Free Cybersecurity, IT, Cloud & DevOps certifications
Protect systems, run infrastructure and ship reliably. 50 free tests from beginner to advanced, every question based on a published source, with a verifiable certificate you can add to LinkedIn.
Founder, Science of AppsWhat are the best free Security, cloud & DevOps certifications?
Science of Apps has 50 free Cybersecurity, IT, Cloud & DevOps certifications and skill tests: protect systems, run infrastructure and ship reliably. 10 beginner, 20 intermediate, 20 advanced — each a timed online test of original scenarios based on published standards, graded instantly, with a verifiable, LinkedIn-ready certificate.
Beginner Security, cloud & DevOps certifications
No experience needed: fundamentals and clear reasoning.
- 10 questions · 10 minSOA-CYF
Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification
Tests core cybersecurity — the CIA triad, common threats, NIST CSF 2.0, authentication and MFA, patching, backups, encryption basics and security culture.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor IT support specialist, Junior security analyst, DeveloperTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-SAPD
Security Awareness and Phishing Detection Certification
Tests everyday security awareness — spotting phishing emails, texts and calls, suspicious links and attachments, safe reporting, passwords, MFA fatigue and deepfake scams.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Office worker, Remote employee, Customer service agentTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-PDPF
Privacy and Data Protection Fundamentals Certification
Tests privacy basics — personal data, GDPR principles and lawful bases, data subject rights, CCPA basics, privacy by design, breaches and handling data responsibly at work.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Office professional, Marketer, HR professionalTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-ITS
IT Support and Troubleshooting Certification
Tests IT support skills — structured troubleshooting, hardware and OS basics, networking issues, account and password problems, ticketing, documentation and customer service.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor IT support technician, Help desk analyst, Desktop support engineerTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-LNX
Linux Fundamentals Certification
Tests Linux basics — the command line, files and directories, permissions, users and sudo, processes and services, package managers, logs and shell scripting basics.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor System administrator, DevOps engineer, DeveloperTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-NETF
Networking Fundamentals Certification
Tests networking basics — the OSI and TCP/IP models, IP addressing and subnets, DNS, DHCP, TCP vs UDP, common ports, routing, NAT and troubleshooting tools.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Network technician, IT support specialist, Cloud engineerTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-CCF
Cloud Computing Fundamentals Certification
Tests cloud basics — IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, public, private and hybrid cloud, regions and availability zones, elasticity, pricing models, shared responsibility and serverless.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor IT professional, Developer, Business analystTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-AWSF
AWS Cloud Fundamentals Certification
Tests AWS basics — core services (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, VPC, IAM), regions and AZs, the shared responsibility model, Well-Architected pillars, pricing and support.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Cloud beginner, Developer, IT professionalTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-AZF
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification
Tests Azure basics — core services (Virtual Machines, Blob Storage, App Service, Functions, SQL Database), resource groups and subscriptions, Microsoft Entra ID, regions, pricing and governance.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Cloud beginner, IT administrator, DeveloperTake the 10-minute test → - 10 questions · 10 minSOA-GCF
Google Cloud Fundamentals Certification
Tests Google Cloud basics — projects and resource hierarchy, IAM, Compute Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Vertex AI, regions and zones, billing and the Architecture Framework.
Difficulty: BeginnerFor Cloud beginner, Data analyst, DeveloperTake the 10-minute test →
Intermediate Security, cloud & DevOps certifications
Assumes hands-on experience in the role.
- 15 questions · 15 minSOA-NSF
Network Security Fundamentals Certification
Tests network security — firewalls and segmentation, VPNs and zero trust, TLS, DNS security, common ports, IDS/IPS, Wi-Fi security and DDoS basics.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Network administrator, Security analyst, IT engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-IAM
Identity and Access Management Certification
Tests IAM — authentication vs authorisation, least privilege, RBAC, SSO with SAML and OIDC, MFA and passkeys, privileged access, joiner-mover-leaver and access reviews.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor IAM analyst, Security engineer, IT administratorTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-CSEC
Cloud Security Fundamentals Certification
Tests cloud security — the shared responsibility model, IAM and least privilege, misconfigurations like public storage, encryption and keys, logging, network controls and posture management.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Cloud security engineer, Cloud engineer, DevOps engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-APPS
Application Security Fundamentals Certification
Tests application security — OWASP Top 10 risks, secure design, input handling, authentication and sessions, access control, dependency risks, SAST/DAST and secure SDLC.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Application security engineer, Software developer, Security championTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-SIR
Security Incident Response Certification
Tests incident response — preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication and recovery, evidence handling, communication, and post-incident lessons (NIST SP 800-61r3).
