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Certifications are investments, not collectibles. This post lays out the real numbers for three classic security certifications: what they cost, how long to prepare, what maintenance looks like, and how much salary uplift to expect.
Parts 1 and 2 of this series already mapped the full certification landscape and the AI security cert showdown. This post focuses on the three you're most likely to take first: Security+, AWS Security Specialty, and CISSP.
At a glance
| Security+ | AWS Security Specialty | CISSP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer | CompTIA | AWS | ISC2 |
| Focus | General security fundamentals | AWS cloud security | Security management across 8 domains |
| Exam code | SY0-701 (V8 expected November 17, 2026) | SCS-C03 | — |
| Questions / time | 90 / 90 min | 65 / 170 min | 100–150 (CAT) / 3 hours |
| Passing score | 750/900 | 750/1000 | 700/1000 |
| Experience req. | None (2 years IT recommended) | None (5 years IT + 2 years AWS recommended) | 5 years across 2 domains (degree waives 1 year) |
Cost: it's not just the exam fee
Exam fees
| Certification | Exam fee (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security+ | $439 (raised June 1, 2026; previously $404) | Student and partner discounts often available |
| AWS Security | $300 | 50% off ($150) if you hold any active AWS certification |
| CISSP | $749 | Global flat rate, Pearson VUE |
Sources: CompTIA official, AWS certification, ISC2 official
Security+ is changing versions: CompTIA expects to launch V8 on November 17, 2026, and the English exam for the current V7 (SY0-701) does not retire until June 11, 2027, so the two overlap for about seven months. If you are starting now, study from SY0-701 material and sit the exam before it retires; there is no need to wait for the new version. The post-increase price of $439 is per CertCrush.
CISSP annual fee and experience waiver: ISC2's annual maintenance fee (AMF) is $135. Security+ is still on ISC2's one-year experience waiver list, so the stacking strategy described below still works.
Study materials (estimated)
| Certification | Free path | Paid path | Estimated spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security+ | Professor Messer's free full course on his own site + CompTIA sample questions | Udemy Mike Meyers course $24.99; Jason Dion course lists at $119.99 (Udemy list prices on October 19, 2026, often discounted) | $0–$50 (Mike Meyers route; about $120 if you pick Dion at list price) |
| AWS Security | AWS Skill Builder free courses + whitepapers | Udemy Stephane Maarek course $17.99 + practice exams $14.99 (sale prices on the July 2026 Udemy topic page); Tutorials Dojo question bank $17.99 (1-year access); about $51 for all three | $0–$51 |
| CISSP | ISC2 sample questions + Reddit r/cissp + Discord | Boson ExSim-Max practice exams $99/year (6 exams, 900 questions), on Udemy Jason Dion's CISSP course lists at $99.99 and Thor Pedersen's practice-question courses run about $59.99–$79.99 (Udemy list prices on October 19, 2026); Taiwan classroom: Uuu CISSP, AI Network CISSP | $0–$200 (self-study; Boson plus one Udemy course is about $200) / NT$50–80K+ (classroom) |
Five-year total cost of ownership
This is what people overlook — certifications don't end at the exam.
| Certification | Validity | Renewal method | Annual fee | 5-year maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security+ | 3 years | 50 CEU + annual fee | $50/year | $150 (per 3-year cycle) |
| AWS Security | 3 years | Re-exam or earn a higher cert | None | $0 (or $150–$300 to re-exam) |
| CISSP | 3 years | 120 CPE + annual fee | $135/year | $675 |
Five-year acquisition + maintenance total:
| Certification | Exam fee | Materials (est.) | 5-year maintenance | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security+ | $439 | ~$30 | $150 | ~$619 |
| AWS Security | $150–$300 | ~$50 | $0 | ~$200–$350 |
| CISSP | $749 | ~$100 | $675 | ~$1,524 |
AWS Security Specialty has the lowest five-year holding cost, especially if you already hold another AWS certification for the 50% discount. CISSP is the most expensive, but it buys a fundamentally different level of market positioning.
Study time
| Certification | Typical prep time | Recommended total hours | Background assumption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security+ | 2–3 months | 80–120 hours | IT foundation but no security background |
| AWS Security | 2–3 months | 80–120 hours | Existing AWS hands-on experience |
| CISSP | 3–6 months | 150–300+ hours | 5 years cross-domain experience, needs systematic review |
Per CertStud 2026 analysis, Security+ offers "the most efficient cert investment in cybersecurity" on a study-hours-per-dollar-return basis. CISSP delivers "the highest absolute dollar return of any cybersecurity cert."
