PSAC study guide
PSAC · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Physical Security Assessment Certificate (PSAC) is a professional credential for practitioners who plan, implement, and evaluate physical protection systems. It suits security managers, consultants, facility and risk officers, and law enforcement or military personnel transitioning to private-sector security. The PSAC study guide has 6 sections and about 1,919 words.
01Physical Security Assessment and Planning
Domain 1 - Physical Security Assessment and Planning. This domain tests whether you can turn business risk into a defensible physical protection plan: scoping the assessment, collecting site data, defining the design-basis threat, and selecting layered countermeasures with measurable performance criteria.
336 words, about 2 min02Access Control and Intrusion Detection
Domain 2 - Access Control and Intrusion Detection. This domain tests the credential-to-egress chain: how a person is identified, authenticated, authorized, and audited at a door, and how intrusion sensors detect and report unauthorized entry without blocking lawful escape.
339 words, about 2 min03Surveillance and Monitoring Systems
Domain 3 - Surveillance and Monitoring Systems. This domain tests whether you can specify cameras and monitoring procedures by purpose rather than by megapixel count: detection, recognition, identification, or general situational awareness, each with its own pixel density, lighting, retention, and response requirements.
328 words, about 2 min04Security Risk Management and Threat Analysis
Domain 4 - Security Risk Management and Threat Analysis. This domain tests how you convert asset, threat, and vulnerability information into prioritized decisions: what risk exists, who owns it, which treatment is justified, and what residual risk remains.
313 words, about 2 min05Emergency Response and Incident Management
Domain 5 - Emergency Response and Incident Management. This domain tests how security operations transition from routine monitoring to coordinated response: command roles, evacuation versus shelter-in-place versus lockdown, accountability, communications, drills, and after-action improvement.
303 words, about 2 min06Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards
Domain 6 - Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards. This domain tests how written requirements govern behavior: the hierarchy from policy to standard to procedure to guideline, post orders, exception handling, training, audit, and alignment with life-safety and privacy obligations.
300 words, about 2 min