7 Reasons Why You Should Pursue CISSP Certification

The CISSP is one of the world’s most valued information technology and information security certifications. With a proven track record over 25 years in the making, the CISSP truly demonstrates that you are at the top of your cybersecurity game in terms of both knowledge and experience.

The enduring appeal of the CISSP is evidenced in the numbers. Today, there are more than 131,000 CISSPs in more than 170 countries and regions around the world. And demand for CISSP-certified professionals is at a record high, with numerous workforce studies showing that the demand for CISSP-certified professionals far outstrips the number of CISSP credential holders.

Why would you consider becoming CISSP-certified? Here are seven fantastic reasons why the CISSP could be the right certification for you.

You will maximize your earning potential. The average CISSP earns US$131,030 a year. This reflects a number of aspects that are core to the CISSP, including extensive knowledge of cybersecurity, hands-on cybersecurity experience of at least four years’ paid employment in the industry and a commitment to a strong code of ethics. Employers value and respect the CISSP certification and, as a result, this commands a premium in terms of your salary.
You will maximize your career potential. The demand for CISSP-qualified personnel is significantly higher than the number of credential holders. And with the (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study indicating a global cyber workforce shortage of over 2.9 million men and women, there is no better time to accelerate your career development with a CISSP. In addition, the CISSP concentrations (CISSP-ISSMP for Management, CISSP-ISSEP for Engineers and CISSP-ISSAP for Architects) allow you to continue building on the CISSP, further boosting your career prospects.
You will stand tall among your peers. The CISSP is arduous and difficult to attain. Achieving the CISSP is a proud achievement and demonstrates to the industry and your peers that you are a consummate industry professional with depth of experience to provide effective cybersecurity leadership and direction for the organization you work for. In fact, the 2017 Cybersecurity Trends Spotlight Report illustrated that the CISSP is the Most Valued Credential Among Employers.
You will understand all aspects of the cybersecurity landscape. The CISSP is often described as “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Yet this enduring description is factually incorrect. The CISSP covers the fundamental elements of the entire cybersecurity field – from security and risk management to communication and network security to security testing and operations. It ensures that a certified professional understands all aspects of information security and, most critically, how the aspects of the information security environment they themselves work on will interact with the overall organizational ecosystem.
You will have demonstrated years of hands-on cybersecurity experience. As part of your CISSP assessment, you must have paid, hands-on experience in cybersecurity. In fact, you need to demonstrate the equivalent of four years’ full-time work. In addition, you require the endorsement of an existing (ISC)² credential holder who can attest to your experience and good character. Finally, CISSP credential holders must complete a continuing professional education program of 120 credits over a three-year period to maintain the certification.
You will stand out as the best of the best. Holding a CISSP is valuable because the certification itself is a product of years of development and research. The CISSP was the first information security credential to meet the strict conditions of the ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 standard. The CISSP also meets the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 8570 IAM Level II/III, IAT Level III and IASAE Level I/II. In addition, the CISSP serves as a prerequisite to the CISSP-ISSAP and CISSP-ISSEP concentrations, which are the only accredited DoD 8570 IASAE Level III certifications that exist. The CISSP is also a prerequisite of the Australian Government Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP).
You will become a member of the largest association of cybersecurity professionals in the world today. Achieving CISSP certification provides the added benefit of membership in (ISC)², the world’s largest nonprofit association of cybersecurity professionals. More than 140,000 members strong and growing, (ISC)² offers its members professional development courses through the Professional Development Institute (PDI), continuing professional education through industry events such as Secure Summits held around the world, technical webinars discussing areas of developing cybersecurity trends, and benefits such as Member Perks, the (ISC)² Community and the bimonthly InfoSecurity Professional magazine.

The CISSP wins industry accolades year after year. SC Magazine has named the CISSP as Best Professional Certification Program numerous times, and it consistently ranks in the Top 10 information technology certifications to achieve by publications including Certification Magazine, TechGig and PC Magazine.

To learn more, download your Ultimate Guide to the CISSP.

