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

Zero-Day Risk Explained: What It Is, What It Is Not, and What Actually Reduces It

BeginnerFree5 modules · 15 lessons · ~2 min

About this course

A plain-language introduction to zero-day risk for anyone who ships or depends on software: the vocabulary done properly, why most breaches trace back to an unpatched known vulnerability rather than a true zero-day, and the honest list of controls that reduce your exposure to a bug nobody has named yet.

What you'll learn

Vocabulary and Reality Check

What a Zero-Day Vulnerability Actually Is
Zero-Day Vulnerability versus Zero-Day Exploit versus Unpatched Known Vulnerability
Why Most Breaches Are Not Zero-Days

The Real Cost and the Real Timeline

The Zero-Day Lifecycle: Discovery, Weaponization, Disclosure, Patch, Long Tail
What a Zero-Day Actually Costs: The Log4Shell Case Study
Case Study: the xz-utils Backdoor, a Supply-Chain Zero-Day That Almost Wasn't

What Does Not Work

Myths: Why You Cannot Prevent the Unknown
Why Patching Faster Alone Is Not a Strategy

What Actually Reduces Exposure

Inventory You Can Query in Minutes: the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
Reachability: Not Every Vulnerable Package Is a Risk
Least Privilege and Egress Control as Zero-Day Insurance
Admission Control, Pinned Builds and Provenance
Fast Patch Paths and Runtime Detection

Building a Zero-Day Ready Organization

How Safeguard Fits: an Honest Framing of Find, Fix and Prevent
Building Your Own Zero-Day Readiness Checklist

01Vocabulary and Reality Check3 lessons

What a Zero-Day Vulnerability Actually Is
Zero-Day Vulnerability versus Zero-Day Exploit versus Unpatched Known Vulnerability
Why Most Breaches Are Not Zero-Days

02The Real Cost and the Real Timeline3 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.