What is certifications-training?

This Claude skill serves as a comprehensive professional development hub for AI security practitioners. It provides curated information on industry-recognized certifications, a catalog of AI-focused CTF competitions, and structured learning paths. By integrating frameworks like OWASP LLM Top 10 and NIST AI RMF, it helps users navigate the complex landscape of adversarial machine learning, LLM security, and career progression in the AI red teaming field.

When should I use certifications-training?

certifications-training is useful in the following scenarios: • Career Path Planning: Helping security analysts and engineers map out their transition into AI security roles with specific milestones and skill requirements. • Certification Guidance: Providing detailed comparisons of AI-specific certifications (like CAISP or Google AI Red Team) versus traditional security credentials to help users prioritize their professional education. • Practical Skill Development: Discovering and accessing hands-on practice platforms and CTF competitions such as Tensor Trust, Gandalf, and HackAPrompt to master prompt injection and jailbreaking techniques. • Structured Learning Curriculums: Generating personalized 6-to-24 month training plans based on a user's current experience level (beginner to expert) and specific focus areas like model robustness or LLM safety.

name	certifications-training
version	"2.0.0"
description	Professional certifications, CTF competitions, and training resources for AI security practitioners
sasmp_version	"1.3.0"
bonded_agent	01-red-team-commander
bond_type	SECONDARY_BOND
type	string
required	[query_type]
enum	[llm_security, adversarial_ml, model_security, general]
owasp_llm_2025	[LLM01, LLM02, LLM03, LLM04, LLM05, LLM06, LLM07, LLM08, LLM09, LLM10]
nist_ai_rmf	[Govern, Map, Measure, Manage]

AI Security Certifications & Training

Build professional expertise through certifications, CTFs, and structured training programs.

Quick Reference

Skill:       certifications-training
Agent:       01-red-team-lead
OWASP:       Full LLM Top 10 Coverage
NIST:        Govern, Map, Measure, Manage
Use Case:    Professional development

Career Progression Map

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    AI SECURITY CAREER PATH                          │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  ENTRY LEVEL (0-2 years)                                           │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Security Analyst → AI Security Analyst → Jr. Red Team       │   │
│  │ Skills: Python, ML basics, Security fundamentals            │   │
│  │ Certs: Security+, AI Fundamentals, CEH                      │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                              ↓                                      │
│  MID LEVEL (2-5 years)                                             │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ AI Red Team Engineer → Senior Red Team → Team Lead          │   │
│  │ Skills: Adversarial ML, LLM security, Tool development      │   │
│  │ Certs: OSCP, CAISP, Cloud AI certs                          │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                              ↓                                      │
│  SENIOR LEVEL (5+ years)                                           │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Principal → Director → CISO (AI Focus)                      │   │
│  │ Skills: Strategy, Research, Thought leadership              │   │
│  │ Certs: CISSP, Research publications, Speaking               │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                     │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Professional Certifications

AI/ML Security Specific

Certifications:
  CAISP (Certified AI Security Professional):
    provider: "(ISC)²"
    focus: "AI Security Architecture"
    prerequisites: "5 years security experience"
    domains:
      - AI/ML Security Fundamentals
      - Secure AI Development
      - AI Threat Modeling
      - AI Governance & Compliance
    renewal: "3 years, CPE credits"
    value: "Industry recognized, comprehensive"

  Google AI Red Team Certificate:
    provider: "Google"
    focus: "LLM Security Testing"
    prerequisites: "ML experience recommended"
    topics:
      - Prompt injection attacks
      - Model extraction
      - Safety evaluation
      - Responsible disclosure
    format: "Online, self-paced"
    value: "Vendor-specific, practical"

  Microsoft AI-900:
    provider: "Microsoft"
    focus: "Azure AI Fundamentals"
    prerequisites: "None"
    topics:
      - AI/ML concepts
      - Azure AI services
      - Responsible AI principles
    format: "Exam-based"
    value: "Entry-level, cloud-focused"

  AWS Machine Learning Specialty:
    provider: "Amazon"
    focus: "ML on AWS"
    prerequisites: "AWS experience"
    topics:
      - Data engineering
      - Modeling
      - ML implementation
      - Security considerations
    format: "Exam-based"
    value: "Cloud-focused, practical"

Traditional Security (AI-Applicable)

Core Security Certifications:
  OSCP:
    provider: "Offensive Security"
    relevance: "Penetration testing methodology"
    ai_application: "API testing, infrastructure attacks"
    difficulty: "High"
    recommendation: "Highly recommended"

  GPEN:
    provider: "SANS"
    relevance: "Enterprise penetration testing"
    ai_application: "Comprehensive testing approach"
    difficulty: "Medium-High"
    recommendation: "Recommended"

  CEH:
    provider: "EC-Council"
    relevance: "Ethical hacking fundamentals"
    ai_application: "Basic attack techniques"
    difficulty: "Medium"
    recommendation: "Good starting point"

  CISSP:
    provider: "(ISC)²"
    relevance: "Security architecture"
    ai_application: "Security program design"
    difficulty: "High"
    recommendation: "For senior roles"

  CCSP:
    provider: "(ISC)²"
    relevance: "Cloud security"
    ai_application: "Cloud-hosted AI systems"
    difficulty: "High"
    recommendation: "For cloud-focused roles"

CTF Competitions

AI/ML Focused CTFs

class AISecurityCTFs:
    """Catalog of AI security CTF competitions."""

