Most security champions programmes die quietly within a year, and they die for reasons that are predictable and addressable. This course starts with that failure curve and the five mechanisms behind it, then rebuilds the programme around them. It is honest that a champion exists for local context and reach rather than as free labour, a substitute for the function or an enforcement arm. It prices what the programme costs the person running it, and names the conditions under which you should do something else instead. Then the parts that decide whether it survives: recruiting people who want the role rather than volunteering the unlucky; the conversation with the champion's manager, who is the real counterparty, with the numbers to ask for and how to handle a no; writing the time allocation down and protecting it through a busy quarter; the exchange, meaning training, access, a direct line, early information and a career argument that can be made honestly; requests that are specific, bounded and refusable, with a catalogue of good and bad asks; the community that keeps people connected between incidents; measuring the programme without asking a champion to fill in anything; the champion who stops participating; succession that is routine rather than a restart; and the annual review with its three honest outcomes, including stopping.
Nothing. Every course, exam, and certificate on the catalog is free — including retakes. All you need is a free Safeguard account.
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.
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.
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.
