(ISC)2, the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, Inc., introduced the SSCP (Systems Security Certified Practitioner) certification in March 2001. This intermediate-level certification is meant for IT security practitioners with “a minimum of one year of PROFESSIONAL experience in the field of information security.” This experience requirement essentially forms the prerequisite for this vendor-neutral certification. In June 2003, (ISC)2 introduced an Associate  program  that allows candidates to take the exam before they meet the experience requirement. Here’s what (ISC)2 says about this: “After passing the selected exam and signing (ISC)2's Code of Ethics, the Associate must garner the requisite work experience and successfully complete a professional endorsement process before he/she becomes officially certified as CISSP or SSCP.” The SSCP is not required for (ISC)2’s CISSP certification, but is a logical step on the way towards this premier certification, as well as to other vendor-specific and vendor-neutral security certifications.

“The term ‘CPE’ is an acronym for Continued Professional Education credits. After a candidate becomes certified, he/she is required to perform continuing education per three-year certification period to become recertified… An SSCP must submit 60 CPEs during the 3-year re-certification period. Of the 60 CPEs that are required, at least 40 must be ‘A’ credits (directly related to the 7 major domains of the SSCP CBK) and as many as 20 can be ‘B’ credits (not related to the 7 domains of the SSCP CBK).”

This certification is well suited to IT professionals who want to call themselves IS (Information Security) professionals, network security practitioners or systems security practitioners. The SSCP designation is achieved by passing one exam.

https://www.isc2.org/cgi/content.cgi?category=20

CORE EXAMS
SSCP