Certified Network Defender (CND) Course

Become a Certified Network Defender (C|ND)

CERTIFIED PROFESSIONALS IN 150 COUNTRIES
Network Security Training and Certification
CERTIFIED PROFESSIONALS IN 150 COUNTRIES

Become a
Certified Network Defender (CND)

What is the EC-Council Certified Network Defender (C|ND) Program?

EC-Council’s Certified Network Defender (C|ND) is an essential vendor-neutral network security certification for every IT and systems administrator who needs to operate with a secure mindset.

Students will learn the critical skills required to defend their networks and operating environments across local networks, endpoints, cloud infrastructure, applications, OT, and mobile. They will also acquire knowledge of effective proper log analysis, network traffic monitoring, basic investigation and response, as well as business continuity and disaster recovery. Additionally, they will dive into threats, analyzing the attack surface, and studying threat prediction and threat intelligence as it relates to their administration and defense responsibilities.

Often referred to as blue-teaming, C|NDs will be able to apply defense and countermeasure strategies in their organizations, playing a critical role not only in attack prevention but also in detection, response, and remediation as they configure networks and systems to operate securely. The C|ND program will cover the concepts and fortify skills through hands-on practice across over 100+ labs delivered on live target machines.
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The C|ND program designed by industry experts prepares network defenders with strategic, technological, and operational network security capabilities, enabling them to design, develop, and maintain secure networks.

EC-Council’s Certified Network Defender (C|ND) program, a network security course is a pathway to start your career in cybersecurity and in blue team. C|ND’s network security course stands out from other networking programs as it offers a comprehensive approach that extends beyond networking skills and builds robust networking security skills.

Key Features and Critical Components of The C|ND Program

The Certified Network Defender program has been upgraded and loaded with battle-ready ammunition to help blue teams defend and win the war against network breaches.

1. Protect

Defense-in-depth security strategy

  • Protect Endpoints
  • Protect Data
  • Protect Network
2. Detect
  • Continues Threat Monitoring
3. Respond
  • Incident Response
4. Predict
  • Threat Intelligence
  • Threat Hunting
  • Attack Surface Analysis
1. Policies, Procedures, and Awareness  2. Physical  3. Perimeter  4. Internal Network  5. Host  6. Application  7. Data
1. Identify  2. Protect  3. Detect  4. Respond  5. Recover
1. Preventive Approach  2. Reactive Approach  3. Retrospective Approach  4. Proactive Approach
Network Security Certification

The Credential That Sets the Global Benchmark

for Network Security Skills and Builds Careers in Network Security and Blue Team

C|ND Program Information

Acquire the Skills to Harden A Network

Best Defense Thwarts Any Offense

US Department Of Defense (DoD) 8570/8140 Approved Certification

Key Benefits of the C|ND Program

Build Your Network Security Career and Skills with the C|ND Program
Your Pathway to a Career in Blue Team
The Protect, Detect, Respond, and Predict approach defines the job roles of a blue team security professional. One can continue their career as a network defender or later transition into a niche job profile as C|ND covers a base understanding of blue teams.
Master Mobile and IoT Security Defense
The first network security certification program to offer device and enterprise-level security for its students. Career changers planning a move into cybersecurity will also benefit from this program.
Learn Tactical Defense of Cloud Services (AWS, Azure, and GCP)
Learn different ways to ensure security across various cloud platforms—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure Cloud, and Google Cloud platform.
Learning Beyond Technical Aspects
C|ND is the only network security certification that offers a chance to learn beyond the technological aspects of network security. The module strongly focuses on the strategic domain with special attention to adaptive and defense-in-depth security, framing network policies, achieving compliance, and the operational domain to learn the implementation of the above decisions.
Building Perimeter Defense Skills
C|ND puts the spotlight on perimeter defense as the latest technologies have made networks too complex for everyone. Perimeter defense can help with modern security requirements.
Build Job Ready Practical Skills in Live Ranges
Learn network defense management, perimeter protection, endpoint protection, application and data protection, enterprise virtual, cloud, and wireless network protection, incident detection and response, and threat prediction.
Learn the Latest Technologies
The latest technologies covered include cloud, IoT, virtualization and remote worker threats, attack surface analysis, threat intelligence, software-defined networks (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), docker, Kubernetes, and container security.
Learn the Latest Concepts to Match Modern Network Security Requirements
Learn asset management, system integrity monitoring, endpoint detection and response (EDR), extended detection and response (XDR), user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), privacy impact assessment (PIA), threat hunting, security orchestration automation and response (SOAR).
Build Hands-On Skills with 100+ Labs Simulating Real-Time Environment
More than 50% of the C|ND course contains hands-on labs. Every learning objective is demonstrated using complex advanced labs that simulate a real-time environment with real-life networks and platforms.
Learn In-Depth Attack Surface Analysis
The key to cyber risk management is in-depth attack surface analysis. C|ND's network security course trains you to identify what parts of your organization need to be reviewed and tested for security vulnerabilities and how to reduce, prevent, and mitigate network risks.

Career Opportunities with C|ND

Stop Network Attacks Before They Happen

Acquire The Skills To Predict An Attack With C|ND

World’s Most Practical Network Security Program

How Does the C|ND Compare to Other Programs?

CertificationFocusVendor TypeSecurity Focus
C|NDNetwork SecurityVendor NeutralDefend networks and operating environments and apply countermeasure strategies
CCNANetworkingVendor Specific (CISCO)Basic security aspects
Network+NetworkingVendor NeutralSecurity basics, common attacks, and awareness
In summary,

1. C|ND focuses on network security, while CCNA and Network+ focus mainly on networking with a small focus on security basics/fundamentals.

2. CCNA is vendor-specific to CISCO, while Network+ and C|ND are vendor-neutral.

Are you interested in learning robust network security skills? The C|ND is the comprehensive network security course of choice in cybersecurity, with the best coverage of networking concepts and secure design delivered through the Protect, Detect, Respond, and Predict learning process. If you have done CCNA or Network+, add network security skills to your hardware and networking skills with the C|ND.

*Above is an EC-Council view of other certifications in the industry.

Why Do Top Network Security Professionals Across the Globe Love the C|ND Certification?

C|ND FAQs

Accreditations, Recognitions and Endorsements