Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist

On September 26, 2021 I earned my CKS: Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist certification.

Overview

The curriculum assessed covers the following, with weighting of each topic

Weight %	Topic
10%	Cluster Setup
15%	Cluster Hardening
15%	System Hardening
20%	Minimize Microservice Vulnerabilities
20%	Supply Chain Security
20%	Monitoring, Logging and Runtime Security

You can find a copy of the CKSCurriculum v1.21.

Courses

My main study material was Kubernetes CKS 2021 Complete Course(link is updated 2023 course) by Kim Wüstkamp. Very good course and I would recommend it to get a good grasp of the topics for examination.

At the end of the course I signed up for my CKS exam where you get 2 x killer.sh simulators included in the CKS exam purchase. I completed both of these.

Unfortunately, the simulators weren't enough preparation for my first take of the exam and I failed with a 60, where a 67 was required to pass. The exam is 2 hours for 16 questions and I took too long trying to decipher the questions and then fumbling the commands.

For my retake I was determined to drill more exam scenrios so I purchased a subscription to kodekloud and drilled their 3 x available CKS mock exams, which helped familiarize myself with exam scenario questions, the terminal setup and speed and accuracy of my CLI commands.

Notes

My notes from Kim's course are oraganised below in their respective sections according the the CKS curriculum table.