EC-Council · ECDE
Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE) Practice Tests
Validates the ability to integrate security practices into DevOps pipelines and continuous delivery workflows, covering DevSecOps culture, threat modeling, secure code review, automated security testing, container security, and security monitoring throughout the software development lifecycle.
Exam Details
Practice Questions
609
≈ 4 practice exams
Duration
240 minutes
Passing Score
70%
Difficulty
AssociateLast Updated
Feb 2026
Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE) Practice Exam Preparation
Use this ECDE practice exam to prepare for Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE) with realistic questions, detailed explanations, and focused study modes. The practice bank includes 609 questions for EC-Council ECDE, so you can review the exam steadily instead of relying on one long cram session.
As you practice, pay extra attention to patterns in your missed answers. Start with short sessions to identify weak areas, then move into timed quizzes once your accuracy is consistent.
The explanations are especially useful when you want to connect exam wording to the responsibilities and scenarios described in the official certification guidance. Use the free preview first, then unlock the full question bank when you are ready to build a complete study routine.
Exam Overview
The EC-Council Certified DevSecOps Engineer (E|CDE), exam code 312-97, is a comprehensive certification that validates a professional's ability to embed security practices across the entire DevOps pipeline. The program covers all eight stages of the DevOps lifecycle — from planning and coding through building, testing, releasing, deploying, operating, and monitoring — ensuring that security is treated as a shared, continuous responsibility rather than an afterthought. Candidates learn to apply threat modeling, secure coding guidelines, static and dynamic application security testing (SAST/DAST), infrastructure as code (IaC) security, container security, and runtime monitoring using industry tools such as SonarQube, Snyk, Checkmarx, Jenkins, Terraform, and Docker Bench.
The certification is notably hands-on, featuring over 80 guided lab exercises delivered in virtual environments spanning Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and on-premises platforms. This dual focus on theoretical DevSecOps principles and practical tool-based implementation distinguishes E|CDE from more conceptual security credentials, making it one of the most lab-intensive DevSecOps certifications available. The program has been updated to incorporate AI-powered security tooling and cloud-native security patterns relevant to modern CI/CD workflows.
Who Should Take This Exam
The E|CDE is designed for mid-career technology professionals who work at the intersection of software development, operations, and security. Primary target roles include DevOps engineers looking to formalize their security knowledge, application security specialists transitioning into DevSecOps, software engineers and QA testers responsible for secure delivery pipelines, and cybersecurity engineers or analysts who need to integrate security tooling into CI/CD workflows. Professionals holding EC-Council's Certified Application Security Engineer (CASE) credential or similar AppSec certifications will find E|CDE a natural progression.
EC-Council recommends candidates have at least two years of experience in information security, along with familiarity with SDLC concepts, automation tools, and scripting languages such as Python or PowerShell. The certification suits professionals targeting specialized roles such as DevSecOps Engineer, Cloud DevSecOps Engineer, AWS/Azure DevSecOps Engineer, or CI/CD Security Engineer.
Prerequisites
EC-Council requires applicants who wish to sit for the exam without attending official training to have a minimum of two years of work experience in the information security domain and to submit an eligibility application with a non-refundable fee of USD $100. Candidates who complete an authorized EC-Council training course have the application fee included and gain direct exam eligibility upon course completion.
While there are no mandatory prerequisite certifications, candidates are strongly advised to arrive with a working understanding of application security concepts, the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and CI/CD pipeline fundamentals. Familiarity with at least one cloud platform (AWS or Azure), containerization concepts (Docker, Kubernetes), and basic scripting will allow candidates to make full use of the lab-heavy curriculum and perform well on exam questions focused on practical tool configuration and pipeline integration.
Exam Format
The E|CDE exam (code 312-97) consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and must be completed within 240 minutes (4 hours). The exam is closed-book and is delivered exclusively through the ECC Exam Centre portal; it is not available at third-party proctoring sites. A passing score of 70% (70 out of 100 correct) is required. The exam fee is USD $550, and the voucher is valid for one year from the date of receipt.
There are no published unscored or survey questions. Upon passing, certified professionals are enrolled in EC-Council's Continuing Education Scheme and must pay an annual maintenance fee of USD $80 to keep the credential active.
Skills Measured
- 1.Domain 1 – Understanding DevOps Culture: Foundational DevOps principles, collaboration models between development and operations teams, CI/CD concepts, automation philosophies, and continuous improvement through feedback loops.
- 2.Domain 2 – Introduction to DevSecOps: Integrating security into DevOps lifecycles, shifting left on security, DevSecOps culture and organizational adoption, security automation fundamentals, monitoring, and key toolchain considerations.
