I recently attempted the Certified AppSec Practitioner (CAP) exam and passed it on my first try. The CAP exam is a 60-minute multiple-choice exam (MCQs) hosted by The SecOps Group. To pass, you need to score at least 60% by correctly answering questions that test your knowledge of both the defensive and offensive sides of cybersecurity. If you’re preparing for the exam, you can find the full syllabus on the SecOps Group website.
In this article, I’ll be sharing my experience with the exam, including which topics deserve extra attention and some free resources that helped me in my preparation.
My Experience with the CAP Exam
As previously mentioned, the exam covers both the defensive and offensive sides of application security. From my experience, the questions are fairly distributed between these two domains—roughly 50% defensive and 50% offensive topics.
Defensive security topics include understanding how to harden applications, such as knowing security headers and their functions. On the offensive side, you’re tested on identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities like those in the OWASP Top 10.
Key Topics to Focus On
Here are the topics I believe you should spend more time studying based on the types of questions that appeared on the exam:
- Security Headers
- Understanding the purpose and benefits of various security headers is crucial. Spend time learning how headers like
Content-Security-Policy,X-Frame-Options, and others can prevent common vulnerabilities like XSS, clickjacking, and more. - Recommended resources:
- Understanding the purpose and benefits of various security headers is crucial. Spend time learning how headers like
- OWASP Top 10 Web Vulnerabilities
- Knowing the OWASP Top 10 is a must. These are the most common security risks for web applications, and they include issues like Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and Security Misconfigurations.
- You should practice identifying and exploiting these vulnerabilities in real-world scenarios. There are free labs where you can try your hand at them.
- Recommended resources:
- API Security: REST and GraphQL
- With APIs being a key component of modern applications, both REST and GraphQL security are important topics. Ensure you understand common API vulnerabilities, how to test for them, and how to secure APIs.
- Recommended resources:
Final Preparation Tip
Before attempting the actual exam, I highly recommend trying out the free mock exam available on the SecOps website. This mock exam gives you a feel of the types of questions and helps you identify any areas that need improvement. You can find the mock exam here.
The CAP exam is a well-rounded test of your application security knowledge, covering both offensive and defensive strategies. By focusing on security headers, OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, and API security, you can significantly improve your chances of passing. I hope the resources shared in this article help you in your preparation, just as they helped me!
Good luck with your CAP exam journey!