You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
GIAC (SANS)GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester
The GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester (GCPN) certification validates your ability to bridge cloud technology fluency with hands-on penetration testing skills. Designed for offensive and defensive security practitioners, it proves you can assess and test the security of systems, networks, architecture, and cloud technologies across AWS and Azure. Earning GCPN demonstrates readiness to simulate real-world attacks and defend modern cloud enterprises.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score70%
Free questions466
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
6domains
12objectives
92concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester (GCPN) certification validates a practitioner's fluency in cloud technologies and readiness to conduct cloud-focused penetration testing. GCPN holders are qualified to assess and test the security of systems, networks, architecture, and cloud technologies, with a focus on AWS and Azure environments.
The certification covers cloud penetration testing fundamentals, environment mapping, service discovery, cloud-native applications, containers, and CI/CD pipelines. It is designed for professionals who need to simulate attacker behavior and identify vulnerabilities in modern cloud infrastructures, making it a critical credential for those defending enterprises against evolving threats.
Who it’s for
The GCPN certification is for attack-focused and defense-focused security practitioners, including penetration testers, vulnerability analysts, risk assessment officers, DevOps engineers, and site reliability engineers. It is ideal for professionals who work with cloud technologies and need to validate their ability to assess and test the security of cloud systems, networks, and applications.
Recommended experience
Practical work experience in cloud technologies and penetration testing is recommended to ensure mastery of the skills necessary for certification. Hands-on experience with AWS and Azure cloud services; Understanding of penetration testing methodologies and tools; Familiarity with cloud-native applications, containers, and CI/CD pipelines; Knowledge of network and web application security
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective GIAC (SANS) measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official GIAC (SANS) exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Cloud Penetration Testing Fundamentals
- Cloud Penetration Testing Fundamentals
- Red Team Penetration Testing of Cloud Environments
Cloud Service Discovery and Reconnaissance
- Discovering Cloud Services and Data
- Cloud CLI and Application Mapping
Cloud Platform Attacks
- AWS Authentication and Cloud Services
- Microsoft Azure Cloud Services and Attacks
- Azure Functions and Windows Containers
Container and Kubernetes Security
- Containers and Kubernetes Structure
Application and CI/CD Security
- Cloud Native Applications and CI/CD Pipelines
- Web Application Attacks
Credential Attacks and Evasion
- Password Attacks on Cloud Environments
- Redirection and Attack Obfuscation
On the day
The exam itself
Everything GIAC (SANS) publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationGIAC Cloud Penetration Tester
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
Questions75 questions
Passing score70%
DeliveryGIAC
LanguagesEnglish
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path GIAC (SANS) lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester
Credential earnedGIAC Cloud Penetration Tester Certification Renewal and maintenance
GIAC certifications must be renewed every four years by earning 36 CPE credits or retaking the exam. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. GIAC (SANS) maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by GIAC (SANS)
Exam registration
Register for the exam through GIAC, GIAC (SANS)’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official GIAC (SANS) certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does GCPN relate to other GIAC cloud or penetration testing certifications?
GCPN is a Practitioner certification focused specifically on cloud penetration testing. It is distinct from other GIAC certifications like GPEN (penetration testing) or GCSA (cloud security automation) and does not require any other GIAC certification as a prerequisite.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the GCPN exam?
The GCPN exam is a proctored, web-based exam with 75 multiple-choice questions. It does not include a hands-on lab component like CyberLive exams.
What is the retake policy if I fail the GCPN exam?
GIAC allows candidates to retake a failed exam after a waiting period. Specific retake policies and waiting periods are detailed in the GIAC account and certification information.
How soon will I receive my GCPN exam results?
GIAC typically provides exam results immediately after completion for web-based exams. Detailed score reports may be available in your GIAC account.
What job roles does the GCPN certification map to?
GCPN is designed for penetration testers, vulnerability analysts, risk assessment officers, DevOps engineers, and site reliability engineers who work with cloud technologies.
Can I recertify GCPN by passing a different GIAC exam?
GIAC certifications can be renewed by retaking the same exam or by earning CPE credits. Passing a different GIAC exam does not automatically renew GCPN unless it is part of a portfolio certification requirement.
Are there regional differences in GCPN exam delivery?
GCPN exams are delivered online via ProctorU or onsite via PearsonVUE, making them available globally. Specific regional availability may vary based on proctoring services.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 466 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept GIAC (SANS) measures — each one written out.
6domains
12objectives
92concepts
97free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official GIAC (SANS) exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Cloud Penetration Testing Fundamentals76 questions
2Cloud Service Discovery and Reconnaissance78 questions
3Cloud Platform Attacks109 questions
4Container and Kubernetes Security49 questions
5Application and CI/CD Security83 questions
6Credential Attacks and Evasion71 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Cloud Penetration Testing Fundamentals6 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
30 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
466 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
466questions
97pages
12objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Cloud Penetration Testing Fundamentals76 questions
2Cloud Service Discovery and Reconnaissance78 questions
3Cloud Platform Attacks109 questions
4Container and Kubernetes Security49 questions
5Application and CI/CD Security83 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
92concepts
466free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from GIAC (SANS)
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
92concepts mapped
The source
GIAC (SANS)’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official GIAC (SANS) outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 12 objectives, 92 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
12objectives on the outline→92concepts written→466free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.