- 3.Domain 3 – DevSecOps Pipeline: Plan Stage: Security requirements gathering, threat modeling methodologies and tools (Threat Dragon, ThreatModeler, Threatspec), risk assessment during project planning, and alignment of security objectives with business goals.
- 4.Domain 4 – DevSecOps Pipeline: Code Stage: Secure coding practices, static application security testing (SAST) integration in IDEs and repositories, secret detection, dependency scanning, and tools such as SonarQube, Snyk, and Checkmarx.
- 5.Domain 5 – DevSecOps Pipeline: Build and Test Stage: Automated security testing within CI pipelines (SAST, DAST, IAST), security policy as code (SPACK), integration with build tools such as Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity, and Gradle, and software composition analysis.
- 6.Domain 6 – DevSecOps Pipeline: Release and Deploy Stage: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security with Terraform and CloudFormation, container security hardening (Docker Bench), secure deployment strategies, runtime application self-protection (RASP), and configuration management.
- 7.Domain 7 – DevSecOps Pipeline: Operate and Monitor Stage: Continuous security monitoring, SIEM tool implementation, logging strategies, incident detection and response, cloud-native monitoring on AWS and Azure, and feedback loops for security improvement.
Study Tips
- Use the official EC-Council courseware as your primary study resource — the seven modules map directly to the seven exam domains, and the lab scenarios are closely aligned with practical exam questions on tool configuration and pipeline integration.
- Complete as many of the 80+ hands-on labs as possible, especially the 32 AWS labs and 29 Azure labs, since a significant portion of exam questions tests applied knowledge of cloud-native DevSecOps tool deployment rather than purely conceptual understanding.
- Build a personal reference sheet for each pipeline stage (Plan, Code, Build/Test, Release/Deploy, Operate/Monitor) listing the key tools, their purpose, and when to use them — for example, Threat Dragon for threat modeling, Snyk/SonarQube for SAST, StackHawk for DAST, and Docker Bench for container hardening.
- Study the EDUSUM 312-97 syllabus breakdown and practice with sample questions from EDUSUM's free question bank to get familiar with EC-Council's MCQ phrasing style and identify knowledge gaps in specific domains before exam day.
- Review EC-Council's DevSecOps-focused blog posts and whitepapers on the Cybersecurity Exchange (eccouncil.org/cybersecurity-exchange/devsecops/) to reinforce understanding of the 'shift-left' philosophy, DevSecOps cultural adoption challenges, and AI-integrated security tooling covered in the updated curriculum.
- Focus exam preparation time proportionally on the five pipeline-stage domains (Domains 3–7) rather than the introductory domains, as practical pipeline security decisions and tool configurations represent the majority of exam items.
- If self-studying without official training, ensure you meet the two-year information security experience requirement and submit the eligibility application with the USD $100 fee well in advance of your target exam date, as processing takes time.
Career Benefits
Holding the E|CDE credential positions professionals for high-demand roles in the DevSecOps specialty, which sits at the convergence of software engineering, cloud operations, and cybersecurity — a skills combination that remains scarce in the market. Certified professionals typically pursue titles such as DevSecOps Engineer, Cloud DevSecOps Engineer (AWS or Azure-focused), Infrastructure DevSecOps Engineer, or DevSecOps CI/CD Specialist. According to EC-Council's published data, the average annual salary for a DevSecOps engineer in the United States is approximately USD $139,479, with entry-level positions starting around USD $118,733 and experienced practitioners earning upward of USD $172,500.
Compared to broader security credentials such as CompTIA Security+ or even CEH, E|CDE is deliberately narrow and applied, making it a strong differentiator for professionals who want to demonstrate pipeline-specific security engineering skills to employers adopting DevSecOps practices. The certification's hands-on lab focus on both AWS and Azure cloud environments also complements cloud platform certifications and makes the credential appealing to organizations undergoing cloud-native transformation. Annual continuing education requirements ensure the credential stays current as the tooling landscape evolves.
Sample Questions
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. The full bank has 609 questions, enough for 4 full-length practice exams.
Preview — answers shown1. A container security team implements runtime threat detection for Kubernetes clusters. The solution must detect suspicious system calls like shell execution in containers, privilege escalation attempts, and unauthorized file access with real-time alerting. Which runtime security tool should be deployed? (Select one!)
