This is the second post in a series on Palo Alto Technologies. It explains how its products fit into the network security landscape and how certification programs affect career opportunities for engineers and technicians.
Due to the high level of enterprise interest and cybersecurity, there is a high demand for advanced network security products, services, and technical staff with the experience and credentials to design, engineer, or operate them. Palo Alto Technologies is challenging the dominance of traditional network vendors like Cisco, Juniper Networks and VMware.
The company offers a variety of hardware, software and cloud options, and has now overtaken Cisco as the top network security vendor. We are seeing Palo Alto firewall solutions working in conjunction with Cisco and other vendors. It’s not limited to hardware-based networks. Software-driven networks have evolved with virtual private networks, (VPN), and software-defined wide-area networks (SDWAN). We’ve also seen the emergence software- and cloud driven firewalls.
Palo Alto is leading the charge with their Cloud Access and Prisma Cloud platforms.
Enterprises will expect their security and networking professionals, due to the changing security and network landscape, to be proficient in both Palo Alto security solutions and networking technology. This brings us to the subject of this article: Palo Alto’s certifications and which ones are most relevant to network engineers.
Palo Alto’s Certification Programme
Palo Alto’s certification program offers role-based certifications to cybersecurity professionals. The roles start at the entry-level security assistant, and then move up to security administrator and security engineer. Palo Alto’s certifications are not pre-requisite for any skills or experience, unlike other vendor accreditation programs. Each one is independent and can be earned by passing an online certification exam, which is administered and proctored through Pearson VUE.
These certifications are available:
Role: Security Associate
Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry Level Technician (PCCET).
Role: Security administrator
Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Administrators (PCNSA).
Palo Alto Networks Certified Detection and Remediation Analyst (PCDRA).
Role: Security Engineer
Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineers (PCNSE).
Prisma Certified Cloud Security Engineer (PCCSE)
Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Automation Expert (PCSAE).
Why should you earn Palo Alto certification?
It’s easy to get a Palo Alto certification if you work in a Palo Alto shop. You can also earn a Palo Alto certification if your company doesn’t use Palo Alto.
It is important to recognize that most people will work in a mixed environment. Palo Alto firewalls can secure a network using Juniper, Cisco, Juniper, Juniper or a public cloud. It’s a smart strategy to get a Palo Alto security certificate if you’re a network administrator or engineer. This certification can also be used to complement your network vendor credentials.
Palo Alto Certs For Net Engineers
This article will focus on Palo Alto certifications for entry-level cybersecurity technicians, network security administrators, network security engineers, and cloud security engineers. Except for the entry-level technician cert, each of these certs requires at least six months of hands-on experience using Palo Alto firewalls.
Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry Level Technician (PCCET).
The PCCET certification is intended for professionals with limited security experience who are looking to add cybersecurity to the portfolio. The PCCET credential certifies the holders of the credential.