    CTF_CATALOG = {
        "Tensor Trust": {
            "focus": "Prompt injection defense",
            "type": "ongoing",
            "difficulty": "beginner_to_advanced",
            "url": "https://tensortrust.ai/",
            "skills_tested": [
                "Prompt injection attack",
                "Defense strategies",
                "Jailbreak techniques"
            ],
            "prizes": "Leaderboard ranking"
        },
        "HackAPrompt": {
            "focus": "LLM jailbreaking",
            "type": "annual",
            "difficulty": "all_levels",
            "organizer": "Learn Prompting",
            "skills_tested": [
                "Prompt engineering",
                "Safety bypass",
                "Creative attacks"
            ],
            "prizes": "$35,000+ total"
        },
        "AI Village CTF": {
            "focus": "General AI security",
            "type": "annual",
            "venue": "DEF CON",
            "difficulty": "intermediate_to_expert",
            "skills_tested": [
                "Model attacks",
                "Adversarial ML",
                "LLM exploitation"
            ],
            "prizes": "Recognition, swag"
        },
        "Adversarial ML CTF": {
            "focus": "Image classification attacks",
            "type": "conference",
            "venue": "NeurIPS, CVPR",
            "difficulty": "advanced",
            "skills_tested": [
                "Adversarial examples",
                "Evasion attacks",
                "Robustness evaluation"
            ],
            "prizes": "Research recognition"
        },
        "Gandalf": {
            "focus": "Prompt injection levels",
            "type": "ongoing",
            "difficulty": "beginner_to_intermediate",
            "url": "https://gandalf.lakera.ai/",
            "skills_tested": [
                "Progressive prompt injection",
                "Filter bypass",
                "Secret extraction"
            ],
            "prizes": "Learning experience"
        }
    }

Practice Platforms

Platforms:
  Lakera (Red Team Arena):
    focus: "LLM security"
    cost: "Free"
    features:
      - Prompt injection challenges
      - Jailbreak scenarios
      - Leaderboard
    url: "https://gandalf.lakera.ai/"

  HackTheBox AI Labs:
    focus: "AI/ML security"
    cost: "Premium"
    features:
      - Realistic environments
      - Progressive difficulty
      - Write-ups available
    url: "https://www.hackthebox.com/"

  TryHackMe AI Paths:
    focus: "Learning paths"
    cost: "Freemium"
    features:
      - Guided learning
      - AI security rooms
      - Certificates
    url: "https://tryhackme.com/"

  PentesterLab:
    focus: "Web + API security"
    cost: "Subscription"
    features:
      - API testing skills
      - Applicable to AI APIs
      - Exercises with solutions
    url: "https://pentesterlab.com/"

Training Resources

Structured Learning Paths

class LearningPathGenerator:
    """Generate personalized learning paths."""

    PATHS = {
        "beginner": {
            "duration": "6 months",
            "prerequisites": ["Basic Python", "Linux fundamentals"],
            "modules": [
                {
                    "name": "ML/DL Fundamentals",
                    "resources": [
                        "Fast.ai: Practical Deep Learning",
                        "Coursera: Machine Learning (Andrew Ng)",
                        "HuggingFace NLP Course"
                    ],
                    "duration": "2 months"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Security Basics",
                    "resources": [
                        "TryHackMe: Pre-Security Path",
                        "OWASP Web Security Testing Guide",
                        "PortSwigger Web Security Academy"
                    ],
                    "duration": "2 months"
                },
                {
                    "name": "AI Security Introduction",
                    "resources": [
                        "Gandalf (Lakera) - All levels",
                        "OWASP LLM Top 10 Study",
                        "Introduction to Adversarial ML (course)"
                    ],
                    "duration": "2 months"
                }
            ],
            "certifications": ["CompTIA Security+", "AI-900"]
        },

