Kryptós CronOS
← Stage Map
Certification PathsSecurity+ · CySA+ · CISA · AI+ · ISACA AAIA / AAISM · AWS · Google Cloud

Certificate Paths

Track your readiness for eleven industry-recognized certifications. Every stage you complete maps to real exam domains — see exactly where you stand and which stages to tackle next. Also check the PQC Migration tracker for quantum-readiness, or build a resume from your completed stages.

🗺️ Recommended Learning Path

🌐 Network+First Journey epochs
🛡️ ISC² CCAll security tracks
🔐 Security+Enterprise, MITRE, Quantum epochs
🔬 CySA+Tech Audit, SecOps, Threat Intel

This path builds skills progressively. Network+ gives you the foundation; CySA+ is the analyst-level target for most SOC roles.

🔐

Quantum-Safe Migration

Framework tracker

Track post-quantum cryptography migration readiness against the NSA/CISA/NIST roadmap — governance, CBOM discovery, risk, NIST FIPS 203/204/205, hybrid deployment, and validation. Your Quantum Era stages map to the six migration phases. Not a cert exam — quantum-safe skills are credentialed through the crypto, risk, and AI certs below.

🧭 6 phases·📅 CNSA 2.0 by 2035·40+ quantum stages
Open the PQC tracker →
🔐

CompTIA Security+

SY0-701

The industry-standard entry certification for security professionals — vendor-neutral, DoD-approved, and globally recognized. Required by thousands of employers.

Salary: $75k – $110k
Open jobs: 700k+ open roles
Stages: 219 mapped

12%

0%

General Security Concepts

22%

0%

Threats, Vulnerabilities & Mitigations

18%

0%

Security Architecture

28%

0%

Security Operations

20%

0%

Security Program Management & Oversight

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Domain Breakdown

🛡️

ISC² CC

Certified in Cybersecurity

ISC²'s entry-level certification. Currently free to take — designed to get your first cybersecurity job. Backed by the world's largest security membership body.

Salary: $65k – $95k
Open jobs: 500k+ open roles
Stages: 204 mapped

26%

0%

Security Principles

10%

0%

Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response

22%

0%

Access Controls Concepts

24%

0%

Network Security

18%

0%

Security Operations

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Domain Breakdown

🌐

CompTIA Network+

N10-009

The foundational networking certification. Every security professional needs a deep understanding of how networks are built, operated, secured, and troubleshot. Network+ proves it.

Salary: $65k – $100k
Open jobs: 400k+ open roles
Stages: 39 mapped

23%

0%

Networking Fundamentals

20%

0%

Network Implementations

19%

0%

Network Operations

19%

0%

Network Security

19%

0%

Network Troubleshooting

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Domain Breakdown

🔬

CompTIA CySA+

CS0-003

The analyst-level security certification. CySA+ validates threat detection, vulnerability management, and incident response skills — the day-to-day work of a SOC analyst.

Salary: $90k – $130k
Open jobs: 250k+ open roles
Stages: 120 mapped

33%

0%

Security Operations

30%

0%

Vulnerability Management

20%

0%

Incident Response Management

17%

0%

Reporting & Communication

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Domain Breakdown

🔍

ISACA CISA

Certified Information Systems Auditor

The gold standard for IT audit professionals. CISA is recognized in 180+ countries and required by major audit firms, government agencies, and Fortune 500 internal audit teams.

Salary: $95k – $140k
Open jobs: 200k+ open roles
Stages: 226 mapped

21%

0%

IS Auditing Process

17%

0%

Governance and Management of IT

12%

0%

IS Acquisition, Development & Implementation

23%

0%

IS Operations and Business Resilience

27%

0%

Protection of Information Assets

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Domain Breakdown

🏛️

ISACA CISM

Certified Information Security Manager

The management-level security certification. CISM bridges technical security and business leadership — the path from security practitioner to CISO. Globally recognized as the credential for security managers.

Salary: $115k – $165k
Open jobs: 150k+ open roles
Stages: 196 mapped

17%

0%

Information Security Governance

20%

0%

Information Security Risk Management

33%

0%

Information Security Program

30%

0%

Incident Management

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Domain Breakdown

⚖️

ISACA CRISC

Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control

The definitive risk management certification. CRISC holders translate IT risk into business language, design and implement controls, and report risk to boards and executives. One of the highest-paying IT certs globally.

Salary: $120k – $175k
Open jobs: 120k+ open roles
Stages: 214 mapped

26%

0%

Governance

20%

0%

IT Risk Assessment

32%

0%

Risk Response and Reporting

22%

0%

Information Technology & Security

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Domain Breakdown

🤖

CompTIA AI+

AI+

The first vendor-neutral AI certification from CompTIA. AI+ validates skills in machine learning, generative AI, AI security, and responsible AI governance — the credential the industry needs as AI becomes every professional's tool.

Salary: $95k – $145k
Open jobs: 300k+ open roles
Stages: 83 mapped

15%

0%

AI Concepts

20%

0%

Data Science Fundamentals

20%

0%

AI Models and Training

30%

0%

AI Security, Ethics & Governance

15%

0%

AI Infrastructure & Operations

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Domain Breakdown

☁️

AWS Certified AI Practitioner

AIF-C01

AWS's foundational AI credential. Validates fluency in AI/ML concepts, generative AI, foundation-model applications, and — heavily — responsible AI and AI security. No coding required; built for any professional working alongside AI on AWS.

Salary: $100k – $140k
Open jobs: 300k+ open roles
Stages: 72 mapped

20%

0%

Fundamentals of AI and ML

24%

0%

Fundamentals of Generative AI

28%

0%

Applications of Foundation Models

14%

0%

Guidelines for Responsible AI

14%

0%

Security, Compliance & Governance for AI

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Domain Breakdown

🧠

Google Cloud Professional ML Engineer

PMLE

Google Cloud's flagship ML credential. Covers the full ML lifecycle — architecting solutions, managing data and models, scaling and serving, automating pipelines, and monitoring AI in production. The professional-tier target for ML engineers.

Salary: $130k – $180k
Open jobs: 250k+ open roles
Stages: 39 mapped

13%

0%

Architecting Low-Code AI Solutions

14%

0%

Collaborating to Manage Data & Models

18%

0%

Scaling Prototypes into ML Models

20%

0%

Serving & Scaling Models

22%

0%

Automating & Orchestrating ML Pipelines

13%

0%

Monitoring AI Solutions

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Domain Breakdown

📑

ISACA Advanced in AI Audit

AAIA

ISACA's audit-focused AI credential (launched 2025), built for CISA-track professionals. AAIA validates the ability to govern, assess, and audit AI and machine-learning systems — AI risk, AI operations, and the tools and techniques for auditing models, data, and agentic pipelines.

Salary: $110k – $150k
Open jobs: Emerging — high demand
Stages: 72 mapped

35%

0%

AI Governance & Risk

30%

0%

AI Operations

35%

0%

AI Auditing Tools & Techniques

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Domain Breakdown

🔏

ISACA Advanced in AI Security Management

AAISM

ISACA's AI security-management credential (launched 2025) for CISM/CISSP-track leaders. AAISM validates building and running an AI security program — AI security governance, AI risk management, and the controls and operations that secure machine-learning systems in production.

Salary: $130k – $180k
Open jobs: Emerging — high demand
Stages: 51 mapped

33%

0%

AI Security Governance & Program

34%

0%

AI Risk Management

33%

0%

AI Technologies, Controls & Ops

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Domain Breakdown

Stage-to-domain mappings reflect official exam blueprints (SY0-701, N10-009, CS0-003, CC v1.0, AI+, AIF-C01, GCP PMLE). ISACA AAIA and AAISM are new (2025) AI credentials — their domain weightings here are best-effort approximations pending the official exam content outlines. Completing all mapped stages does not guarantee exam passage — use this as a readiness guide alongside official study materials and practice exams.