ATrivy for container image scanning during build phase only
BKubernetes Network Policies restricting pod-to-pod communication
CFalco with custom rules monitoring syscalls and Kubernetes audit events
DOPA Gatekeeper for admission control policy enforcement
Explanation
Falco is a runtime security tool that monitors system calls and Kubernetes audit events using eBPF or kernel modules to detect anomalous behavior. Falco includes built-in rules for detecting shell execution in containers, privilege escalation, and unauthorized file access, with support for custom rules and real-time alerting to incident response platforms. Trivy is an image scanning tool that operates during build/deploy phases and cannot detect runtime behavior. Kubernetes Network Policies control network traffic but cannot detect system-level threats like shell execution or file access. OPA Gatekeeper enforces admission policies when resources are created but does not monitor runtime container behavior.
2. A cloud security team implements AWS WAF with managed rule groups for an Application Load Balancer. Requirements include protection against SQL injection and XSS attacks with custom rules blocking requests from specific geographic regions. Which WAF configuration achieves this? (Select one!)
ADeploy AWS Managed Rules SQL Database protection only and configure CloudFront geo-restriction
BUse AWS Managed Rules Known Bad Inputs and create rate-based rule for geographic blocking
CConfigure Shield Advanced with DDoS protection and enable automatic application layer protection
DCreate Web ACL with AWS Managed Rules Core Rule Set and add geo-match statement with block action for specified countries
Explanation
AWS WAF Web ACLs can combine managed rule groups like Core Rule Set (which includes SQL injection and XSS protection) with custom rules using geo-match statements to block traffic from specific countries. This provides comprehensive protection. Shield Advanced focuses on DDoS protection and does not provide application-layer rule customization for geographic blocking or specific attack types. Using only SQL Database protection omits XSS coverage, and CloudFront geo-restriction applies to CloudFront distributions, not directly to ALB. Rate-based rules limit request rates but do not inherently provide geographic blocking, which requires geo-match conditions in the Web ACL.
3. A financial institution implements CloudFormation for AWS infrastructure deployment and uses cfn_nag to scan templates for security violations. A scan identifies that an S3 bucket allows public read access (violation) but this is intentional for hosting public marketing content. How should they document this exception while maintaining security scanning? (Select one!)
AUse AWS Config rules instead of cfn_nag for S3 bucket validation
BRemove the S3 bucket from the CloudFormation template to avoid the violation
CModify cfn_nag rules file to globally disable the S3 public access check
DAdd a cfn_nag suppression comment in the CloudFormation template with justification
Explanation
Adding a cfn_nag suppression comment directly in the CloudFormation template allows documenting the exception with business justification while continuing to scan other resources. This maintains security scanning coverage while acknowledging approved risks. Globally disabling the S3 public access check would miss legitimate violations in other buckets. AWS Config rules operate at runtime, not template validation. Removing the resource from the template eliminates infrastructure-as-code benefits and does not solve the security documentation requirement.
4. A DevSecOps team implements DREAD risk assessment to prioritize vulnerabilities found during security testing. A SQL injection vulnerability is evaluated with the following scores: Damage=9, Reproducibility=10, Exploitability=8, Affected Users=9, Discoverability=7. What is the total DREAD risk score and priority level for this vulnerability? (Select one!)
ATotal score 33, Medium priority requiring remediation within 60 days
BTotal score 43, Critical priority requiring immediate remediation
CTotal score 37, High priority requiring remediation within 30 days
DTotal score 8.6, High priority based on average score calculation
Explanation
DREAD risk score is calculated by summing all five factors (9+10+8+9+7=43). Scores 40-50 indicate Critical priority requiring immediate remediation. Medium priority (11-24) would have much lower scores. High priority ranges from 25-39. DREAD uses sum calculation, not averaging. This SQL injection vulnerability with score 43 represents a critical risk requiring urgent attention.
5. A financial services company implements secret detection in their Git repositories to prevent credential exposure. They need to scan commits for AWS access keys, API tokens, and private keys before code reaches the remote repository. The solution should block commits containing secrets and provide immediate feedback to developers. Which tool and implementation approach should be used? (Select one!)
AEnable GitHub secret scanning with push protection to block pushes after commits are created locally
BConfigure Gitleaks as a pre-commit hook using the pre-commit framework to scan staged changes before commit creation
CRun TruffleHog as a nightly scheduled job in Jenkins to scan the entire repository history
DUse AWS Secrets Manager to store all credentials and rely on IAM policies to prevent credential exposure
Explanation
Gitleaks as a pre-commit hook is correct because pre-commit hooks execute locally before commits are created, providing immediate feedback and preventing secrets from ever entering Git history. The pre-commit framework standardizes hook management across teams. This shift-left approach catches secrets at the earliest possible point. Nightly TruffleHog scans detect secrets after they've been committed, requiring history rewriting to remediate. GitHub secret scanning with push protection operates after local commits are created, allowing secrets into local Git history. AWS Secrets Manager stores secrets securely but doesn't prevent developers from accidentally committing credentials to repositories.
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