- SNCF here means Securing Networks with Cisco Firepower, exam 300-710, which Cisco now titles Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls.
- Deployment and Configuration each carry 30% of the blueprint, together making up 60% of the exam.
- The exam fee is USD 300 plus tax, delivered in 90 minutes via Pearson VUE test center or OnVUE.
- Passing earns a Cisco Certified Specialist credential and satisfies the CCNP Security concentration requirement.
What SNCF Means in This Context
Several unrelated credentials and organizations share the acronym "SNCF," so precision matters. On this site, SNCF refers to one thing only: the Cisco exam Securing Networks with Cisco Firepower (300-710). It is a Cisco security exam that validates your ability to deploy, configure, manage, troubleshoot and integrate Cisco's next-generation firewall technology.
One naming wrinkle is worth knowing before you book. Cisco has since renamed the exam Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls, but the exam code remains 300-710 and the SNCF shorthand persists in Cisco's own exam page URL. If you see both titles in search results or on your Pearson VUE confirmation, they refer to the same exam. If you want a deeper look at the terminology, our explainers on what SNCF stands for and the meaning of SNCF cover the naming history in more detail.
The Credential You Earn
Passing 300-710 earns the Cisco Certified Specialist - Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls certification. That is a standalone credential you can list on a resume, but it also does double duty inside Cisco's professional-level track: passing the exam satisfies the concentration requirement for CCNP Security.
Earning the full CCNP Security still requires a second exam, the core exam 350-701 SCOR. In other words, SNCF is one of the two pieces of the CCNP Security puzzle, and a very popular choice for the concentration slot because firewall skills map directly onto day-to-day security operations work. For a broader overview of the credential itself, see our page on SNCF certification and the explainer on what SNCF certification is.
Exam Logistics, Fees and Rules
The mechanics of the exam are straightforward, and Cisco publishes most of them clearly. Here is what is confirmed:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam code | 300-710 (SNCF) |
| Fee | USD 300 plus tax; Cisco Learning Credits accepted |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Delivery | Proctored, computer-delivered; Pearson VUE test center or eligible OnVUE online appointment |
| Format | Closed book; no personal books or notes |
| Prerequisites | None formal; no mandatory training course |
| Retake wait | Five calendar days beginning the following day |
| Language | English listed on the exam page; verify for your booking |
Closed-book rules and confidentiality
The exam is closed book under the Cisco Candidate Rules Agreement, which excludes personal books and notes. Current policies also require you to accept the confidentiality agreement before testing. That has a practical consequence for your prep: there is no safety net of memorized-on-paper references, so command-line syntax, policy ordering logic and deployment mode behavior need to live in your head.
Question count and passing score
Two items candidates always ask about have no verified fixed answer. Cisco does not publish a fixed numeric passing score; standards are set statistically and can change over time. No fixed question count or official pass rate has been verified either. Be skeptical of any site quoting a precise cut score. Our pages on the SNCF passing score and SNCF pass rate walk through what can and cannot be said responsibly.
What question types to expect
Cisco's general guidance for Associate and Professional exams describes multiple-choice items, drag-and-drop items and possibly performance-based lab items. Cisco does not guarantee a particular mix for every delivery of SNCF, so prepare for all three styles rather than betting on one. Hands-on familiarity with the management interface is the best insurance against any lab-style question. For fee planning beyond the exam itself, see SNCF certification cost, and for scheduling, SNCF exam dates.
The Four Domains Explained
The exam objectives come from the Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls v1.2 (300-710) blueprint, effective August 27, 2026. They are organized into four weighted domains. Cisco also cautions that related topics may appear and that objectives may change, so treat the blueprint as a floor, not a ceiling.
Domain 1: Deployment (30%)
Deployment is jointly the heaviest domain. It tests whether you can get a firewall into a network correctly and understand the design choices behind it.
- Choosing and implementing deployment modes, such as routed versus transparent-style placement
- Interface and zone design, and how traffic flows through the device
- High availability and clustering concepts at the planning level
- Understanding how the firewall and its management plane relate to each other
Domain 2: Configuration (30%)
Configuration is the other 30% domain and the one most tied to hands-on practice. Expect questions about building policy, not just describing it.
- Access control policy structure, rule ordering and default actions
- Intrusion prevention and file/malware policy configuration
- NAT, routing and VPN configuration
- Decryption and encrypted-traffic handling, including the Encrypted Visibility Engine in the current objectives
Domain 3: Management and Troubleshooting (25%)
This domain rewards operational experience. It covers keeping a deployment healthy and diagnosing it when it is not.
- Event analysis, logging and reporting
- Policy and system troubleshooting workflows
- Using centralized management, including Cisco Security Cloud Control Firewall Management
- Health monitoring, updates and device lifecycle tasks
Domain 4: Integration (15%)
The smallest domain, but not one to skip. Integration questions test how the firewall works inside a wider security architecture.
- Cisco XDR and Splunk integration, with AI-driven threat intelligence
- Identity and policy integration with other security products
- Threat-intelligence feeds and automation touchpoints
For a full domain-by-domain breakdown, read SNCF Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.
