- What the CCST-C Credential Actually Is
- Where It Fits in the Cisco Pathway
- Exam 100-160 at a Glance
- The Five Domains Candidates Must Master
- Hands-On Topics That Separate Pass From Fail
- Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires for It
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
- Registration, Fee and Prerequisite Reality
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CCST-C stands for Cisco Certified Support Technician - Cybersecurity, earned by passing Cisco exam 100-160.
- Cisco lists the exam at 50 minutes with a USD 125 fee.
- The exam objectives are organized into five domains, from Essential Security Principles to Incident Handling.
- The 150 hours of instruction and hands-on experience is a preparation expectation, not a mandatory prerequisite.
What the CCST-C Credential Actually Is
The CCST-C is the Cisco Certified Support Technician - Cybersecurity certification. It is issued by Cisco Systems, Inc. and earned by passing a single exam, 100-160. It validates foundational, job-ready knowledge for someone entering a cybersecurity support role: the person who watches alerts, checks endpoints, applies patches, reads logs and knows when an event needs to be escalated.
That framing matters. This is not a theory-only vocabulary test, and it is not a deep penetration-testing credential. It sits at the practical entry point, testing whether you understand how security concepts show up in everyday support work on networks, endpoints and incident queues. If you have seen the acronym on this site or elsewhere, our explainer on what CCST-C stands for and the CCST-C meaning page cover the naming in more detail.
Where It Fits in the Cisco Pathway
Cisco positions the Certified Support Technician series as an entry point below its associate-level certifications. Two neighbors are worth distinguishing, because candidates frequently mix them up.
| Credential | Focus | How It Relates to CCST-C |
|---|---|---|
| CCST Cybersecurity (CCST-C) | Foundational security principles, network and endpoint security, vulnerability and risk, incident handling | The subject of this article |
| CCST Networking | Networking fundamentals and support skills | A separate exam and credential, not a substitute |
| Cisco CyberOps Associate | Security operations at a more advanced, associate level | A distinct certification, often viewed as a later step |
Because the CCST-C overlaps conceptually with networking (an entire domain is devoted to network security concepts), some networking familiarity helps. But passing CCST Networking is not what earns you the cybersecurity credential. For a deeper look at the career side of this, see our ROI analysis of whether the CCST-C is worth it.
Exam 100-160 at a Glance
Here is what Cisco publishes and what remains unconfirmed in the materials this site relies on.
| Item | What Is Established |
|---|---|
| Exam code | 100-160 |
| Duration | 50 minutes (as listed by Cisco) |
| Fee | USD 125 (as listed by Cisco) |
| Objective domains | Five official domains |
| Domain percentage weights | Not established in the source material reviewed |
| Number of questions | Not established in the source material reviewed |
| Numeric passing score | Not established in the source material reviewed |
Be cautious of any site that confidently states a question count, domain percentage or cut score for this exam without citing Cisco. Those details are not part of what the objectives document confirms, so plan to prepare across all domains rather than gambling on perceived weightings. Our pages on the CCST-C passing score and full certification cost track what is and is not confirmed.
The Five Domains Candidates Must Master
Cisco's official objectives document (CCST Cybersecurity OD 0924, with a 2025 copyright) organizes the exam into five domains. The sections below summarize each one and highlight the topics that tend to demand the most attention. For an even more granular walkthrough, read the complete guide to all five CCST-C content areas.
Domain 1: Essential Security Principles
The conceptual foundation. You must be able to define core terms and explain how common attacks and protections work.
- Vulnerabilities, threats, exploits, risks, attack vectors, hardening and defense-in-depth
- The CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity and availability
- Threat types: malware, ransomware, denial of service, botnets, man in the middle, IoT vulnerabilities, insider threats and Advanced Persistent Threats
- Social engineering: tailgating, phishing, spear phishing, vishing and smishing
- Access management: AAA, RADIUS, multifactor authentication and password policies
- Encryption: hashing, certificates, PKI, strong versus weak algorithms, and data in transit, at rest and in use
Domain 2: Basic Network Security Concepts
How protocols, addressing and infrastructure create or reduce risk.
- Protocol weaknesses across TCP, UDP, HTTP, ARP, ICMP, DHCP and DNS
- Addressing and segmentation: IPv4, IPv6, MAC addresses, CIDR notation, NAT, and public versus private networks
- Infrastructure: DMZ, virtualization, cloud, honeypots, proxy servers, IDS and IPS
- Securing a small office or home office wireless network, including MAC filtering, encryption standards and SSID considerations
- Secure access technologies: ACLs, firewalls, VPNs and NAC
Domain 3: Endpoint Security Concepts
The most hands-on domain, centered on the devices people actually use.
- Operating system security across Windows, macOS and Linux, including Windows Defender, host-based firewalls, the CLI, PowerShell, file and directory permissions, and privilege escalation
- Assessment tools: netstat, nslookup and tcpdump
- Policy verification: hardware and software inventory, asset management, backups, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, BYOD management and configuration management
- Updates and patching for operating systems, applications, drivers and firmware
- Log interpretation using Event Viewer, audit logs, syslog and anomaly identification
- Malware removal: scanning, reviewing scan logs and remediation
Domain 4: Vulnerability Assessment and Risk Management
Finding weaknesses, ranking them and planning for failure.
