Cybersecurity-Projects
Certification Roadmap by Role
1. SOC Analyst
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Entry |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Core |
CySA+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Intermediate |
GCIH (Certified Incident Handler) |
GIAC |
Website |
| Intermediate |
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) |
EC-Council |
Website |
| Advanced |
GCIA (Certified Intrusion Analyst) |
GIAC |
Website |
| Senior/Management |
CISSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
2. Penetration Tester
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Entry-Level Pentest |
PenTest+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Intermediate |
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) |
EC-Council |
Website |
| Advanced |
OSCP (Gold Standard) |
Offensive Security |
Website |
| Expert |
OSEP |
Offensive Security |
Website |
| Expert |
GXPN (Exploit Researcher) |
GIAC |
Website |
3. Security Engineer
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Intermediate |
CySA+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Advanced |
SecurityX (formerly CASP+) |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Advanced/Expert |
CISSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Expert (Cloud-focused) |
CCSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
4. Incident Responder
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Entry |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Core |
CySA+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Core IR Cert |
GCIH (Certified Incident Handler) |
GIAC |
Website |
| Forensics/Advanced |
GCFA (Certified Forensic Analyst) |
GIAC |
Website |
| Malware Analysis/Expert |
GREM (Reverse Engineering Malware) |
GIAC |
Website |
5. Security Architect
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Advanced |
SecurityX (formerly CASP+) |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Architect/Management |
CISSP (Required) |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Cloud Architecture |
CCSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Security Architecture Framework |
SABSA |
SABSA Institute |
Website |
| Enterprise Architecture |
TOGAF |
The Open Group |
Website |
6. Cloud Security Engineer
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| AWS Cloud Security |
AWS Security Specialty |
AWS |
Website |
| Azure Cloud Security |
Azure Security Engineer |
Microsoft |
Website |
| Vendor-Neutral |
CCSK |
Cloud Security Alliance |
Website |
| Advanced |
CCSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Advanced Practice |
SecurityX (formerly CASP+) |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Expert/Management |
CISSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
7. GRC Analyst/Consultant
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Audit Focused |
CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) |
ISACA |
Website |
| Risk Management |
CRISC (Risk and Information Systems Control) |
ISACA |
Website |
| Advanced |
CISSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Compliance-Heavy |
ISO 27001 Lead Auditor |
PECB (and others) |
Website |
8. Threat Intelligence Analyst
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Core |
CySA+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Cyber Threat Intelligence |
GCTI |
GIAC |
Website |
| Intrusion Analysis |
GCIA |
GIAC |
Website |
| OSINT (Optional) |
GOSI |
GIAC |
Website |
| OSINT (Optional) |
C|OSINT |
McAfee Institute |
Website |
9. Application Security
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Foundation/Core |
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) |
EC-Council |
Website |
| Foundation/Core |
CySA+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Secure Software Lifecycle |
CSSLP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
| Web App Exploitation |
OSWE |
Offensive Security |
Website |
| Web App Pentest |
GWAPT |
GIAC |
Website |
10. Network Engineer (Security-Focused)
| Level |
Certification |
Organization |
Link |
| Foundation |
Network+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Foundation |
Security+ |
CompTIA |
Website |
| Associate |
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) |
Cisco |
Website |
| Advanced |
CCNP Security |
Cisco |
Website |
| Architect/Management |
CISSP |
(ISC)² |
Website |
Does this layout look good? Clean tables, clickable links, organized by role.
Now we can add the project ideas section below this. Want to knock out the 25 project ideas next?