        "intermediate": {
            "duration": "12 months",
            "prerequisites": ["ML experience", "Security fundamentals"],
            "modules": [
                {
                    "name": "Adversarial ML Deep Dive",
                    "resources": [
                        "Stanford CS234: Adversarial Robustness",
                        "ART (IBM) Tutorials",
                        "TextAttack Documentation"
                    ],
                    "duration": "3 months"
                },
                {
                    "name": "LLM Security Specialization",
                    "resources": [
                        "PyRIT Documentation & Labs",
                        "garak Tool Mastery",
                        "Prompt Injection Research Papers"
                    ],
                    "duration": "3 months"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Tool Development",
                    "resources": [
                        "Build custom probes for garak",
                        "PyRIT orchestrator development",
                        "Contribute to open source"
                    ],
                    "duration": "3 months"
                },
                {
                    "name": "CTF Competition",
                    "resources": [
                        "Participate in AI Village CTF",
                        "HackAPrompt competition",
                        "Create CTF challenges"
                    ],
                    "duration": "3 months"
                }
            ],
            "certifications": ["OSCP", "Google AI Red Team"]
        },

        "advanced": {
            "duration": "24+ months",
            "prerequisites": ["AI red team experience", "Research background"],
            "modules": [
                {
                    "name": "Original Research",
                    "resources": [
                        "Read latest papers (arXiv, OpenReview)",
                        "Conduct novel research",
                        "Publish findings"
                    ],
                    "duration": "Ongoing"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Thought Leadership",
                    "resources": [
                        "Conference speaking (DEF CON, NeurIPS)",
                        "Blog writing",
                        "Tool development"
                    ],
                    "duration": "Ongoing"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Mentorship",
                    "resources": [
                        "Mentor junior practitioners",
                        "Create training content",
                        "Community building"
                    ],
                    "duration": "Ongoing"
                }
            ],
            "certifications": ["CISSP", "CAISP"]
        }
    }

Key Publications

Essential Reading:
  Books:
    - title: "Adversarial Machine Learning"
      authors: "Joseph et al."
      focus: "Attack and defense fundamentals"
      level: "Intermediate"

    - title: "Trustworthy Machine Learning"
      authors: "Kang et al."
      focus: "Safety, fairness, privacy"
      level: "Advanced"

    - title: "The Art of Prompt Engineering"
      focus: "LLM interaction patterns"
      level: "Beginner-Intermediate"

  Research Papers:
    - "Ignore This Title and HackAPrompt" (2023)
    - "Universal and Transferable Adversarial Attacks" (2023)
    - "Extracting Training Data from LLMs" (2023)
    - "Jailbreaking LLMs: A Comprehensive Study" (2024)

  Industry Reports:
    - "OWASP LLM Top 10 2025"
    - "NIST AI Risk Management Framework"
    - "MITRE ATLAS Adversarial Threat Landscape"
    - "Microsoft AI Red Team Reports"

Skill Development Tracker

class SkillTracker:
    """Track skill development progress."""

    SKILL_MATRIX = {
        "technical": {
            "python_proficiency": ["basic", "intermediate", "advanced", "expert"],
            "ml_fundamentals": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "adversarial_ml": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "llm_security": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "tool_proficiency": ["none", "user", "developer", "contributor"],
        },
        "offensive": {
            "prompt_injection": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "jailbreaking": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "model_extraction": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "adversarial_examples": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
        },
        "defensive": {
            "input_validation": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "guardrails": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "monitoring": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "incident_response": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
        },
        "professional": {
            "reporting": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "communication": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "research": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
            "mentorship": ["none", "basic", "intermediate", "advanced"],
        }
    }

    def generate_development_plan(self, current_skills, target_role):
        """Generate personalized development plan."""
        gaps = self._identify_gaps(current_skills, target_role)
        return DevelopmentPlan(
            gaps=gaps,
            resources=self._recommend_resources(gaps),
            timeline=self._estimate_timeline(gaps),
            milestones=self._set_milestones(gaps)
        )

Community Resources

Communities:
  AI Village:
    platform: "Discord, DEF CON"
    focus: "AI security research"
    activities: "CTFs, talks, research"
    url: "https://aivillage.org/"

  OWASP AI Security:
    platform: "OWASP Slack, GitHub"
    focus: "AI application security"
    activities: "Projects, documentation"
    url: "https://owasp.org/www-project-ai-security/"

  MLSecOps:
    platform: "Slack, Conferences"
    focus: "ML security operations"
    activities: "Best practices, tools"

  AI Safety:
    platform: "Various"
    focus: "AI alignment and safety"
    activities: "Research, discussion"

Troubleshooting

Issue: Don't know where to start
Solution: Begin with Gandalf challenges, then TryHackMe AI rooms

Issue: Certification too expensive
Solution: Focus on free CTFs and open-source tool contributions

Issue: No practical experience
Solution: Participate in bug bounties, contribute to open source

Issue: Skill plateau
Solution: Try research, teaching, or tool development

Integration Points

Component	Purpose
Agent 01	Career guidance
/analyze	Skill gap analysis
Community	Networking
CTF platforms	Practical experience

Build AI security expertise through structured learning.

certifications-training

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases