What happens if I fail the exam?

You can retake it after a 24-hour cooldown, as many times as you need. Retakes are free, and each attempt draws a fresh random set of questions.

How long is a certificate valid?

The Safeguard Certified Practitioner credential is valid for 24 months from issue. The expiry date is printed on the certificate and shown live on its public verification page. Renewing means passing the current exam again.

Courses

Cryptographic Failures in Depth

IntermediateFree5 modules · 15 lessons · ~2 min

About this course

A deep, practitioner level treatment of Cryptographic Failures: weak algorithms, hardcoded keys, insufficient randomness and broken transport protection, each with realistic weak and fixed code. You will learn how this category is actually found across code review, static analysis and dynamic testing, how it is fixed and prevented through crypto agility and managed key lifecycles, how it is evidenced for an audit, and where Safeguard surfaces it today.

What you'll learn

Understanding Cryptographic Failures

What Cryptographic Failures Actually Covers
Sub-Classes in Depth: Algorithms, Keys and Randomness
Sub-Classes in Depth: Password Hashing, Transport and Certificates

Cryptographic Failures in Real Systems

Weak Password Hashing: Weak and Fixed
Hardcoded Keys and Insufficient Randomness: Weak and Fixed
Missing or Broken Transport Protection: Weak and Fixed

Finding Cryptographic Failures

Code Review and Manual Testing for Cryptographic Misuse
Static Application Security Testing: A Genuine Strength for This Category
Dynamic Application Security Testing and Secrets Scanning Together

Fixing and Preventing Cryptographic Failures

Fixing at Code Level: Replace the Primitive, Rotate the Key
Preventing at Design Level: Crypto Agility and Centralized Key Management
The Safer Construct: Delegate to a Safe-By-Default High-Level Interface

Evidence, Safeguard and False Positives

Evidencing Cryptographic Failures for an Audit
Where Safeguard Surfaces Cryptographic Failures
Common False Positives and the Triage Rule

01Understanding Cryptographic Failures3 lessons

What Cryptographic Failures Actually Covers
Sub-Classes in Depth: Algorithms, Keys and Randomness
Sub-Classes in Depth: Password Hashing, Transport and Certificates

02Cryptographic Failures in Real Systems3 lessons

Common questions

How much does Safeguard Academy cost?

Nothing. Every course, exam, and certificate on the catalog is free — including retakes. All you need is a free Safeguard account.

What are the prerequisites?

None. The flagship course, Safeguard Certified Practitioner, is a beginner-level course — basic familiarity with how software is built helps, but every exam question is answerable from the lessons themselves.