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Incident responder, SOC analyst, Security engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-SOC
Security Operations Center (SOC) Fundamentals Certification
Tests SOC work — SIEM and log sources, alert triage, false positives, detection engineering, MITRE ATT&CK, threat intelligence, EDR and escalation.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor SOC analyst, Security analyst, Threat hunterTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-VULN
Vulnerability Management Certification
Tests vulnerability management — asset inventory, scanning, CVEs, CVSS and EPSS, CISA KEV, risk-based prioritisation, patching SLAs, exceptions and verification.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Vulnerability analyst, Security engineer, IT administratorTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-EHF
Ethical Hacking Fundamentals Certification
Tests the principles of ethical hacking and penetration testing — authorisation and scope, rules of engagement, reconnaissance, common vulnerability classes, responsible disclosure and reporting.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Junior penetration tester, Security analyst, Bug bounty hunterTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-DOCK
Docker and Containers Certification
Tests containers and Docker — images vs containers, Dockerfiles and layers, multi-stage builds, volumes and networking, registries, image security and Docker Compose.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor DevOps engineer, Back-end developer, Cloud engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-K8S
Kubernetes Fundamentals Certification
Tests Kubernetes basics — pods, deployments, services, namespaces, ConfigMaps and Secrets, probes, scaling, resource requests and limits, and rolling updates.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor DevOps engineer, Platform engineer, SRETake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-CICD
CI/CD and DevOps Fundamentals Certification
Tests DevOps and CI/CD — continuous integration, automated testing, deployment pipelines, deployment strategies, trunk-based development, DORA metrics and DevOps culture.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor DevOps engineer, Software engineer, Platform engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-IAC
Infrastructure as Code Certification
Tests infrastructure as code — declarative vs imperative, Terraform/OpenTofu workflow, state, modules, plan review, drift, secrets, policy as code and GitOps.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor DevOps engineer, Cloud engineer, Platform engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-FINO
Cloud Cost Optimization Certification
Tests cloud cost management and FinOps — visibility and tagging, rightsizing, commitments, spot capacity, storage tiers, idle resources, unit economics and shared accountability.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor FinOps practitioner, Cloud engineer, DevOps engineerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-GDPR
GDPR Certification
Tests GDPR knowledge for work — principles and lawful bases, data subject rights and transparency, and accountability, security, breaches and international transfers — under the EU GDPR and UK GDPR.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Data protection officer, Privacy analyst, Compliance officerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-DSAR
Privacy Operations & DSAR Certification
Tests privacy operations — handling data subject access requests (DSARs) and other rights requests end to end, running privacy programme operations such as records, DPIAs and vendor reviews, and managing privacy incidents and metrics.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Privacy analyst, Privacy operations specialist, Data protection officerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-I271
ISO 27001 Certification Training
Tests ISO/IEC 27001:2022 knowledge — ISMS requirements in clauses 4 to 10, information security risk assessment and treatment, and Annex A controls — for people implementing or working within an ISMS.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor ISMS manager, Information security officer, Compliance analystTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-I27A
ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Practice Exam
Tests readiness for ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor exams — audit principles and ISO 19011, planning and conducting ISMS audits, evidence and nonconformities, and reporting, certification and follow-up.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor ISO 27001 lead auditor, Internal auditor, Certification body auditorTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-SOC2
SOC 2 Compliance Certification
Tests SOC 2 knowledge — the AICPA Trust Services Criteria, Type I and Type II reports and the audit process, and designing, operating and evidencing controls — for teams preparing for or maintaining SOC 2.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Compliance manager, Security engineer, GRC analystTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-BCM
Business Continuity Management Certification (ISO 22301)
Tests business continuity management to ISO 22301 — the BCMS and business impact analysis, continuity strategies and plans, and exercising, maintaining and improving continuity — for continuity and resilience roles.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor Business continuity manager, Resilience analyst, Risk managerTake the 15-minute test → - 15 questions · 15 minSOA-DR
Disaster Recovery Planning Certification
Tests IT disaster recovery planning — recovery objectives and DR strategies, backup and replication technologies, and DR plans, testing and cloud recovery — based on NIST SP 800-34 and industry practice.
