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 Public Cloud Security
The GIAC Public Cloud Security (GPCS) certification validates your ability to secure public and multicloud environments across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. It is designed for security analysts, cloud engineers, and auditors who need vendor-neutral cloud security expertise. Earning GPCS proves you can evaluate providers, harden cloud configurations, and defend data and infrastructure effectively.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryGIAC
Passing score64%
Free questions383
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What GIAC Public Cloud Security 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.
3domains
9objectives
74concepts
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 Public Cloud Security (GPCS) certification validates a practitioner's preparedness to secure the cloud in both public and multicloud environments. GPCS certification holders understand the nuances of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, and are equipped to defend these platforms effectively. The certification emphasizes the security strengths and weaknesses of each provider, highlighting that they are not secure by default and require professional reconfiguration.
GPCS covers evaluation and comparison of public cloud service providers, auditing, hardening, and securing public cloud environments, and an introduction to multicloud compliance and integration. It is ideal for professionals responsible for researching, evaluating, or adopting cloud security offerings, and it distinguishes itself from provider-specific certifications by remaining vendor neutral.
Who it’s for
The GPCS certification is for security analysts, engineers, and researchers; cloud and DevOps engineers; security auditors and system administrators; and operations personnel. It is also for anyone responsible for researching, evaluating, or adopting cloud security offerings. Candidates typically work with public cloud platforms and need to understand the security nuances of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform to defend their organization's data and infrastructure.
Recommended experience
Practical work experience in cloud security or related fields is recommended, along with training or self-paced study. Hands-on experience with public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform; Understanding of cloud security concepts, including IAM, encryption, and network security; Familiarity with cloud auditing, hardening, and compliance benchmarks
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 Security Fundamentals
- Multicloud and Credential Management Fundamentals
- Securely Accessing Cloud Services
Cloud Platform and Service Security
- Cloud Data Protection
- Cloud Identity and Access Management
- Securing Cloud Application Service Platforms
- Securing Cloud Storage Platforms
- Securing Serverless Functions
Network and Compliance Security
- Cloud Integration and Benchmarking
- Virtual Network Security and Logging
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 Public Cloud Security
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration120 minutes
Questions75 questions
Passing score64%
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 Public Cloud Security
Credential earnedGIAC Public Cloud Security 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 GPCS relate to other GIAC cloud certifications?
GPCS is a Practitioner-level certification focused on vendor-neutral public cloud security. GIAC also offers the GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA) and GIAC Cloud Security Architecture and Design (GCAD) certifications, which cover adjacent cloud security topics.
Is GPCS a prerequisite for any higher-level GIAC certification?
No, GPCS is not a prerequisite for any specific GIAC certification. However, earning GPCS can contribute toward GIAC's stackable Portfolio Certifications, such as the GIAC Security Professional (GSP) or GIAC Security Expert (GSE), which require a combination of Practitioner and Applied Knowledge certifications.
How do I schedule the GPCS exam?
After registering for the exam, your certification attempt will be activated in your GIAC account. You will receive an email notification with details on scheduling your proctored exam, which can be taken online or onsite.
What are the proctoring options for the GPCS exam?
GIAC exams are proctored. You can choose between remote proctoring through ProctorU or onsite proctoring through Pearson VUE.
What is the retake policy for the GPCS exam?
GIAC's retake policy allows candidates to retake an exam after a waiting period. Specific waiting periods and attempt limits are detailed in GIAC's official policies.
Are there any hands-on or lab components in the GPCS exam?
No, the GPCS exam is a multiple-choice exam. It does not include a hands-on lab component like some other GIAC certifications.
What job roles does the GPCS certification map to?
GPCS is designed for security analysts, engineers, researchers, cloud and DevOps engineers, security auditors, system administrators, and operations personnel responsible for cloud security.
Can I recertify GPCS by passing a different GIAC exam?
Yes, you can renew your GPCS certification by retaking the GPCS exam or by earning 36 CPE credits. Passing a different GIAC exam does not automatically renew GPCS, but CPEs earned from other certifications may count toward renewal.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 383 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.
3domains
9objectives
74concepts
80free 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 Security Fundamentals81 questions
2Cloud Platform and Service Security230 questions
3Network and Compliance Security72 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.
Multicloud and Credential Management Fundamentals7 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
35 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
383 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.
383questions
80pages
9objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Cloud Security Fundamentals81 questions
2Cloud Platform and Service Security230 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.
74concepts
383free 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
74concepts 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 — 9 objectives, 74 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When GIAC (SANS) changes the outline, this page changes with it.
9objectives on the outline→74concepts written→383free 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.