification emphasizing hands-on practical skills, ensuring the security professional is better prepared to problem solve a wider variety of today’s complex issues.

• More job roles turn to Security+ to supplement skills – baseline cybersecurity skills are applicable across more of today’s job roles to secure systems, software and hardware.

• Security+ is aligned to the latest trends and techniques – covering the most core technical skills in risk assessment and management, incident response, forensics, enterprise networks, hybrid/cloud operations, and security controls, ensuring high-performance on the job.

What Skills Will You Learn?

• Attacks, Threats and Vulnerabilities- Focusing on more threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities on the Internet from newer custom devices that must be mitigated, such as IoT and embedded devices, newer DDoS attacks, and social engineering attacks based on current events.

• Operations and Incident Response- Covering organizational security assessment and incident response procedures, such as basic threat detection, risk mitigation techniques, security controls, and basic digital forensics.

• Architecture and Design - Includes coverage of enterprise environments and reliance on the cloud, which is growing quickly as organizations transition to hybrid networks.

• Governance, Risk and Compliance- Expanded to support organizational risk management and compliance to regulations, such as PCI-DSS, SOX, HIPAA, GDPR, FISMA, NIST, and CCPA.

• Implementation- Expanded to focus on administering identity, access management, PKI, basic cryptography, wireless, and end-to-end security.

• Security Administrator

• Systems Administrator

• Helpdesk Manager / Analyst

• Network / Cloud Engineer

• Security Engineer / Analyst

• DevOps / Software Developer

• IT Auditors

• IT Project Manager

CompTIA Security+ is the first security certification a candidate should earn. It establishes the core knowledge required of any cybersecurity role and provides a springboard to intermediate-level cybersecurity jobs. Security+ incorporates best practices in hands-on troubleshooting, ensuring candidates have practical security problem-solving skills required to:

• Assess the security posture of an enterprise environment and recommend and implement appropriate security solutions

• Monitor and secure hybrid environments, including cloud, mobile, and IoT

• Operate with an awareness of applicable laws and policies, including principles of governance, risk, and compliance

• Identify, analyze, and respond to security events and incidents

Security+ is compliant with ISO 17024 standards and approved by the US DoD to meet directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements. Regulators and government rely on ANSI accreditation, because it provides confidence and trust in the outputs of an accredited program. Over 2.3 million CompTIA ISO/ANSI-accredited exams have been delivered since January 1, 2011.

Maximum of 90 questions

Multiple choice and performance-based questions

90 minutes

Passing Score: 750 (on a scale of 100-900)

• Mentoring Security+

• TestPrep Security+ SY0-601: used to test your knowledge on the skills and competencies being measured by the vendor certification exam. TestPrep can be taken in either Study or Certification mode. Study mode is designed to maximize learning while certification mode is designed to test your knowledge of the material within a structured testing environment, providing valuable feedback at the end of the test.

• The Present Threat Landscape

• Types of Malware

• Social Engineering and Related Attacks

• Application and Service Attacks

• Cryptographic and Wireless Attacks

• Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Scanning

• Impacts from Vulnerability Types

• Components Supporting Organizational Security

• Security Assessment Using Software Tools

• Cryptography

• Public Key Infrastructure

• Wireless Security Settings

• Analyzing Output from Security Technologies

• Deploying Mobile Devices Securely

• Implementing Secure Protocols

• Troubleshooting Common Security Issues

• Identity Concepts and Access Services

• Identity and Access Management Controls

• Common Account Management Practices

• Frameworks, Guidelines, and Physical Security

• Implement Secure Network Architecture Concepts

• Secure System and Application Design and Deployment

• Cloud, Virtualization, and Resiliency Concepts

• Policies, Plans, and Procedures

• Business Impact Analysis and Risk Management

• Incident Response, Forensics, and Disaster Recovery

Module 01: Network Attacks and Defense Strategies

Module 02: Administrative Network Security

Module 03: Technical Network Security

Module 04: Network Perimeter Security

Module 05: Endpoint Security-Windows Systems

Module 06: Endpoint Security-Linux Systems

Module 07: Endpoint Security- Mobile Devices

Module 08: Endpoint Security-IoT Devices

Module 09: Administrative Application Security

Module 10: Data Security

Module 11: Enterprise Virtual Network Security

Module 12: Enterprise Cloud Network Security

Module 13: Enterprise Wireless Network Security

Module 14: Network Traffic Monitoring and Analysis

Module 15: Network Logs Monitoring and Analysis

Module 16: Incident Response and Forensic Investigation

Module 17: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Module 18: Risk Anticipation with Risk Management

Module 19: Threat Assessment with Attack Surface Analysis

Module 20: Threat Prediction with Cyber Threat Intelligence