Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE) Practice Test

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.

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.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.