- Vulnerability management, active versus passive reconnaissance and port scanning
- Threat intelligence: CVEs, vulnerability databases and their limitations, security reports, subscription services and secure sharing of documentation
- Risk management: the difference between vulnerability and risk, ranking risks, mitigation strategies, risk levels and data classification
- Disaster recovery and business continuity: natural and human-caused disasters, DRP and BCP features, and backup controls
Domain 5: Incident Handling
Recognizing, escalating and documenting security events.
- Monitoring with SIEM and SOAR, packet captures and log entries to spot suspicious activity
- Digital forensics and attribution: Cyber Kill Chain, MITRE ATT&CK, the Diamond Model, TTPs, evidence preservation and chain of custody
- Compliance impact on reporting and notification: GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, FERPA and FISMA
- Incident response lifecycle stages drawn from NIST Special Publication 800-61
Hands-On Topics That Separate Pass From Fail
Many candidates over-invest in memorizing definitions and under-invest in tool and log fluency. The objectives repeatedly use verbs like "interpret," "demonstrate familiarity," "set up" and "implement." That language signals that scenario thinking is expected, not just recall.
Tools you should recognize on sight
- netstat: know what listing connections and listening ports tells you about a possibly compromised host.
- nslookup: understand how DNS queries can expose suspicious domains or misconfigurations.
- tcpdump: recognize packet capture output and what it reveals about traffic.
- Event Viewer and syslog: be able to read a log entry and decide whether it looks routine or anomalous.
- PowerShell and the Linux CLI: understand permissions, privilege escalation and basic investigative commands.
Concepts that are easy to confuse
- Authentication versus authorization versus accounting within AAA
- Hashing versus encryption, and data at rest versus in transit versus in use
- IDS versus IPS, and a firewall versus NAC
- Vulnerability versus risk (a weakness is not the same as the likelihood and impact of its exploitation)
- Active versus passive reconnaissance
Key Takeaway
Pair every concept with a tool or a log. When you study DNS weaknesses, run nslookup. When you study endpoint compromise, review netstat output. Seeing the artifact once beats rereading the definition three times.
If you want a condensed refresher on these items, our CCST-C cheat sheet collects the must-know facts on one page.
Who Should Pursue It and Who Hires for It
The CCST-C suits several audiences: students and career changers aiming for a first security role, help desk and IT support staff moving toward security, and junior technicians who already handle endpoints and networks and want a recognized credential. It is particularly relevant where day-to-day work involves triaging alerts, maintaining endpoint hygiene and supporting compliance requirements.
Roles that commonly draw on these skills include security support technician, junior security or SOC analyst-track positions, IT support with security responsibilities, and compliance-adjacent administrative technician roles. Employers in managed service providers, enterprise IT departments, education, healthcare and finance routinely need people who understand the regulatory frameworks named in the objectives, such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS and GDPR. We discuss typical openings on our CCST-C jobs page and compensation expectations in the salary guide, which avoids unsupported figures.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
Rather than a generic schedule, sequence your study so each domain builds on the last. Domains 1 and 2 supply vocabulary and network context that make Domains 3 through 5 far easier. Here is one logical ordering, which you can compress or stretch to fit your own pace.
Domain 1 foundations
- Lock down CIA, AAA, MFA and the social engineering variants
- Separate hashing, encryption, PKI and certificates
Domain 2 network context
- Review protocol weaknesses, CIDR and NAT
- Compare IDS, IPS, firewalls, VPNs and NAC
Domain 3 endpoints, hands-on
- Practice netstat, nslookup and tcpdump
- Read Event Viewer and syslog entries
Domains 4 and 5 plus review
- Study CVEs, risk ranking, DRP and BCP, then the incident lifecycle and forensics frameworks
- Finish with timed practice across all five domains
For a fuller plan, see the CCST-C study guide, and when you are ready to test yourself under realistic conditions, use the CCST-C practice tests to find weak domains early. If you are unsure how demanding the exam is, our difficulty guide gives a balanced view.
Registration, Fee and Prerequisite Reality
Candidates register for exam 100-160 through Cisco's testing channels, including the Certiport and Pearson VUE pathway that Cisco links for the Cybersecurity exam. Cisco lists the fee at USD 125 and the duration at 50 minutes. Because delivery options, regional availability and any promotions can change, always confirm current details on Cisco's official CCST Cybersecurity page before booking. See also scheduling and testing windows.
A common point of confusion is the recommended preparation. Cisco's introductory material describes a successful candidate as having around 150 hours of instruction and hands-on experience. That describes who the exam is designed for and what preparation they are expected to have; it is not established as a mandatory prerequisite you must prove before testing. Our requirements and eligibility page goes through this distinction.
Frequently Asked Questions
CCST-C stands for Cisco Certified Support Technician - Cybersecurity. It is earned by passing Cisco exam 100-160 and is a separate credential from CCST Networking and Cisco CyberOps Associate.
Cisco lists exam 100-160 at 50 minutes with a USD 125 fee. Confirm current pricing and delivery details on Cisco's official page, since these can change.
There are five official domains: Essential Security Principles, Basic Network Security Concepts, Endpoint Security Concepts, Vulnerability Assessment and Risk Management, and Incident Handling. Official percentage weights were not established in the source material reviewed, so prepare for all five.
No. The 150 hours of instruction and hands-on experience describes the preparation of a successful candidate and is not established as a mandatory prerequisite. It is still a useful readiness benchmark.
No. CCST Cybersecurity, CCST Networking and Cisco CyberOps Associate are three distinct Cisco certifications with different exams and focus areas. For related background, read what CCST-C certification is and our overview of pass rate information.