IT Security Professionals Need a CISSP Certification

Certifications provide employers with an objective way to measure a candidate’s knowledge of a particular topic or set of topics. That said, there are many valuable certifications that exist in the information security field, and selecting which one – or which group – to pursue can be a difficult choice for some people to make.

I have been a long-time fan of the CISSP certification (which I, myself, decided to pursue years ago because I considered it to be valuable, and which I have now held for quite some time). There are several reasons for my affinity of this particular certification:

1. It is vendor neutral – so a change in technology or methodology at a person’s employer will not diminish its value.

2. It is issued by (ISC)2 – a universally trusted party.

3. It is effectively evergreen – countermeasures come and go, and products change, but the concepts learned for the CISSP exam are about as timeless as information-security concepts can get – especially if one meets the continuing professional education requirements to maintain the certification over the long term.

4. It is broad – so even if a person works in one area of information security he or she will have some knowledge of other areas. This is important as components of information security are often interconnected.

5. It provides employers with the comfort that its holders understand important aspects of more than one area of information security at a high level. So, if you are working on one area and want to transfer to another, your employer knows that you will not be starting from level zero.

6. Training courses are readily available – so you are not on your own preparing for the exam.

7. In order to receive the actual certification, candidates must also have several years of professional information security experience, must commit to a code of ethics, and must be endorsed by someone else already holding the certification. The combination of these factors translate to a situation in which employers know that anyone holding a CISSP certification is more established in the field of information security than someone who only passed an exam.
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Top 5 IT Certifications For 2020

In this article, we will discuss the top IT certifications that you can add to your resume this year. The list goes from cloud computing, cybersecurity, and networking to project management. Cloud, Machine Learning, AI, and project management were among the top five most desired certifications last year. These certifications will continue to dominate in 2020 as well. Approximately 80% of IT professionals say that certifications are useful for their careers. The tricky part is deciding which area to focus on. This article will help you choose the right certification for you. Let’s have a look at the most demanded and highly paid IT certifications along with the average salary earned by these certs. We will discuss a few of them here.

Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCPA): USD 139,529
Project Management Professional (PMP): USD 135,798
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM): USD 135,441
AWS Certified Solutions Architect/Associate: USD 132,840
AWS Certified Developer/Associate: USD 130,369
Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Server Infrastructure: USD 121,288
ITIL® Foundation: USD 120,566
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM): USD 118,412
Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC): USD 117,395
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): USD 116,900

Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCPA)

This certification helps you gain an understanding of cloud architecture and Google Cloud Platform(GCP) so that you can design, develop, and manage robust, secure, scalable, highly available, and dynamic solutions to stimulate business applications. The certification assesses a candidate’s ability to analyzing and optimizing technology and business processes; managing and implementing cloud architecture and ensuring solution and operations reliability.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

This PMI PMP certification demonstrates that the certified professional possesses the project management knowledge, experience, and skills to bring projects to successful completion. As the demand for skilled project managers increases practitioners who hold the PMP certification are well-positioned to provide the professional skills necessary to lead project teams and achieve successful project results.

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

This certification will help you learn the Scrum framework and gain an understanding of team roles, events, and artifacts. The certification will help you:

Expand your career opportunities by adopting Agile practices
Demonstrate your attainment of core Scrum knowledge
Learn the foundation of Scrum and the scope of the role
Engage with Agile practitioners committed to continuous improvement

AWS Certified Solutions Architect/Associate

This certification is designed for individuals who perform a solutions architect role and have one or more years of hands-on experience in designing available, cost-efficient, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems on AWS.

AWS Certified Developer/Associate

This certification is for individuals who perform roles in development and have one or more years of hands-on experience developing and maintaining an AWS-based application. This also demonstrates an understanding of core AWS services, uses, and basic AWS architecture best practices.

So, are you excited about earning these IT certifications and adding value to your career? Start your prep today with uCertify – an award-winning, e-learning platform that offers comprehensive courses that will help you prepare for these cert exams with its learning resources.