Renew ISC2 Certification in 5 Steps – Free Resources Available

You’ve worked hard to earn a reputable ISC2 certification. Whether you have a CC, CISSP, CCSP, or any other ISC2 certification, you must renew ISC2 certification every three years. There are five simple steps to renew your ISC2 certification, and we have identified them in this article.

In this article

📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE ISC2 Certification Renewal resources throughout the article.

We have a specific article about CISSP certification renewal. If you have a CISSP certification, you can continue reading our CISSP renewal article. Note that we will be covering all ISC2 certification tracks, including CISSP, in this article. Let’s go through the steps to renew ISC2 certification now.

1- Know ISC2 Certification Renewal Requirements

Each ISC2 certification has different renewal requirements. Therefore, it is better to know what kind of requirements you need to fulfill to renew your ISC2 certification. ISC2 requires certification holders to keep their knowledge and experience up to date with industry standards. To do this, each certification holder must have cybersecurity-related experience or attend a cybersecurity event, seminar, education, or similar kinds of activities. This is called ISC2 Continuing Education for Professional Growth.

Typically, a one-hour activity counts for one ISC2 CPE credit (Continuing Professional Education). For instance, if you attended a one-hour cybersecurity-related webinar, you will earn 1 CPE credit. If you attended a 4-hour self-paced cybersecurity-related online course, you will earn four ISC2 CPE credits.

Group A or B Difference in ISC2 CPE Credits

ISC2 classifies continuing education activities in two main groups: Group A or B.

Group A activities must be directly related to the certification track’s main focus. For instance, if you are a CC certified professional (Certified in Cybersecurity), only cybersecurity or information security-related activities will count as Group A activity.
- You can earn Group A ISC2 CPE Credits through the following example activities:
  - Education: Taking an online course such as ISC2 CPE Courses (*Most Popular)
  - Reading a cybersecurity white paper
  - Publishing an article on cybersecurity
  - Attending ISC2 Security Congress
  - Preparing for a presentation or teaching information related to cybersecurity
  - Performing a unique work-related project that is not part of your normal work duties
  - Self-study related to research for a project or preparing for a certification examination
  - Volunteering for government, public sector, and other charitable organizations
  - Taking a higher education course

Group B activities may be related to professional or soft skill development. For instance, if you attended a leadership course or a communication course, this is not directly related to cybersecurity; however, it counts as professional development, and you can earn CPE credits from these activities as well.
- You can earn Group B ISC2 CPE Credits through the following example activities:
  - Attending non-security events, such as leadership conferences
  - Participating in non-security education courses such as Business Strategy Training.
  - Preparing for non-security presentations/lectures/trainings
  - Non-security government/private sector/charitable organization committees

We’ve created a table for you to understand the differences between Group A and B activities.

Feature	Group A: Directly Related / Technical	Group B: General Professional Development
Definition	Activities directly related to the specific domains and skills covered by your certification.	Activities that enhance your general professional, managerial, or soft skills, but are outside your certification’s core domain.
Focus Area	Core technical domain, industry standards, threat modeling, security architecture, audit, hands-on labs.	Leadership, communication, project management, non-security IT skills, foreign languages, interpersonal skills.
Relevance Test	“Does this directly build or maintain knowledge in my certification’s official syllabus/domains?”	“Does this make me a more capable professional, manager, or leader overall?”
Contribution Cap	No cap. You can fulfill 100% of your required CPE credits using Group A alone.	Capped. Usually maximum 25–30% of total required CPEs (e.g., max 30 out of 120 CPEs over a 3-year CISSP cycle).

ISC2 CPE Requirements to Renew ISC2 Certification

ISC2 requires certification holders to earn a certain number of CPE credits every three years and renew their certification to keep their certification status active. Each certification track has different requirements. The table below lists all ISC2 certification tracks and the number of Group A or B CPE credits required to renew each track.

Certification	Type	Suggested Annual	3-year Total
CC	Group A	15	45
	Group A or B	–	–
	Total Required	15	45
CISSP	Group A	30	90
	Group A or B	10	30
	Total Required	40	120
CCSP, CSSLP	Group A	20	60
	Group A or B	10	30
	Total Required	30	90
CGRC, HCISPP, SSCP	Group A	15	45
	Group A or B	5	15
	Total Required	20	60
CISSP-ISSAP, ISSEP, ISSMP	Group A	–	20
CISSP-ISSAP, ISSEP, ISSMP	Total Required	20	20

For instance, if you hold CCSP certification and you want to renew your ISC2 certification, you must earn 90 ISC2 CPE credits in three years to renew your certification. While all 90 CPEs can be from Group B, you can earn up to 30 CPEs from Group A activities and earn 60 CPEs from Group B activities. ISC2 also suggests earning CPEs annually. For instance, for CSSP certification, the annual CPE suggestion is 30 CPE credits.

