Become a Cyber Associate
A cybersecurity education nonprofit is expanding a program designed to help aspiring professionals to prepare for careers in cybersecurity and obtain special cyber certifications.
(ISC)2 announced Thursday the expansion of its Associate of (ISC)2 program, which allows aspiring information security professionals to sit for a credential exam to assess their knowledge and build a professional network while they're gaining the work experience required to become certified. The hope is to use the program to beef up the pipeline of qualified cyber professionals.
As a result of the expansion, the program now includes the Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) and Certified Authorization Professional (CAP) credentials. Already available under the program is the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and the Systems Security Certified Practitioner credentials, (ISC)2 said.
Professionals in cybersecurity must have a certain number of years of experience in order to qualify for certification. The CSSLP, for example, requires four years of professional experience in the software lifecycle, while the CAP -- designed for professionals responsible for formalizing processes used to assess risk and establishing security requirements and documentation -- requires two years of specialized work experience.
The Associate program is available to all interested candidates, but it is also being touted for use by universities looking to support graduates transitioning into professional life. The program also is mapped with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, or NICE, framework currently being established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other federal agencies.
"Our Cybersecurity Workforce Framework document lays a foundation for the various competences that comprise cybersecurity and provides certification companies and academic institutions a common starting point to map course work and certifications to a recognized set of cybersecurity skills," said NICE National Leader Dr. Ernest McDuffie.
"We appreciate the support that (ISC)2 and the certification community has demonstrated in terms of open dialog and several ongoing efforts where certifications and courses are being mapped to the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework."