(ISC)² Blog

(ISC)² Associate Program: The Entry Pathway to a Cybersecurity Career

As noted in our latest Global Information Security Workforce Study, the majority of security professionals (78 percent) anticipate the greatest need for new hires at the entry-level in their organizations. With a predicted shortage of 1.5 million global cybersecurity professionals by 2020, we must put efforts behind bringing more entrants into the industry. It’s one of my goals to bring more awareness to the Associate of (ISC)² program, which is ideal for students, recent graduates just beginning their career journey, or those new to cyber, information, software and infrastructure security. Many college graduates today have a difficult time finding employment... Read more →

(ISC)² GAP Instructor's Mantra: “Never Stop Learning”

Meet Donnie Grimes, (ISC)² Global Academic Program (GAP) instructor and vice president of information systems and creator of the master’s program in cybersecurity for the University of the Cumberlands. Oh, and budding sound man. When he’s not teaching, Donnie works on sound engineering and mixing at live events. He’s also starting to learn about staging and lighting. As a teacher, his favorite classroom moments are those times when he’s able to witness students’ reactions as they realize they start to grasp a difficult concept. He reflects, “Seeing their faces light up and being a small part of contributing to a... Read more →

Securing Tomorrow: Society Must Wake Up and Take Ownership of Identity

There are trends that have been on the industry’s radar for a while now; social, mobile, applications and cloud. However, within the next year, we’ll see more of an emphasis on one of the key underpinnings of these trends – identity. The issues with data management and security are often told and understood from an industry, business or sector perspective; but society as a whole is still arguably not at a point where it is fully awake to these issues and how they directly affect individuals. Next year, I believe we will begin to see people recognising the need to... Read more →

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month: YOU Have the Power to Change Cybersecurity

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October is the perfect time to reflect on what you’re doing to overcome the cybersecurity skills shortage. That’s right – you – personally. According to Dr. Jane LeClair, COO for the National Cybersecurity Institute at Excelsior College, the cybersecurity skills shortage is everyone’s problem, and we all have a responsibility to meet this need. Dr. LeClair believes that in order to shore up the workforce, it’s essential to broaden the pool of candidates beyond typical populations (such as the military and IT). Dr. LeClair sees cybersecurity awareness – both its impact on our daily lives... Read more →

(ISC)² Clarifies Board Petition Process

To (ISC)² Members: A few of you have contacted (ISC)² with questions pertaining to the (ISC)² board of directors’ election, specifically the petition process. In an effort to provide transparency, we feel it is important to review how the petition process works. Every member included on the slate goes through one of two processes. First, slate candidates may be selected by the board nominations committee. Second, the petition process whereby (ISC)² members can nominate themselves or others through petitioning and providing 500 signatures of members in good standing. When members submit a petition, (ISC)² performs a thorough, detailed analysis to... Read more →

Encryption is not solving all cybersecurity problems

Encryption is a measure to enhance security because it can protect files and data. It is important, but alone, it definitely doesn't make a system secure. A system is as secure as its weakest component. If the component resides behind the encryption layer (which usually is the one where the data leaves or enters the system), then the Integrity and possibly Availability of the data is compromised, despite the fact that it is transferred encrypted. And if this happens, the compromised data is going to be transmitted encrypted, so very secure, but nevertheless compromised. Read more →