2- Earn Required CPE Credits to Renew ISC2 Certification

As you learned about the CPE requirements for ISC2 certification renewal and the differences between Group A and B, the next step is planning your three-year cycle to earn CPE credits. It is a fact that almost all ISC2-certified professionals have a busy work life. Therefore, finding several hours of activity to earn ISC2 CPE credits is not easy. If you consider attending seminars or conferences, you may have to travel to another city, and a one-day activity will earn you around 6 CPE credits. Preparing a presentation, delivering a presentation, or volunteering at work will require a significant amount of time, and also you may have to take some days off work to spend time on these activities.

Therefore, as we’ve highlighted in the previous section, earning ISC2 CPE credits through the Education category is the most popular way for professionals. We’ve summarized the “why” in the following figure.

Renew ISC2 Certification

While there are several benefits of earning ISC2 CPE credits through CPE courses, here are the top five reasons:

No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the Education category, so you can earn all ISC2 CPE needs in one program and renew your certification. You do not need to go elsewhere to find additional CPEs to renew ISC2 certification.
Self-Paced: You do not need to attend an event, conference, or seminar. You can follow the courses at your place, at your pace.
Affordable: Depending on the program content, you can enroll in a self-paced ISC2 CPE Online Training for ~$200-300. However, seminars or conferences start at $1,000; not only that, you may not earn all CPEs needed in one event.
Requires less effort: When you enroll in CPE Courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn CPEs, and renew your ISC2 certification. However, other CPE credit-earning ways require significant effort from the ISC2 certification holder, such as creating content, sharing a presentation, authoring, etc.
Less prone to ISC2® audit: Since the ISC2 CPE training programs are used by many certified professionals, ISC2 already has a track record of the activities. However, for other categories, CPE submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit an audit.

ISC2 CPE Online Courses to Renew ISC2 Certification

San Francisco Business School offers ISC2 Certification Renewal Course programs. The ISC2 CPE Training Programs by SFBS come with six self-paced cybersecurity and business training programs: AI & Cybersecurity, Machine Learning Principles for Secure Systems, Cybersecurity Best Practices for AI Systems, Executive Leadership, Strategy Creation & Execution, and Marketing Strategy. For each course in the programs, SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning CPEs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.

60 CPE Course Online Diploma and Certificate

There is a CPE rule for Education CPE credits. You can submit a maximum of 40 CPE credits per entry. While you can earn all required CPEs through the education category, you must submit separate CPE entries for each course.

Watch How Kathy Renewed Her CISSP Certification

Kathy Buckley is a CISSP-certified Professional. Kathy enrolled in the 120 ISC2 CPE Course Online Program from SFBS and renewed her CISSP. Watch her CISSP renewal journey now.

3- Report Earned CPE Credits through ISC2 CPE Dashboard or Portal

The ISC2 CPE Portal (or Dashboard) is the centralized tracking platform where ISC2 credential holders monitor, manage, and report their Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits and Annual Maintenance Fees (AMFs). Key Functions of the CPE Dashboard are as follows:

Cycle Progress Tracking: Shows your current 3-year certification cycle dates, total CPE credits required, and progress toward your annual/cycle goals.
Credit Breakdown: Displays your earned Group A (domain-specific) vs. Group B (general professional development) credits so you can easily see how many CPEs needed to renew ISC2 certification.
AMF Status: Tracks the payment status of your Annual Maintenance Fees.
Automated & Manual Logs: Displays both auto-submitted CPEs (from ISC2 webinars/events) and manual submissions.

If the CPEs you earned are auto-submitted, ISC2 automatically adds credits to your CPE dashboard within 1 to 4 weeks. No manual logging required. ISC2 Webinars (BrightTalk), Security Congress, Express Courses, Insights Quizzes are examples of auto-submitted CPE credits.

The other type of entry is manual entry. In this type of CPE reporting, you must log into the portal, enter the details, and upload/store verification documentation. Third-party courses, vendor webinars, security conferences, and podcast listening are examples of manual entry type CPEs.

How to Report CPE Credits (Step-by-Step)

There are five basic steps to report CPE credits to renew ISC2 certification.

