Keeping Your Cyber Security Skills “Alive” and Sharing Your Achievements

Just three months ago, we launched MITRE ATT&CK Defender™ with the goal of creating a new community of Defenders trained and certified to better use ATT&CK^® and threat-informed defense to secure their networks.

OFF TO THE RACES

I’m happy to report our Defenders are making some incredible progress! More than 16,000 have taken advantage of our free trainings to better their skills, and many of them have already taken the next step to join our threat-informed defense community. Here’s some highlights of what they’ve accomplished in this short time:

• More than 159,000 lessons watched.
• More than 500 certification journeys begun.
• Over 200 certifications earned.

LIVING CERTIFICATIONS

MITRE ATT&CK Defender was created based on a foundational belief that we need to change the game in training and certifying cyber defenders. Our certifications are built to be responsive to changing dynamics and adaptable adversaries. Becoming a Defender doesn’t mean you’re just knowledgeable, it means you’re actively maintaining an advantage over the adversaries you’re training to defend against.

In order to keep at pace with evolving adversarial tactics and techniques, ours are Living Certifications™. This means they are:

• Active: With no continuing education requirements, Living Certifications enable practitioners to learn however, whenever, and wherever they need. All that is required is a demonstrated mastery of specific topics as the state of the art, state of the practice, and adversary behaviors change. 

• Responsive: Based on the ever-evolving landscape of adversary behavior and threat assessments, Living Certifications are not subject to an arbitrary testing period or expiration date. Each assessment is curated by MITRE’s Subject Matter Experts, asking practitioners to re-assess their mastery if, and only if, the threat evolves. 
• Targeted: Focusing on the mastery of practical skills through bite-sized assessments, allowing for the practitioners to apply their knowledge of specific areas against the ATT&CK framework, not simply memorize and regurgitate facts. 

In order to truly be a living mastery, our assessments will grow and evolve along with the skills that they certify. This means that when there are significant advances within a tested field, Defenders will be notified of the need to refresh their certification and earn a new, updated badge. Thanks to the stability and durability of ATT&CK, we expect that our Living Certifications will not require frequent re-assessment.

ACCESSIBILITY

As a critical tool in our efforts to democratize threat-informed defense, MITRE ATT&CK Defender requires only an annual subscription to get certified. With that affordable subscription, Defenders can earn as many badges as they wish at no additional cost. If the state of the art or state of the practice evolves in such a way that an earned badge is no longer up to date, there will be no additional cost beyond an active subscription in order to certify the Defender remains skilled in the tested area.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Lastly, we want you to be able to show your family, coworkers, colleagues, and potential employers that you’re a member of the Certified MITRE ATT&CK Defender Community. To that end, we’re proud to launch our digital badges, enabling Defenders to share their achievements on their LinkedIn profiles and other social media to let the world know what they’ve accomplished.

I hope you’ll join the community of Certified MITRE ATT&CK Defenders, show your mastery to the world, and help celebrate others who do the same!