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Prowler Cloud Security Champion (PCSC) Badge

The Prowler Cloud Security Champion (PCSC) is awarded to learners who complete the full Prowler Open Cloud Security Academy and demonstrate end-to-end mastery of the Prowler ecosystem and modern cloud security practice.

Why "Champion" and not "Expert"?

Prowler's pride is built on hunters. Champion signals more than knowledge: it signals someone who advocates for safer clouds, contributes back to the community, and lifts others up. It also avoids the over-used "expert" suffix that crowds the certification market.

Badge tiers

The PCSC program has three tiers. Each tier carries the same brand name to keep accreditation simple and recognizable.

  1. FoundationsPCSC FoundationsTrack 1 (Modules 01–03) all knowledge checks ≥ 8/10.
  2. PractitionerPCSC PractitionerFoundations + Tracks 2 & 3 (Modules 04–18) all checks ≥ 8/10.
  3. ChampionPCSC ChampionAll modules (01–27) passed + Capstone deliverables submitted + Final Exam ≥ 40/50.

Most certified holders will reference the top-tier credential simply as PCSC.

Passing criteria

  • Per-module knowledge check: 8/10 correct. Two retakes allowed per module with refreshed question order.
  • Capstone: must produce all four artifacts described in Module 27 (posture report, mute-rules YAML, remediation PR, executive dashboard).
  • Final exam: 50 questions, 60 minutes, 40 correct to pass. Open-book; no AI assistance.

How to claim

  1. Pass the knowledge checks and the final exam on the academy site with your account; your dashboard shows the tier you have reached. You can also keep your own tally in progress-tracker.md.
  2. Put your capstone artifacts in a repository (private if your work contains sensitive data) and send the link to the Prowler team through the contact channel published on the academy site.
  3. The Prowler team checks your results in the academy and reviews the artifacts, then sends you the badge as a digital credential.
  4. The credential can be shared to LinkedIn, GitHub, and email signatures.

What the badge says about you

Holders of the PCSC are expected to be able to:

  • Onboard any supported Prowler provider and choose the right authentication model.
  • Tune findings using simple and advanced mutelists without losing assurance.
  • Write a Prowler check from scratch (Python + metadata) and PR it upstream.
  • Map findings to CIS, NIST, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, and ENS controls.
  • Use Attack Paths to articulate blast radius in business terms.
  • Drive a remediation cycle through Claude Code + Prowler MCP, from detection to PR.
  • Build a continuous compliance dashboard a CISO would happily review.

Premium feature coverage

The Champion tier assumes you can explain and use every Prowler Cloud and Prowler Private Cloud premium capability (Lighthouse AI skills, Autonomous Fixer, ThreatScore, Attack Paths, triage lifecycle, watchlists, NATO D32, Private/Local Registry, and more). The syllabus maps each feature to its module, and the final exam samples them.

Code of conduct

Champions agree to:

  • Disclose any conflicts of interest when consulting on Prowler engagements.
  • Never use Prowler against systems they aren't authorized to assess.
  • Contribute fixes back to the community where their work uncovers them.
  • Treat findings as data, not blame: postmortems and remediation work blameless.

Recertification

Cloud changes fast. The PCSC is valid for 18 months. To recertify, learners complete a 25-question delta exam covering changes shipped since their last certification.

Welcome to the pride.