Cyber Security Certificate Tier List – UPDATED (2023)

Here are the links that you need:

- SANS work/study:

- Google cyber security certificate:

-Microsoft Cyber analyst certificate:

-IBM Cyber Security Analyst Certificate:

- CISCO CCST:

- Splunk Cyber Defense Analyst:

- eJPT

- eCPPT:

- TCM, PNTP:

- TCM PJPT:

- OSCP

- AWS Security Specialty:

- Microsoft Azure Security engineer associate:

- Google Cloud Security Engineer:

You can buy me a coffee:

Note: I may earn a small commission for any purchase through some of the links above

TimeStamps:
01:41 CompTIA
05:10 SANS/GIAC
07:58 ISACA
09:26 Ethical Hacking
11:25 ISC
15:12 Cyber Analyst (Google/IBM/Microsoft/Cisco/Splunk)
17:46 Cloud Certificates
21:13 Important Career Advice

[UnixGuy]

The list of courses that I recommend for ‘foundation’ as a replacement for A+/Net+/CCNA are all in this video:

[el_dragon]

This is truthful and informative. I just finished PNPT and PJPT after the Pentest+. I learned a TON from PNPT and PJPT. I learned 0 from the Pentest+ (except how to cram for an exam). Thank you for putting this out. It may make some angry, but people deserve to hear the truth.

[Julieta.aussie]

Whatever certs you do, take a moment to think why their content is relevant and use the time devoted to studying for certs to build your skills and knowledge. In an interview, you'll have to show you are confident with the conceps and can apply them in real-world situations. In my personal experience, interview questions were not tricky or difficult, but they were mostly scenario-based, so you need to really have the concepts clear in your mind and have practiced using them to solve simple problems.

[damianpodgorski]

Just my take on Security +, I am pretty new to cyber security, have been working in the field for one year now. I studied around 3 months for sec+ and did some labs, vídeo course and at the end the exam questions. I must say it kicked my butt, I passed it with few points above the minimum required score. For someone like you with over 20 years of experience in the field it is probably not very valuable cert but for me it was an awesome journey and now I am wraping up my prep for the CySa+ as a next step

[remilo]

Thank you, as a person going into applied computing with a focus in cybersecurity your videos and others like it are extremely helpful to try to get an idea about what certifications to go for.

[mbirugotora]

There are a few people who understand IT like this guy. I have worked in tech for over 25 years and can tell someone who knows what they are talking about in the first 5 mins of a conversation. The recruiters have put CISSP on a pedestal it doesn't belong. What doesn't make sense to me is how even the industry allows them to get away with it. SMH!
No controversy with me at all! What I would say is that cybersecurity is overatted as a whole. One needs to know more about technology or the concepts of the basics before they can defend systems. A few examples one needs to understand is dns, 3 way handshake, ports, sql queries, and things like that to be able to defend the threat techniques that are posed on them. In most of the cybersecurity lessons they teach how to defend them but don't understand how they work. This video should be given to the hiring managers who are on the market right now.

[siryakenga]

I completed the Google cybersecurity ceruficate, I am now getting ready for eJPT certificate. Thank you for your guidance

[ronaldtimm]

Thank you so very much. I'm still in the early stages of my cybersecurity journey and your advice seems consistently practical and relevant, again, thank you.

[JosephBerru]

Mr. Unix Guy, once again, thank you for a very thorough presentation of the Certs Tier List. I began my journey pursuing a Cybersecurity this past year as a second career. I'm always amazed at the content source you put out on YouTube. Thank you again for taking the time in providing your valuable input on the many topics based upon your experience and/or as a Hiring Manager! I truly wish you were my Cybersecurity / Hacking FTO - Field Training Officer!!!! Something tells me I would be on the right path all the time!!!! Stay safe!

[Julianistaken]

This definitely will save me a lot of time. It's great to hear some industry advice, especially in Australia.

[marcoscaceres]

I studied for a bachelor's in cyber security. Studying for my cissp was more difficult and taught me a lot more overall than my degree. I value what it did for my career. I did varying cyber roles, but the cissp helped me to think big picture and connect the various domains together, then understand why I am doing what I'm doing. For example, why I need to manage the grc program and why I am locking down windows/Linux directories for sensitive classifications. Huge help for me. Maybe for others it's easy and you are a good test taker I guess. Keep in mind I was a 4.0 gpa. I rather take cissp than my bachelor's if I had to do over. Hopefully this helps others that may be hesitant. If you say only help desk experience can get you cissp then I think we need to audit those cissps to ensure they really have the proper experience in those domains. Clean house now.

[pdrck]

God, people deserve more content like these... so assertive! Obrigado!

[Amethyst-ebjp]

This is very helpful for planning my learning path, thank you for keeping your content updated! :)

[dasati]

Glad to see TCM rated so high on this list. I took Heaths udemy course on ethical hacking during covid and it was really informative for someone new to the area

[sarms]

Very informative, thank you. One reason you may see CISSP wishlisted in senior positions especially for US jobs is because it’s a popular cert that covers nearly every tier of DoD 8570. For high-level Federal positions (GS 13+), military, and GovCon - having the CISSP (or comparable cert) would be a necessity. Ultimately, for someone trying to get into cybersecurity in the US that is not ex-military; then the most important above all else is to obtain and maintain a security clearance. That seems to be the golden ticket to a 6 figure salary from my perspective.

[Mindless.creation]

I appreciate you making this video, I was just researching where should I begin for certs and this video definitely helped me create a layout. Thanks

[slevinlaine]

Hey UnixGuy, thank you soooo much for the work you do it's unvaluable to me!

I actually started with googlecyber security cert, and I am loving it, following the ethical hacking roadmap you made on another video. Thank you so much! I somehow am learning new concepts that I didn't know I was able to and actually (not kiding haha puting those into work). Friend of mine had a message asking for some info and I somehow said: Hey man isn't that phising? and I think that's precisely it.

And again thank you, you have a great one legend : ).

[forsterdumor]

Hi Sir,
Kudos to you Sir, frankly speaking this one of the best video I come across which classify from A to F the certificate we can go for in order to land a job as a beginner. This is very powerful. I just love it. Thanks.

[Blueorchid]

I started seeing your videos two days ago. Amazing information. Thank you. You are from Australia. That is my dream country to travel. When I land my 1st GRC job I will travel to Australia. Thank you for all your information. I am writing everything down.

[richardalexander]

Thank you for all that information. I have heard some of these certifications and now I have a better perspective. 😁