Introduction
This is a review of the Certified AI/ML Pentester – C-AI/MLPen Certification by The SecOps Group.
I wanted to get certified in AI Red Teaming and this seems to be the only hands-on exam and certification available in the market at this time, so kudos to The SecOps Group for releasing a certification of this kind.
I paid around $50 for this certification from an 80% discount a few months ago. It is normally around $250+, please check the exam page for the pricing as it is listed in GBP and may different depending on your region.
I was able to pass the exam within 2 hours on my first attempt. It took me about a 1 week of hardcore studying and note taking to pass. I’ll have tips to pass in a later section of this blog with recommendations on what labs to take and docs to study for preparation.
Unique Selling Point of these Exams and Certifications
One of the key differences this exam had amongst the rest was the focus on exams vs courseware and training. The SecOps Group only provides exams and certifications and as far as training, only provides a syllabus of topics that will be covered on the exam. For more information, please visit their exam page directly on their site: https://secops.group/
I thought that this was interesting because it would force you to research online from various sources, and also it didn’t prevent you from exploring other platforms.
There were also no restrictions on what tools you can use on the exam, unlike the others that prevent you from using automation. I thought this was more realistic since in real life, threat actors don’t have these restrictions and penetration testers are often allowed to use whatever tools are in their arsenal to accomplish the task on the job (based on personal experience).
Also, due to not having any courses and training, it reduces the cost for the certification which makes it very appealing to individuals wanting a hands-on practical exam experience and validation for their skills.
The Exam
I’ve taken other exams from The SecOps Group previously. For more information, you can check out my other write-ups here:
Similar to the other exams, the duration is 4 hours and 15 minutes. You have to download a VPN file and connect to their network in order to take the exam. You get the details after you purchase the exam sent to your email.
On the exam, you will be tasked to hack an LLM and exploit several vulnerabilities on the OWASP LLM Top 10. To get a feel of what it’s like, you can take their free mock-up exam here: https://secops.group/free-mock-pentesting-exams/
Tips to Pass
I’ve gone through the syllabus and documentation they list on their website and I’ve distilled what I’ve learned on my Prompt Injection Attack Guide and Cheat Sheet here: https://hiddendoorsecurity.com/2025/08/29/prompt-injection-attack-guide-and-cheat-sheet/
You can use the following labs to test out my prompt injection payloads and practice before the exam:
- https://gandalf.lakera.ai/
- https://prompting.ai.immersivelabs.com/
- https://promptairlines.com/
- https://portswigger.net/web-security/all-labs#web-llm-attacks
I’ve compiled a list of my most used prompt injection attacks on my GitHub repository here(leave a star if you find them useful!):
The exam requires a lot of creative thinking. There are barely any hints on majority of the challenges and you will have to flex your right brain thinking into tricking the AI into giving its secrets. But you’ll also have to rely on your deductive skills to figure out how to perform bypasses against certain LLMs.
You will need to know how to chain specific attacks as well – you can use the guide above to chain different attacks to bypass filters and guardrails.
Conclusion
At this point in time, there doesn’t seem to be any other exam or certification of this kind. I’ve done some research to look for other hands-on exams that are related to hacking AI and LLM applications, but The SecOps Group seems to be ahead on this.
If you want to expand your AI Red Teaming skills and want a certificate to validate your offensive skills, I highly recommend this certification and exam. It is very realistic and will actually require you to do a lot of thinking as well as identify ways to chain other attacks to successfully compromise a target.
For more information check out the C-AI/MLPen cert from The SecOps Group here: https://secops.group/product/certified-ai-ml-pentester/