Log In to the ISC2 CPE Portal: Access your member dashboard. Navigate to the ISC2 Member Portal (isc2.org) and log in. Select CPE Portal or CPE Dashboard from your profile overview.
Select Credit Category: Choose Group A or Group B. Click on Submit CPEs. Choose whether the activity qualifies as Group A (directly related to your certification domains) or Group B (general professional skills like leadership or non-security IT).
Choose the Activity Type: Specify how you earned the credits. Select the appropriate activity category from the dropdown menu:Education: Courses, webinars, conferences, self-study, reading whitepapers. Contributions to the Profession: Writing articles, speaking at events, serving on committees, exam development.Unique Work Experience: Non-routine security projects (max 10 CPEs per project).
Enter Event Details and Hours: Precision and domain mapping. Title & Provider: Enter the course/event name and issuing vendor or organization.Completion Date: Select the date the activity ended.CPE Hours: Input the total hours spent. Calculate as 1 hour = 1 CPE credit (allowed in 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 increments).Domain Alignment: Select which specific certification domain(s) the activity maps to.
Submit and Save Documentation: Audit compliance. Review your entries and click Submit. Keep your proof of completion (completion certificates, course agendas, or transcripts) saved for at least 12 months after your 3-year cycle ends in case of a random audit.

Considering you are a full-time working professional and looking to earn ISC2 CPE credits in one step, look into our ISC2 CPE Online Courses.

San Francisco Business School offers a self-paced Free ISC2 CPE Course Online Program as well. If you attend this program, you can earn 3 Free ISC2 CPE credits and submit them in the education category.

You can read more about earning Free CISSP CPE credits.

4- Pay the Annual Management Fee and Renew ISC2 Certification

Other than completing the required CPE credits to renew ISC2 certification, there is also an annual management fee (AMF) that each certification holder must pay to ISC2 to keep their certification status active.

ISC2 members pay a single AMF, which is due each year upon the anniversary of their certification date. Members only pay a single AMF regardless of how many certifications they earn. AMF for members with multiple certifications is due on their earliest certification anniversary.

For members who hold the following certifications, CISSP, SSCP, CCSP, CGRC, CSSLP, ISSAP, ISSEP, or ISSMP, there is an AMF of U.S. $135. For members who only hold CC certification, the AMF is U.S. $50. You can pay the AMF using one of the following methods:

Online via credit card, PayPal, or voucher through the ISC2 Dashboard. To pay AMF using a voucher, log in to your ISC2 dashboard and add your AMF to the cart. When you reach the checkout screen, enter your voucher code for a $0 purchase.
By check via mail or by wire transfer. You need to contact ISC2 Member Services for this option.

You can ask further questions to ISC2 about membership and payment through membersupport@isc2.org.

5- Renew Your ISC2 Certification

You’ve earned the required three-year cycle CPE credits for your ISC2 certification, reported them through the ISC2 dashboard, and paid the annual management fee (AMF). Now, you are ready to renew your ISC2 certification. Once you renew your ISC2 certification, your new three-year cycle will start. Keep on earning CPE credits and reporting them regularly.

Some of the professionals wait until the end of their three-year cycle to earn CPE credits and renew ISC2 certification. However, this is risky, as some activities may be audited, or you may not find suitable time to spend on courses or activities to earn CPE credits. As suggested by ISC2, try to earn the annually required CPE credits every year, and report them through your ISC2 dashboard or portal.

Summary

We’ve outlined the five steps to renew ISC2 certification in this article.

First, you must be aware of the ISC2 CPE requirements. Be aware of the difference between Group A and B activities. Group A activities are generally personal development or soft skill activities while Group B activities are more related to information or cybersecurity. While there is no cap for Group B activities, there is a cap for Group A activities. Each certification track requires a different number of total CPE credits to renew ISC2 certification.

Second, attend CPE activities and earn CPE credits. While there are different activities to earn CPE credits, the most affordable and convenient way to earn CPE credits is by attending ISC2 CPE Credits Course programs. You can earn all required CPE credits from one resource, in the comfort of your home. If you attend self-paced programs, you can easily manage your time to follow the courses as well.

Third, report the earned CPEs to ISC2. You will report the earned CPE credits through your ISC2 Portal or Dashboard.

Fourth, pay the annual management fee (AMF). If you hold a CC certification, you should pay $50 annually; for all other ISC2 certifications, you should pay $135 annually.

Fifth and last, renew your ISC2 certification. You’ve earned the required CPE credits, you reported them, paid the AMF, and now you are ready to renew ISC2 certification. Renew your reputable ISC2 certification and start a new three-year ISC2 recertification cycle.