Drel Certification

Drel Certified: AI Security Architect — Professional

A professional credential for security architects, AppSec engineers, and AI governance leads who assess AI, RAG, and agentic systems before production. The exam tests threat modeling, attack path analysis, control design, evidence classification, and go-live risk decisioning.

Questions60
Duration90 min
Passing score75%
Attempts per cycle2
Cooldown between attempts7 days
Credential validity24 months
Exam version2026-v1
Credential codeDC-AISA-P

What the credential demonstrates

Passing the DC-AISA-P exam demonstrates that you can independently assess an AI or agentic system for production readiness — identifying attack surfaces, evaluating controls, classifying evidence, and reaching a defensible go-live decision.

The exam is not a product quiz. It tests domain knowledge across the AI security review lifecycle, including frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act, OWASP LLM/Agentic Top 10, MITRE ATLAS, MAESTRO) and applied case-based judgment.

Model the threat surface of RAG, agentic, and multi-agent systems
Identify and classify attack paths including prompt injection, tool abuse, and retrieval poisoning
Design and evaluate preventive, detective, and governance controls
Classify evidence and identify gaps that block a production decision
Apply NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act, and OWASP frameworks to real systems
Reach and defend a five-state risk disposition with rationale

Exam syllabus

Five domains. 60 questions sampled proportionally by weight.

01AI System Architecture & Threat Surface
25%
  • Agentic component ontology: human_user, ai_agent, planner, rag_source, vector_database, tool, mcp_server, mcp_client, external_system, approval_boundary, policy_engine, audit_log, model_gateway, memory_store
  • Trust boundaries and delegation chains
  • Agentic flow timelines and decision points
  • RAG, agentic, fine-tuned, and API-wrapped system archetypes
  • Multi-agent systems and dynamic sub-agent spawning
02AI Attack Paths & Threat Modeling
25%
  • Direct and indirect prompt injection (stored, live, steganographic)
  • Retrieval poisoning and data source manipulation
  • Excessive agency and tool abuse
  • Authorization bypass in MCP and tool chains
  • Data leakage through retrieval and memory
  • OWASP LLM Top 10 (2025) and OWASP Agentic Top 10 (2026)
  • MITRE ATLAS tactics and MAESTRO threat categories
03Controls & Mitigations
20%
  • Control types: preventive, detective, corrective, governance, runtime
  • Lifecycle gates: before_pilot, before_production, ongoing
  • Tool gating, human approval boundaries, policy enforcement
  • Audit logging and evidence capture
  • Least privilege in tool access and model permissions
  • Output filtering and input sanitisation
04Governance, Frameworks & Evidence
20%
  • NIST AI RMF 1.0 — Map, Measure, Manage, Govern functions
  • ISO/IEC 42001 — AI management system requirements
  • EU AI Act — risk classification and obligations
  • Evidence classification: explicit, inferred, assumed, unknown, missing_evidence, verified
  • Framework coverage: supports_evidence_for, requires_validation, not_yet_evidenced
  • Assumptions, open questions, and evidence gaps
05Risk Disposition & Go-Live Decisioning
10%
  • Five-state disposition: proceed, conditional, restricted_pilot_only, hold, decline
  • Blockers, residual risk, and evidence completeness criteria
  • Re-review triggers: model_change, tool_added, data_source_change, autonomy_increase, user_group_expansion, vendor_change, production_rollout, scope_change
  • AI Committee roles and formal sign-off
  • Defensibility under audit and regulatory review

Credential and verification

Passing candidates receive a DC-AISA-P credential with a unique ID and a public verification page at drel.ai/verify/[credential-id].

The verification page shows the holder's name, issue date, expiration date, exam version, and current status (Active / Expired / Revoked). Domain scores are shown only if the holder opts in.

Credentials are valid for 24 months. The AI security domain evolves rapidly — renewal ensures the credential reflects current knowledge.

After passing, a LinkedIn share flow pre-fills the certification fields so you can add it to your profile in one click.

Access model

SegmentAccess
Drel Plus / Pro1 attempt included per year
EnterpriseTeam vouchers + admin reporting
Free / trial usersSyllabus + sample questions only
Non-customersStandalone exam — $79
Retake$29 or 7-day cooldown

Ready to sit the exam?

You need a Drel account to take the exam. Sign in or create a free account — no payment required to start. Paid plans include one attempt per year.