If you work in Cisco security and you are trying to decide between CCNP Security and CISSP, here’s the short version: pick CCNP Security if you want to go deeper on the technical side and stay hands-on with Cisco gear, and pick CISSP if you are moving toward security architecture, management, or any role that lists it as a hard requirement. For a lot of Cisco people, the honest answer isn’t one or the other. It’s CCNP Security now, while you’re racking up hands-on time, and CISSP later, once you have the five years of experience it demands.
They get compared constantly, but they are not really the same kind of credential. One proves you can build and run security technology. The other proves you understand how to manage a security program across an entire organization. That difference is the whole decision.
What Is the Difference Between CCNP Security and CISSP?
CCNP Security is a Cisco certification that proves you can implement and operate Cisco security technologies. CISSP, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional credential from ISC2, is a vendor-neutral certification that proves you understand security management, governance, and risk across eight knowledge domains. CCNP Security is a doer cert. CISSP is a leader cert.
Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Security is built around tools you actually touch. The core exam covers firewalls, VPNs, identity and access control, endpoint protection, cloud security, and content security, with a heavy Cisco accent: Secure Firewall, Identity Services Engine, AnyConnect, Umbrella. If your day involves writing firewall rules or troubleshooting an ISE deployment, this cert maps directly onto what you’re already doing.
CISSP sits one level up the org chart. It is the credential ISC2 describes as proof of security leadership ability, and it leans toward policy, risk management, security architecture, and governance rather than configuring any one vendor’s box. People often call it the management cert of cybersecurity, and that’s a fair shorthand. It shows up in job postings for security architects, security managers, and a lot of cleared and federal roles where it functions as an HR filter as much as a skills check.
If you want a deeper exam-by-exam breakdown of how the two stack up, this CISSP vs CCNP Security comparison walks through it in more detail.
CCNP Security vs CISSP: Side-by-Side Comparison
Here is how the two certifications compare on the things that usually decide it.
| Factor | CCNP Security | CISSP |
|---|---|---|
| Issuing body | Cisco | ISC2 |
| Focus | Hands-on Cisco security technology | Vendor-neutral security management and governance |
| Best for | Network security engineers, security admins | Security architects, managers, GRC, cleared roles |
| Exams | 350-701 SCOR core, plus one concentration exam | Single CAT exam, 100 to 150 questions, three hours |
| Cost | About $700 total ($400 core, $300 concentration) | $749 |
| Experience required | None formally; Cisco suggests three to five years | Five years cumulative paid work in two or more domains |
| Recertification | Every three years | 120 CPEs over three years, plus a $135 annual fee |
| Average salary (2026) | Around $125,000 (PayScale) | Median around $164,000 (Glassdoor) |
One thing the table flattens that is worth saying out loud: the CISSP experience requirement is real and it is enforced at endorsement, not on exam day. You can sit the exam without the five years and become an Associate of ISC2, then you have up to six years to earn the experience. So a Cisco engineer three years into the field can pass CISSP now and bank it, but cannot put the letters after their name yet.
Is CCNP Security Worth It for a Cisco Security Engineer?
For most working Cisco security engineers, yes. CCNP Security is the cert that matches what you already do, and it deepens the exact skills your employer is paying for.
The path is two exams. You pass 350-701 SCOR, the 120-minute core exam that runs about $400, then one concentration exam at roughly $300. The concentration is where you specialize. The options cover Secure Firewall (300-710 SNCF), Identity Services Engine (300-715 SISE), email security (300-720 SESA), web security (300-725 SWSA), VPNs (300-730 SVPN), and security automation (300-735 SAUTO). You pick the one that fits your stack.
There’s a nice side benefit. Passing the SCOR core on its own earns you the Cisco Certified Specialist, Security Core certification, and it counts as the written requirement toward CCIE Security if you ever want to chase the expert tier. So even before you finish CCNP Security, the core exam is doing work for you.
What CCNP Security won’t do is open doors that specifically ask for CISSP, and there are a lot of those, especially in larger enterprises and government. If your goal is to stay a strong technical engineer, that doesn’t matter much. If your goal is to move up and out of pure engineering, it starts to.
Is CISSP Worth It If You Work in Cisco Security?
CISSP is worth it if you are aiming past the engineering seat, or if you keep running into it as a requirement you can’t get around. For a Cisco engineer who wants to become a security architect, lead a team, or work in a cleared or federal environment, it is close to mandatory.
The reason is reach. CISSP covers all eight domains of security, from security and risk management through software development security. It is deliberately broad and deliberately vendor-neutral, which is the opposite of what makes CCNP Security useful. An employer reading a resume sees CCNP Security and thinks “can run our Cisco security stack.” They see CISSP and think “can own security decisions for the business.”
The federal angle matters too. CISSP is one of the baseline certifications recognized under the Defense Department’s qualification framework for several technical and management roles, which is why it shows up so often in cleared job listings. If you are in or near that world, our guide to DoD 8140 and CCNA is worth a read alongside this.
The catch is the cost of entry, and it is not the $749 exam fee. It is the five years. CISSP is not a cert you grab early to break in. It’s one you earn once you’ve put in the time, which is exactly why it carries the weight it does.
CCNP Security vs CISSP: Which Pays More in 2026?
CISSP pays more on average, but the comparison is not apples to apples. Glassdoor put the 2026 median total pay for CISSP holders around $164,000, while PayScale lists CCNP Security holders closer to $125,000.
The gap looks dramatic until you account for what each cert signals. CISSP correlates with senior and management roles by design, since you need five years just to qualify, so the people holding it are further along in their careers. CCNP Security holders skew toward mid-career engineering roles. You are partly comparing job levels, not just certifications. A network security engineer role itself averaged about $165,000 on Glassdoor in early 2026, and plenty of those engineers hold CCNP Security and no CISSP.
Stacking both is where the money tends to land. An engineer who can configure the Cisco security stack and speak fluently about risk and governance is rare, and that combination is what gets people into architect and lead roles that clear $180,000 and up.
Should You Get Both CCNP Security and CISSP?
If you are early or mid-career in Cisco security, the strongest play is usually both, in order: CCNP Security first, CISSP once you hit five years of experience. They are not competitors. They cover different halves of a security career, and together they tell a complete story.
The sequencing is practical, not just strategic. You probably don’t have the five years for CISSP yet, and CCNP Security has no experience requirement at all. So you spend the next couple of years getting CCNP Security, doing the hands-on work that both deepens your engineering skill and quietly accumulates the experience CISSP will eventually ask you to prove. By the time you qualify for CISSP, you have the technical credibility to back it up, which is more than a lot of CISSP holders can say.
If you are forced to choose only one right now, decide based on where you are headed, not where you are. Staying technical and want to be the person who actually secures the network? CCNP Security. Aiming for architecture, management, or a role that flat-out requires the letters? CISSP, and start logging the experience that lets you claim it.
Either way, if you are still earlier in the Cisco track and weighing your next step in general, our breakdown of the top Cisco certifications beyond CCNA and how the CCNA helps you break into cybersecurity will help you map the road ahead before you commit to either of these.
Two certs, two different bets, and for most Cisco people in cyber, the right move is to make both of them in the right order.
Senior Network Engineer | CCNP Enterprise | CCIE Candidate
Trave Hurd is a senior network engineer with over a decade of experience designing and managing enterprise Cisco environments. Holding multiple Cisco and industry certifications, he writes about the full arc of a networking career, from passing your first exam to building the skills that get you to the top of the field.