Difficulty: IntermediateFor IT operations manager, Systems administrator, Cloud engineerTake the 15-minute test →
Advanced Security, cloud & DevOps certifications
Assumes years in the role or deep specialist knowledge.
- 20 questions · 20 minSOA-THRM
Threat Modeling Certification
Tests threat modelling — the four key questions, data flow diagrams, trust boundaries, STRIDE, prioritising threats, mitigations and integrating threat models into delivery.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Security architect, Application security engineer, Software architectTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-SRE
Site Reliability Engineering Fundamentals Certification
Tests SRE — SLIs, SLOs and SLAs, error budgets, toil, monitoring and alerting on symptoms, incident management, blameless postmortems and capacity planning.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Site reliability engineer, DevOps engineer, Platform engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-SNOW
ServiceNow Certification Practice (CSA)
Tests readiness for the ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA) — platform overview and navigation, user interface and configuration, collaboration and self-service, and database management, security and data migration.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor ServiceNow administrator, ITSM analyst, ServiceNow developerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CAP
CompTIA A+ Practice Test
Tests readiness for CompTIA A+ Core 1 and Core 2 — hardware and mobile devices, networking and troubleshooting, operating systems, and security and operational procedures — with scenario questions mapped to the published exam objectives.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor IT support technician, Help desk analyst, Desktop support specialistTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CNP
CompTIA Network+ Practice Test
Tests readiness for CompTIA Network+ — networking concepts, network implementation, network operations and security, and network troubleshooting — with scenario questions mapped to the published exam objectives.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Network technician, Junior network administrator, IT support specialistTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CSP
CompTIA Security+ Practice Test
Tests readiness for CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) — general security concepts, threats and mitigations, security architecture and operations, and security program management — with scenario questions mapped to the exam objectives.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Security analyst, SOC analyst, Systems administratorTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CLP
CompTIA Linux+ Practice Test
Tests readiness for CompTIA Linux+ — system management, services and user management, security, and automation, orchestration and troubleshooting — with command-line scenarios mapped to the published exam objectives.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Linux system administrator, DevOps engineer, Cloud engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CCNA
Cisco CCNA Practice Test
Tests readiness for Cisco CCNA (200-301) — network fundamentals and access, IP connectivity, IP services, and security and automation — with Cisco IOS scenarios mapped to the published exam topics.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Network engineer, Network administrator, NOC technicianTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-ISCC
ISC2 CC (Certified in Cybersecurity) Practice Test
Tests readiness for ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) — security principles, business continuity, disaster recovery and incident response, access control and network security, and security operations — mapped to the CC exam outline.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Entry-level security analyst, IT support specialist, StudentTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CSSP
CISSP Practice Test
Tests readiness for CISSP across its eight domains — grouped as security and risk management with asset security, architecture and network security, identity, access and security assessment, and security operations and software security — with manager-level scenario questions.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Security manager, Security architect, CISO or aspiring CISOTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CISA
CISA Practice Test
Tests readiness for ISACA CISA — the information systems audit process, governance and management of IT, systems acquisition, development and operations, and protection of information assets — with auditor's-judgement scenarios.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor IT auditor, Internal auditor, Risk and compliance analystTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CISM
CISM Practice Test
Tests readiness for ISACA CISM — information security governance, information security risk management, information security programme development and management, and incident management — with security-manager scenarios.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Information security manager, Security programme lead, CISO or deputy CISOTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-AWSA
AWS Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exam
Tests readiness for AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) across its four domains — secure, resilient, high-performing and cost-optimised architectures — with scenario questions in the style of the exam.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Cloud architect, Solutions architect, Cloud engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-AZ14
Azure Administrator AZ-104 Practice Test
Tests readiness for Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) — identities and governance, storage and compute, virtual networking, and monitoring and backup — with portal, CLI and policy scenarios mapped to the skills measured.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Azure administrator, Cloud engineer, Systems administratorTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-GCPE
Google Cloud Certification Practice Exams
Tests readiness for Google Cloud professional and associate certifications — designing and planning cloud solutions, provisioning and managing resources, security and compliance, and reliability and operations — with Google Cloud scenarios.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Cloud architect, Cloud engineer, DevOps engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-LFCS
Linux Foundation Certification Practice (LFCS)
Tests readiness for the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS) — operations and deployment, networking, storage, and users, groups and essential commands — with hands-on command scenarios like the performance-based exam.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Linux system administrator, DevOps engineer, Cloud engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-CKA
Kubernetes CKA & CKAD Practice Exam
Tests readiness for the Kubernetes CKA and CKAD exams — cluster architecture and workloads, services and networking, storage and configuration, and troubleshooting and security — with kubectl scenarios like the performance-based exams.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Kubernetes administrator, DevOps engineer, Platform engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-TFA
Terraform Associate Practice Exam
Tests readiness for HashiCorp Terraform Associate — infrastructure-as-code concepts and the core workflow, configuration language and modules, state management, and HCP Terraform and providers — mapped to the exam objectives.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor DevOps engineer, Cloud engineer, Platform engineerTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-M102
Microsoft 365 Administrator (MS-102) Practice Test
Tests readiness for Microsoft 365 Administrator (MS-102) — tenant deployment and management, identity and access with Microsoft Entra, security and threat protection with Defender XDR, and compliance with Microsoft Purview — mapped to the skills measured.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor Microsoft 365 administrator, Modern workplace engineer, Systems administratorTake the 20-minute test → - 20 questions · 20 minSOA-GRC
GRC Certification (Governance, Risk & Compliance)
Tests governance, risk and compliance (GRC) — governance and policy frameworks, risk management, compliance management and controls, and audit, monitoring and reporting — for integrated GRC roles in security and business.
