Overview of cyber security certifications

In this article, we are going to see an overview of some of the most sought-after and reputable cyber security certifications in the industry. Security professionals and candidates nowadays are provided with plenty of certification and training programs to choose from.  Cyber security certificates can be vendor-specific or vendor-neutral non-profitable organizations.

It is wise decision to firstly look for vendor-agnostic certifications to have deep and unbiased understanding of information security. However, it may be a requirement by employers to have detailed technical skillsets and knowledge on specific cyber security products and services to assume some positions.

In this section, let’s briefly discuss some of the most common and foundational vendor-neutral certifications in the industry. Government and private sector employers may require you to have one or more of the following certificates.

• Needless to say CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) by (ISC) ² is by far the most reputable and prestigious certificate in the industry. CISSP is for individuals working in the leadership and operation functions. These people are mostly responsible to design, engineer, and manage the overall security posture of an organization. It covers almost every concept, framework and architectures of information security. Professionals who grasp and digest the contents in CISSP exam will be in a rock-solid position to manage other certifications.
• CCSP collaboratively maintained by both (ISC) ² and CSA is one of the best and emerging certification for personnel working to secure the clouds and related fields. This certification program is the de-facto standard of cloud security. And it mainly addresses almost all aspects of cloud computing and security concerns. This certification is for experienced professionals and candidates. And  they should have five years of experience to earn this credential.
• SSCP offered by (ISC) ² and it is the mini-CISSP certification content-wise. But it is more hands-on and technical than CISSP certificate. SSCP is ideal for professionals and aspirants who want to comprehensively understand information security and its technical hands-on perspectives. The content of this certificate is detail, technical and comprehensive. And it is for less experienced professionals who want to have solid foundation in information systems security.
• CISM certification by ISACA is the most sight-after and credible certification for information security managers. As the name implies, this certificate is ideal for individuals who are bestowed to develop and manage information security strategies and programs of enterprises. It is mainly for people who manage, design, oversee, and assess an enterprise’s information security functions. The certificate empowers and emboldens information security managers to portray security as strategic and business issue rather than operational and tactical activity.  It emphasizes the importance and commitment of board of directors and senior management to the successful implementation of information security programs. Most embarrassing and humiliating security incidents happen due to lack of governance at the top. CISM certificate enables information security managers to develop persuasive business cases and educate people at the top about the importance of alignment of information security programs to business strategies.
• CISA  by ISACA is the de-facto standard for information systems auditors. This certification is for highly experienced professionals who have direct work experience in information systems auditing, cyber security and related domains.  And it is for IT or information systems auditors, security control and assurance people, and information security professionals. This is one of the most reputable and sought-after certificate in the industry. CISA is therefore a must have certificate for information security professionals and aspirants who want to specialize in auditing enterprise information systems and IT.
• CRISC is another fascinating certificate by ISACA for professionals experienced in the management of information technology risk and the design, implementation, monitoring and maintenance of information systems. Professionals who aspire to be certified in CRISC should have minimum of three years of direct work experience in information technology risk management and information systems controls. This is ideal certificate for individuals who work in risk management and governance positions.
• GCFA by GIAC is one of the best certificates for security professionals who are interested to advance their career on digital forensics investigation and incident management. Maintaining chain of custody and preserving integrity of evidence are cornerstones for evidence to be admissible in cart-of-law. As result, highly skilled forensics professionals are in critical demand to bridge the gap between cyber security and law enforcement endeavors. Forensic analysts should cooperate with system administrators and law enforcement authorities to deliver better result. GCFA certifies candidates’ knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct incident handling and investigation tasks. The certificate focuses on skills necessary to collect and analyze computer data.
• GCIH maintained by GIAC is another reputable certificate for incident handlers in organizations. It validates security practitioner’s ability to detect, respond and resolve computer security incidents. Moreover, GCIH certified professionals will work on incident handling procedures and computer crime investigations.  And advanced knowledge and practical hands-on skills on hacking tools are crucial to exploit attacks and resolve incidents.
• GNFA is also maintained by GIAC and is one of the sought-after certificates for professionals who wants to specialize in investigation of network systems forensics. These candidates are required to have solid understanding of network architectures and protocols. Knowledge and skills on incident log management, protocol reverse engineering, and attack visualization and analysis tools for wired and wireless networks is required to earn this certificate.
• CEH offered by EC-Council is one of the most sought-after certificate to work on penetration testing and related areas. This certificate is provided in two flavors. One is more conceptual multiple choice questions and the other version is hands-on practical exam. It covers ethically hacking into systems, web applications, mobile platforms, cloud computing, cryptography, wireless and wired networks and so forth domains.
• ECIH by EC-Council is for professionals who are interested in pursuing incident handling and response as their career path. It is a program that employs holistic approach to cover aspects concerning organizational incident handling starting from preparation of incident handling procedures up until recovering organization assets.
• Security+ Offered by CompTIA. This is considered a popular entry-level security certification. Candidates will have a glimpse of cyber security in this basic certification. It is highly recommended to start earning this certificate before advancing to other certification options.
• CySA+ by CompTIA verifies candidates’ knowledge and skillset required to leverage threat intelligence and detection techniques. It further verifies candidates’ ability to analyze and interpret data, identify and address organizational vulnerabilities. Candidates are required to recommend preventative measures and at times effectively respond to and recover from incidents in an organization. It is one of the best certifications for intermediate cyber security analysts.
• PMP by PMI is one of the best and must have certificates by cybersecurity professionals and information security mangers. Even though this certification is not in cybersecurity category, it is highly recommended to have it for better management of security projects and programs. Understanding project management methodologies and standards will serves as a bridging platform between security professionals and business owners.