Symantec’s SCSP (Symantec Certified Security Practitioner) certification is for IT professionals who are a “senior security consultant who demonstrates in-depth knowledge and expertise across two security segments.” Candidates will likely have a lot of hands on experience and theoretical knowledge of security topics.

The Symantec SCSP emerged in the fall of 2001, and has most recently changed in June of 2003 when Symantec introduced vendor neutral certifications into their program. In terms of certification lifetime: “You need to fulfill recertification requirements periodically to demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of Symantec product and technology. Product certification is granted for specific versions of a product only. All certifications are valid for 24 months and must be renewed prior to expiration to maintain credentials.” More specifically, the SCSP will be impacted by the integration of vendor neutral exams in the Symantec certification as follows: “Over the next several months the program will transition to only accept a combination of Symantec Exams with Vendor Neutral Certifications. This will occur when current Symantec Product based exams are retired and current Security Solutions exams are updated.” In pursuing the SCSP, the candidate will likely achieve a Symantec Certified Security Engineer (SCSE) or Symantec Certified Technology Architect (SCTA) certification along the way.

Job roles of those pursuing this certification typically include: advanced IS (Information Security) professionals, advanced network security professionals, advanced systems security professionals, and security strategy consultants.

To achieve the SCSP, a candidate must hold one of these SANS GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification) certifications: Firewall Analyst, Incident Handler, Intrusion Analyst, or Windows Security Administrator. Or, the candidate must hold the (ISC)2’s CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification. As well, the candidate must pass two Symantec solutions exams from this list: Firewall & Integrated Security Appliances; Security Management; Intrusion Protection; or Virus Protection & Integrated Client Security.

For more information:
http://www.symantec.com/education/certification/exams_sym_vendor.html

CORE EXAMS
(250-201) Intrusion Detection and Response ^vs 
(250-202) Firewall & VPN Technologies ^vs 
(250-203) Vulnerability Management ^vs 
(250-204) Virus Protection and Content Filtering