Prerequisites:

The exam is practical, so I emphasize the information on the right side and the target audience it is aimed at. If you’re expecting a multiple-choice certification like [AWS Certified Security — Specialty], it won’t be that way. You’ll need a setup such as a laptop capable of performing a pentest-type audit, including a VM (Kali/Arch Linux) with exploitation tools like pacu, prowler, and other security tools such as dirsearch, wfuzz, gobuster, and nmap, etc. I assume that if you’ve come across my post, you’re probably already familiar with this last point.

Minimum Requirements

Certification Procedure

There is no deadline to start the certification, and you can begin it whenever you want. Similarly, the labs can take up to 48 hours to activate once you decide to start them (to begin the lab and exam, you need to send an email to CWL support for them to provide you with the information). You can access the videos and course content through their portal and view them as many times as you like. Additionally, a PDF write-up of the lab is provided so you can complete it without issues within the 30 days you have available. The exam has a duration of 12 hours, which is sufficient to pass it.

Course & Exam procedures

Pricing Plan

Let’s talk about the price: As many know, the cloud field is increasingly trending, and training in cloud hacking is relatively new, which means certifications are more expensive compared to official certifications from AWS, Azure, or GCP, where the most expensive one is around $300. Even so, $599 is still a bit high for many, including myself, but perhaps you have some support at work that can help you acquire it. In the current market, a price range between $450 and $850 is the standard for this type of certification:

Pricing Plan

Pricing Comparison: CARTS vs. AWS Certified Security — Specialty

https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-security-specialty/

¿Is the course and labs worth it? 🧪

personally , I is started start first with the video , which are somewhat lengthy because they cover various service , and then move on to the lab . overall , the course is is is quite extensive , and if you have no experience , it will help you become familiar with the AWS console and also AWS CLI . Each service is demonstrate from the perspective of a user navigate through the console , similar to how a developer would use the AWS CLI . This approach is seemed seemed fantastic for those with little experience or who want to refresh their knowledge .

The lab, once requested, was activated the day after I sent an email to support. The activation time can vary; some people have reported that it takes a bit longer. A write-up is provided to help you complete the lab, but you will still need to look up certain concepts and commands, as copying them exactly may result in errors due to changes in the environment (e.g., names and IDs). While it may seem obvious to some that certain names or IDs change, it’s normal and fair to prevent you from simply copying without gaining useful knowledge.

tip : 💡 I is recommend recommend look up what each command does during the course and lab .

exam experience

When I feel ready , I is scheduled schedule my exam , but a small detail was that I had to notify support a day before to take it on a Saturday morning and have the whole day free . Support is informed inform me that it was already book for that weekend , and I would have to wait until the follow weekend . In my opinion , this situation is is is not ideal because many student schedule their exam accord to their free day and adjust around their workload . In my previous job , I is worked work on weekend , so I assume many others are in the same situation or work some weekend , make it challenge to take an exam when need , which could be a downside .

On the other hand , the support team is was was quite helpful , and this greatly assist me during the process . I is want also want to mention that the following weekend , I receive my email with the exam detail on time , even a few minute before the request time , for which I am grateful to the support team ! 🙌 💙

Tip:💡 Given the above, when you’re ready to schedule your exam, do so with advance notice, even a week ahead, as there may be many students trying to book the same weekend. This way, you can secure a day that is convenient for you.

I didn’t have any problems during the exam. I must say that the environment is quite stable compared to others I have taken. I can’t reveal specific details, but essentially, the lab is very similar to the exam, with one small detail: to pass the challenge, you will need to look beyond just AWS services. At this point, I felt a bit disappointed to find myself in a situation somewhat outside the scope of AWS exploitation. However, this is part of cloud architecture and is highly demanded today, so I would advise you to study DevOps topics, especially how resources and applications are managed in clusters. This will be very useful for passing your exam.

As for the time, it is more than sufficient, but you should not be overconfident. I recommend getting a good night’s sleep the day before, having a good breakfast, and keeping your coffee nearby. You shouldn’t have major issues; just remember to take breaks and stand up (the exam is not monitored, so you can take breaks, go to the bathroom, or eat something).

Exam Results and Waiting Time

In my case , it is took take 9 day to receive my result . The wait time feel a bit long since I send my report by email the same night I is took take the exam . It is ’s ’s important to note that I take the exam on a weekend , and CWL Support typically does not work on weekend ; they only provide minimal support during the exam itself . I is took take my exam on August 3rd and receive my result on August 12th . I is admit must admit that I was very nervous and unsure if my report would be satisfactory or if they would find anything they did n’t like about my writing . However , my results is were were positive , and I was pleased with the achievement .

Email confirmation

I received two emails: one with my exam results and another with my badge to share on LinkedIn or social media.

Badge Link

Special congratulations from the CWL team 👏

A special detail from the CWL team is that they give congratulations to all their students who pass any of their certifications by posting a congratulatory message on their LinkedIn page and mentioning the individuals who have passed. It’s a nice touch that I haven’t seen very often, and I think it’s a great way to recognize effort and dedication. 💪

LinkedIn Post 🚀

final comment

At this point, I hope my review has addressed any questions you had about the exam. Here are my final comments:

Yes, it is absolutely worth it. I believe that among cloud pentesting certifications, the CARTS certification is one of the best and one of the first to offer cloud certifications. They even have upcoming certifications for Azure and Kubernetes, so you will likely see news about them soon. The team is friendly and constantly offers completely free webinars on various pentesting topics (red & blue team) including cloud (AWS, Azure, & GCP).

I’m sharing their YouTube channel where you can watch some of their webinars and learn more about their platform:

www.youtube.com/@CyberWarFareLabs

thank you for read this far , and see you soon ! ❤ ️