AP Cybersecurity

This is a fully digital exam. Students complete multiple-choice and free-response questions in the Bluebook testing app, with all responses automatically submitted at the end of the exam. 

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP Cybersecurity Course and Exam Description (.pdf) (CED).

Encourage your students to visit the AP Cybersecurity student page for exam information.

The AP Cybersecurity Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day. 

Section I: Multiple Choice 

60 Questions | 80 Minutes | 70% of Exam Score 

The multiple-choice section includes individual questions as well as sets of 2, 3, or 4 questions.

• Students analyze scenarios and digital evidence to identify vulnerabilities, recommend mitigations, and detect potential threats.
• Students explain key concepts in cybersecurity. 

Section II: Free Response 

1 Question | 50 Minutes | 30% of Exam Score 

The free-response question gives students different sources of information from the same device, including:

• a set of firewall rules
• several system and application logs
• a list of files with their permissions
• a device policy

Students will use these sources to determine security issues, attacks, and how the system is configured.  

The questions ask students to:

• explain parts of the policy
• find signs of attacks in the logs
• configure file permissions and firewall rules

Using evidence from the sources, students will also suggest ways to make the device more secure and show how they could fix or harden the device.