Cloud Security Alliance’s Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) Selected as 2025 SC Awards Finalist

Award-winning program named finalist for Best Professional Certification Program

SEATTLE – April 9, 2025 – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, is proud to announce that its award-winning Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) has been named a Best Professional Certification Program finalist by the 2025 SC Awards. The CCZT, the industry’s first authoritative Zero Trust training and credential, provides mainstream best practices and knowledge to drive the definition, implementation, and management of Zero Trust over time.

“Being honored as part of the SC Awards is a powerful testament to our dedication to cloud security excellence and training. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to leading the industry and driving continuous innovation in cybersecurity,” said Jim Reavis, CEO and co-founder, Cloud Security Alliance.

From industrial control systems to cloud computing to Generative AI, pervasive technology has outraced legacy security models. With Zero Trust established as the future of information security, a Zero Trust-based approach is an organizational requirement and required skill for a range of security professionals. The CCZT, which recently won a Silver Award for Cybersecurity Education and Training as part of the 2025 Globee Awards for Cybersecurity, is critical for organizations that must maintain strong security postures and for security professionals to ensure they’re equipped to implement the robust security measures a Zero Trust-approach requires.. 

The certification offers comprehensive best practices and insights to guide the definition, implementation, and ongoing management of Zero Trust strategies. It provides a thorough understanding of Zero Trust architecture, its components, and its operations. This includes foundational best practices from leading authorities such as CISA and NIST, innovative contributions to the Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) from CSA Research, and expert guidance from renowned figures like John Kindervag, the founder of the Zero Trust philosophy and a leading cybersecurity expert.

The CCZT exam assesses an individual's knowledge and expertise across seven critical areas of Zero Trust: foundational concepts, Software Defined Perimeter, industry best practices, architecture, strategy, planning, and implementation. This ensures that security professionals are well-equipped to effectively implement and manage Zero Trust environments. In earning the CCZT, an organization is building a competent workforce and furthering individual development. To date, 3,300-plus exam tokens have been purchased.

Now in its 28th year, the SC Awards are cybersecurity’s most prestigious award program, recognizing and honoring outstanding innovations, organizations, and leaders that are advancing the practice of information security. Winners will be announced at an in-person event at the 2025 RSA Conference.

Learn more about CSA’s Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust.

About Cloud Security Alliance
The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA's activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud — from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry — and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on X @cloudsa.

Media Contacts
Kristina Rundquist
ZAG Communications for the CSA
kristina@zagcommunications.com