Stacking strategy: Take Security+ first (2–3 months) → if you hold any AWS cert, take AWS Security next (another 2–3 months at the $150 discount) → accumulate experience, then take CISSP. Security+ counts for 1 year of CISSP experience credit. The first two certs take about 8–12 months total.
Pass rates
All three certification bodies do not publish official pass rates. The following are estimates from community data and training providers.
Security+
CompTIA publishes no pass rate for any exam. Per SecuSpark's write-up, the percentages found online come from training vendors reporting their own students, forum polls, or articles copying each other, none with a stated method. What you can rely on is the official rules and your own practice results:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Passing score | 750 on a 100–900 scale (not a percentage) |
| Retakes | No wait before a second attempt; 14 days before each attempt after that, full price every time |
| Suggested study time | 80–120+ hours (not counting passive video watching) |
| Bar before booking | 85%+ on questions you have not seen before, from at least two different sources |
Key predictor: scores on unseen questions. SecuSpark's own data shows the same learners going from 73.5% on first sight to 90.5% on the second try, so drilling one question bank overstates readiness.
AWS Security Specialty
| Scenario | Estimated first-attempt pass rate |
|---|---|
| General candidates | 45–55% |
| Hands-on AWS experience | 65–70% |
| Practice exam scores consistently 80%+ | High pass rate |
| Practice exam scores < 72% | Likely need more hands-on time |
This is one of the harder AWS exams. The 750/1000 passing threshold is 30 points higher than Associate-level exams.
CISSP
Per Training Camp 2026 analysis:
"ISC2 keeps its pass rate data internal, and that remains true as of June 2026. Independent estimates from training providers and candidate communities generally place first attempt success somewhere between 50% and 60%. The widely repeated 20% figure has no verifiable source."
| Scenario | Estimated first-attempt pass rate |
|---|---|
| Structured study + cross-domain experience | 50–60% |
| Self-reported on Reddit | Varies wildly |
| "20% pass rate" claim | No traceable source — should not factor into planning |
CISSP's difficulty isn't about individual questions — it's the CAT (Computerized Adaptive Testing) format. Get a question right and the next one is harder; get it wrong and it gets easier. You never know how you're doing. Combined with 8 domains spanning cryptography to physical security to software development security, the breadth is the challenge.
Salary premiums
Data primarily from the US market. Taiwan premiums are smaller in absolute terms but follow the same trend.
US market
Per CyberSecJobs 2026 analysis and CertStud survey:
| Certification | Avg. holder salary (USD) | Premium vs. uncertified | ROI multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security+ | $71,697 (entry-level) | +$10K–$20K | 23–46x (based on $439 exam fee) |
| AWS Security | Varies by role | +$12K–$20K (on top of existing cloud skills) | 40–67x (based on $300) |
| CISSP | $164,000 (median) | +$25K–$35K | 33–47x (based on $749) |
Per Kore1 Salary Guide: "CISSP is the number that makes people recalculate their hiring budget mid-meeting. $25K to $35K over non-certified. That's not noise in the data."
Taiwan market
CloudInsight's security engineer guide (in Mandarin) cites 104 Salary data for the "security engineer" role (updated September 28, 2026; 543 valid samples):
| Experience | Monthly salary P25–P75 (NTD) | Monthly average |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 41,000–60,000 | 55,000 |
| 1–3 years | 45,000–63,000 | 56,000 |
| 3–5 years | 46,000–68,000 | 59,000 |
| 5–10 years | 51,000–74,000 | 63,000 |
| 10+ years | 51,000–87,000 | 72,000 |
Security managers and CISOs are counted as separate roles and are not in this table. The financial sector pays highest, tech second. On certifications, the guide says CISSP and OSCP help in salary negotiation, but without hands-on experience a certificate alone does little for pay.
Taiwan's absolute premium is less dramatic than the US ($25K–$35K is roughly NT$800K–1.12M — close to a full junior annual salary in Taiwan), but certifications remain a hard signal for promotions and job switches. CISSP in particular — with few holders in Taiwan, its scarcity creates a strong trust signal for enterprise clients.