Topics Added in the Current Blueprint
The v1.2 objectives reflect how Cisco's firewall ecosystem has shifted toward cloud management, zero trust access and cross-platform detection. If you studied from older Firepower material, check that your resources cover these areas:
- Encrypted Visibility Engine: analyzing encrypted traffic without relying solely on full decryption.
- ZTNA and VPN: zero trust network access alongside traditional remote-access and site-to-site VPN.
- Cisco Security Cloud Control Firewall Management: cloud-delivered, centralized management of firewall policy and devices.
- Cisco XDR and Splunk integration: feeding firewall telemetry into extended detection and response and SIEM workflows, with AI-driven threat intelligence.
Who Should Sit This Exam
There are no formal prerequisites, so eligibility is not the constraint. Readiness is. The credential is most useful for people whose daily work touches network perimeter or data center security:
- Network security engineers who deploy and tune Cisco firewalls
- Security operations analysts who triage firewall events and need to understand policy behavior
- Systems and network administrators moving into security-focused roles
- Consultants and integrators who implement Cisco security for clients
Employers that run Cisco security stacks, plus the partners and managed service providers who support them, are the most natural audience for this credential. We cover the hiring side in SNCF jobs, the earnings picture in our SNCF salary guide, and the value question in is the SNCF certification worth it. If you are weighing eligibility, SNCF requirements explains the no-prerequisite policy in more depth.
How hard is it?
Difficulty depends heavily on hands-on exposure. Candidates who have configured access control and intrusion policy on real or virtual devices will find the Configuration and Troubleshooting domains far more natural than those who have only read about them. See how hard the SNCF exam is for a fuller discussion.
Where SNCF Fits in the CCNP Security Path
Cisco's professional certifications follow a core-plus-concentration model. For CCNP Security, the pieces look like this:
| Component | Exam | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Core | 350-701 SCOR | Required for full CCNP Security |
| Concentration | 300-710 SNCF | Satisfies the concentration requirement; earns Specialist on its own |
There is also a timing rule to remember: the window for combining CCNP exam passes is separate from certification renewal, and renewing through continuing education does not extend that exam-completion window. If you plan to earn full CCNP Security, schedule your second exam with that clock in mind.
Official training options
Cisco's current exam page recommends SFWIPF followed by SFWIPA as the training path. Cisco has also announced a consolidated SNCF course expected at the end of calendar year 2026, but that announcement does not establish that it is available now, so confirm current availability before planning around it. Training is recommended, not mandatory. Our page on SNCF training compares the options.
Validity and Renewal
The Specialist certification is valid for three years. Cisco's continuing education route for renewal requires 40 credits before expiry for a Specialist, compared with 80 for Professional-level certifications such as CCNP. Passing a qualifying concentration exam earns 40 CE credits, and passing a core exam earns 80, which supports exam-based or combined renewal approaches.
Key Takeaway
Renewal is a separate track from earning CCNP. Passing exams can renew your credential, but CE renewal never extends the window for combining exam passes toward CCNP Security.
A Domain-Weighted Prep Sequence
Because the blueprint is lopsided, your calendar should be too. This is the one place for scheduling logic, and it follows directly from the weights:
Deployment (30%)
- Learn deployment modes and traffic flow before touching policy
- Build a lab so later domains have something to run against
Configuration (30%)
- Spend the most lab hours here: access control, intrusion, NAT, VPN, ZTNA
- Cover the Encrypted Visibility Engine and decryption behavior
Management and Troubleshooting (25%)
- Practice reading events and isolating faults
- Work through Security Cloud Control Firewall Management
Integration (15%) and review
- Study XDR, Splunk and threat-intelligence touchpoints
- Run timed practice against the 90-minute limit
The logic is simple: Deployment first because it frames everything else, Configuration next because it is both heavily weighted and hands-on, and Integration last because it builds on the earlier domains. For a complete plan, see the SNCF study guide, keep the SNCF cheat sheet handy for last-minute review, and test yourself with realistic questions on our SNCF practice test site.
Frequently Asked Questions
It refers to Securing Networks with Cisco Firepower, Cisco exam 300-710. Cisco now titles the same exam Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls, but the code and SNCF shorthand remain the same.
No. There are no formal prerequisite qualifications and no mandatory training courses. Cisco recommends SFWIPF followed by SFWIPA, but the training is optional.
The fee is USD 300 plus tax, and Cisco Learning Credits are accepted. The exam is 90 minutes, proctored and closed book, delivered through Pearson VUE test centers or eligible OnVUE online appointments.
Not by itself. Passing 300-710 earns the Cisco Certified Specialist credential and satisfies the CCNP Security concentration requirement. Full CCNP Security also requires passing the core exam, 350-701 SCOR.
You must wait five calendar days beginning the day after your attempt before retaking the same exam. Cisco does not publish a fixed numeric passing score, so focus on the weighted domains rather than chasing a target percentage.