What is the process to verify a particular certification?

I recently had people coming to me asking me what is the process to verify a particular certification and if I knew of a centralised way for doing this. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately as some may say) there isn't a centralised way where you could query for a particular certification. 

For example, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) maintain a list of all certified companies and Qualified Security Assessors which is constantly up-to-date. If you want to verify a consultant's certification the only thing you need to do is to visit this link. 

Anyhow, this blog post is intended as a reference guide to the various webpages where you can verify a particular certification. If you do know of any other or you found that the list needs to be be updated just send me a message on Twitter and I will update it as soon as possible.

Below, the certifications are listed Alphabetically according to the respective company which have issued each certificate. 

Apple

There are actually two ways to verify if an individual holds any Apple certifications. You can either use the Apple Certified Professionals Registry or the National Student Clearinghouse. 

Cisco

Cisco has it own Cisco Certificate Verification Tool. You will need the 16-digit Certificate Verification Number printed on the Cisco certificate. Note that the Certificate Verification Number is not the same thing as the certification holder’s Cisco ID Number.

Citrix

The certification holder must login to the Citrix Certification Manager, select the Citrix certification to be verified, enter the email address of the 3rd party that asked for the verification, include a personal message, and tick the checkbox that allows Citrix to release your certification information to the particular email address you entered. 

CompTIA

A CompTIA certified member needs to access their CompTIA account and click the Transcript link in the main menu bar which allows the generation of a transcript for any of the certifications this particular member holds. Also, it is possible for a member to download any of the certificates in PDF format which contain a verification code. This code can be used at verify.CompTIA.org in order to display the name of the CompTIA certification, the holder's name, the date certified and the status of the certification. 

CREST
If you would like to verify the validity of a qualification held by a CREST Qualified Consultant, you will need to send an email to admin@crest-approved.org giving the following information: 
The name of the Consultant in question (mandatory);
The name of the qualification (mandatory);
The date that the qualification is valid from (if known);
The Consultant’s CREST ID number (if known).

EC-Council

In order to verify an EC-Council certification (such as the Certified Ethical Hacker CEH) you will have to send a written letter to the EC-Council with the following information: Certified member's Full name, email address, and a written verification from the certified member giving permission for the information to be released. For information regarding the postal address you will need to email EC-Council at certmanager@eccouncil.org from a corporate email account. 

ISACA

Any certification held by a member of ISACA can be verified thought the widget that exists on their website. The process is straight forward. 

(ISC)2

Any certification held by a member of (ISC)2 can be verified by providing the member's first and last name, and their (ISC)2 membership ID number which can be found on the certificate or the membership card. Enter the information at the (ISC)2 Certification Verification page. 

Juniper

The certification holder need to request of Juniper Networks to send their certification information to the requesting third-party on their behalf. Use the Cert Manager page to login to your account, enter the email address of the third party requesting the verifications, include a personal message and tick the box to allow Juniper to release the information. 

Microsoft 

Certifications can be validated through the MCP Transcript Validation page. You will need the ID of the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and the Access Code. The information is obtained by the MCP using the Microsoft Certification member site. If you are unable to access the member site you should contact Microsoft Regional Service Center for assistance. 

Oracle

All Oracle certification holders need to create a free Oracle Web account at Oracle University CerView and associate their Pearson Vue Oracle account with their CertView account using Oracle Testing ID and the email address as it appears in the Pearson VUE Profile. 

PCI SSC

The process is straight forward. You can visit the verification page and use a company's name, a consultant's name or the actual certification number. 

RedHat

All you need in this case is the certification number of certified member which you can enter at the verification page. Once you enter a certification number you can see all active certs listed with all the relevant details. 

Tiger Scheme

All accredited Tiger certified members are issued with a unique identity card which has their registration number. The certifications can be verified through the Verify Skills page. Members details should be entered as follows; abc1234567 where abc is the first 3 letters of the members surname and 1234567 are the member's numbers on their cards. 

VMware

Every VMware certificate is printed with a code. This code can be entered at the VMware Certification Authentication page and you will be presented with the name and number of the certification, the name of the certified individual, the date certified and the current certification status. 

If you do know of any other certifications, please let me know and I will update the list. If you spot any mistakes, do let me know as well and I will correct them. Contact me on Twitter: @drgfragkos