ROI rankings
Combining exam cost, study time, maintenance cost, salary premium, and market recognition:
| Rank | Certification | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | AWS Security Specialty | Lowest holding cost ($150–$300), highest ROI multiple (40–67x), directly aligned with AI platform developer work |
| 🥈 | Security+ | Lowest entry barrier, fastest to earn (2–3 months), counts toward CISSP experience, recognized by Taiwan financial sector |
| 🥉 | CISSP | Highest absolute salary premium (+$25K–$35K), highest Taiwan recognition, but highest barrier and maintenance cost |
Optimal stacking strategy: Security+ (build foundation, bank 1 year CISSP credit) → AWS Security (align with work, lowest cost) → CISSP (long-term credential). All three over five years costs approximately $2,343–$2,493, getting you full coverage from entry to senior level.
The bottom line
If you're taking one: go with AWS Security Specialty. Lowest holding cost, best work alignment, highest ROI multiple. If you already hold another AWS cert, the exam costs just $150.
If you're taking two: start with Security+ for the foundation ($439, 2–3 months), then take AWS Security. Beyond its own value, Security+ banks a year of CISSP experience credit for later.
If you're taking three: add CISSP when the time is right. No rush — CISSP requires 5 years of experience, and you can pass the exam first as an Associate of ISC2, then upgrade when your hours are in. The $135/year maintenance fee is an ongoing commitment, so confirm your career path actually calls for it before investing.
Update log
- 2026-10-18: Rechecked the Udemy prices in the study materials table: removed the unverified "Professor Messer on Udemy" and Neal Davis entries, listed sourced prices, and marked any price that could not be retrieved. Also checked the official prices of Tutorials Dojo ($17.99) and Boson ExSim-Max ($99/year); Boson replaces the $99–$129 from a third-party comparison. The AWS estimated spend changed from $0–$150 to $0–$51 (Maarek course, practice exams and Tutorials Dojo come to about $51), consistent with the ~$50 materials estimate in the five-year cost table below; the Security+ and CISSP ranges are unchanged. On October 19 the Udemy prices were rechecked against Udemy's own pages: removed the "Jason Dion usually under $20 on sale" claim, which came from a third-party review that no Udemy page backed up, and listed Dion at $119.99, Mike Meyers at $24.99, Dion's CISSP course at $99.99 and Thor Pedersen's practice-question courses at about $59.99–$79.99. The CISSP self-study estimate changed from $0–$150 to $0–$200 (Boson at $99 plus one Udemy course). The materials estimates in the five-year cost table below (Security+ ~$30, CISSP ~$100) match the cheapest paid route for each (the Mike Meyers course, Boson) and are unchanged.
- 2026-10-12: The Security+ pass-rate and Taiwan salary passages cited figures that their source pages no longer carry after revisions. The pass-rate section now covers official rules and readiness thresholds, the salary table uses the 104 Salary data the source cites today, and the "certifications add 10–20%" and "foreign companies pay 20–50% more" claims are removed.
- 2026-10-08: Corrected the CISSP annual fee from $125 to $135 and switched the Security+ exam fee to the post-increase $439, then recalculated five-year totals and ROI multiples. Added the Security+ V8 launch and SY0-701 retirement dates. The cost figures in the tldr did not match the tables in the body and are now aligned. Removed the unsourced "about 500 CISSP holders in Taiwan." Fixed the Uuu CISSP link.
References
- CompTIA Security+ Official Certification Page
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C03)
- ISC2 CISSP Certification
- SecuSpark — Security+ Pass Rate 2026: Why There Is No Official Number
- Training Camp — CISSP Pass Rate 2026
- Pruvos — AWS SCS-C03 Practice Tests & Pass Rate
- CyberSecJobs — Best Cybersecurity Certifications 2026 (ROI Analysis)
- CertStud — Do IT Certifications Increase Salary (2026 Data)
- CertPayback — CISSP Certification ROI Calculator 2026
- Kore1 — Cybersecurity Salary Guide 2026
- CloudInsight — Security Engineer Guide 2026 (in Mandarin)
- CompTIA CE Program (Renewal Rules)
- AWS Skill Builder Free Learning Path
- Professor Messer YouTube
- Uuu (恆逸教育訓練中心) — CISSP Course (in Mandarin)
- AI Network (全智網科技) — CISSP Course (in Mandarin)
- CompTIA Security+ V7 (SY0-701, with retirement dates)
- CompTIA Security+ V8 (expected November 17, 2026)
- CertCrush — CompTIA voucher prices after the June 2026 increase
- ISC2 Member Policies (annual maintenance fee)
- ISC2 — CISSP experience requirements and waiver list