Difficulty: AdvancedFor GRC analyst, Risk manager, Compliance officerTake the 20-minute test →
More free certification categories
- AI & GenAI36 tests
- Software & web dev33 tests
- Data & BI28 tests
- Marketing, SEO & AEO39 tests
- UX/UI & design42 tests
- Product & project35 tests
- Sales & support24 tests
- HR & people14 tests
- Finance & operations69 tests
- Communication & leadership30 tests
- Languages60 tests
- Healthcare, education & more64 tests
- Test prep & academics31 tests
- Language exam prep15 tests
- Office & productivity13 tests
- Engineering & safety30 tests
- Hospitality & retail8 tests
Frequently asked questions
What are the best free Security, cloud & DevOps certifications in 2026?
Science of Apps offers 50 free Cybersecurity, IT, Cloud & DevOps certifications and skill tests, including Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification, Security Awareness and Phishing Detection Certification, Network Security Fundamentals Certification, Identity and Access Management Certification, Cloud Security Fundamentals Certification, Application Security Fundamentals Certification. Each is a timed online test of original scenarios based on published standards, graded instantly, with a founder-signed certificate and a credential ID employers can verify.
Which Security, cloud & DevOps certification should I take first?
Start with a Beginner test such as Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification, Security Awareness and Phishing Detection Certification, Privacy and Data Protection Fundamentals Certification, then move to Intermediate and Advanced ones such as Threat Modeling Certification, Site Reliability Engineering Fundamentals Certification. Every test page shows its difficulty, the skills it covers and a sample question.
Are these Security, cloud & DevOps certifications really free?
Yes. Taking a test, receiving the certificate as a PDF and by email, adding it to LinkedIn and having it verified are all free — no course, payment or sign-up.
How long does each Security, cloud & DevOps test take?
Quick skill tests are 10, 15 or 20 questions (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced) at a minute each; full role certifications are 20 scenarios in 30 minutes. Every answer is explained with its source when you finish, and a retake draws questions you haven't seen.
How much do Science of Apps certifications cost?
Nothing. There is no fee to take a test, to receive the certificate, to have it emailed or to verify it, and no sign-up.
How are the tests graded?
On our server, not in your browser. The answers never reach the page until you submit, so a certificate can only be earned by passing. Each certificate gets a unique credential ID stored by Science of Apps.
What happens if I don't pass?
You see your score for each area and every question with the correct answer and why, with the published source behind it. You can retake after 30 minutes, and the retake draws questions you haven't seen yet.
Do the certificates expire?
No. Every certificate is dated, so it always shows when you passed. Retake a test any time for a newer date or a higher score.
Can I add the certificate to LinkedIn?
Yes. After you pass, Add to LinkedIn opens the Licenses & certifications form with the certificate name, Science of Apps as the issuer, the issue date, your credential ID and the verification link filled in. You can also download it as a PDF or PNG, and it's emailed to you as a PDF.
How can an employer verify my certificate?
Every certificate has a credential ID and a QR code. Scanning it, or entering the ID at scienceofapps.com/certification/verify/, shows the holder's name, the certification, the score and the issue date from our records.
Are these accredited qualifications?
No. They are Science of Apps' own assessments of applied skill. They aren't issued by a university or standards body, and they work best alongside a portfolio that shows the skills in real work.