(ISC)² Blog

Are Women the Answer to the Cybersecurity Skills Gap?

Information security is one of the most important and fastest growing professions in the world, possessing a near-zero unemployment rate, but also a worker shortfall that grows larger every year. Most organisations admit that bridging the industry’s skills gap, while attracting women into cybersecurity is crucial; yet female participation has remained static since I began working with our Global Information Security Workforce Study programme in 2004. When we first began benchmarking the development of the cybersecurity workforce, analysts projected a double-digit growth that has since been realised. Today we forecast a skills gap projected to reach a shortage of 1.8... Read more →

H1-B Visas Critical to Address Cybersecurity Professional Shortfall

Based on the findings of the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, the world will face a deficit of 1.8 million information security professionals by 2022. With headlines dominated by breaches and cyber threats, we at (ISC)² need to be a strong voice and advocate for the global cybersecurity workforce. It is for this reason that I sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, on behalf of the (ISC)² organization and our members across the globe, to provide feedback on President Trump’s Executive Order, which directed the Department of Homeland Security to review how it issues... Read more →

Tracking Members’ Progress with GDPR: Europe’s New Data Protection Regulation

By Yves Le Roux, Co-Chair (ISC)² EMEA Advisory Council (EAC) and Chair of its GDPR Task Force. Download the 12 Areas of Activity and their key supporting tasks The (ISC)² EMEA Advisory Council is turning to its professional membership to measure the readiness of organizations and security departments for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and highlight the challenges they are facing in the effort to become compliant by May 2018. We are doing this by bringing people who are actively working on implementation projects together either on monthly international calls and, as of this month, in face-to-face workshops hosted... Read more →

CCSP Spotlight: Guy Bertrand Kamga

Name: Guy Bertrand Kamga Title: Senior Security Analyst Employer: Nokia Location: Paris, France Degree: Master in Computer Science Engineering Years in IT: 14 Years in cybersecurity: 7 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CCSK, CCSP How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I decided to focus in cybersecurity when I realized that due to the rapid development of new technologies (e.g. social networks, cloud) and the proliferation of mobile devices, it will be more and more challenging to efficiently protect personal data and other sensitive information. Why did you get your CCSP®? I decided to take the CCSP exam to challenge... Read more →

(ISC)² Delivers Recommendations to White House Chief of Staff, Urging Prioritization of Workforce Development in Final Cybersecurity EO and Beyond

In a recent blog post, I encouraged our U.S. government members to think short-term and be cautious to draw conclusions within the first 90 days of the Trump Administration. I also mentioned that one of (ISC)²’s immediate goals was to deliver a set of recommendations to the presidential team. In advance of the new administration’s 100th day in office next week, the following list of recommendations was delivered to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and others on the Trump team as well as to the Subcommittee on Information Technology during a congressional hearing on April 4. With this... Read more →

CISSP Spotlight: Yong Shi

Name: Yong Shi Title: Lecturer Employer: Shanghai JiaoTong University Location: Shanghai, China Education: Master Years in IT: 13 years Years in cybersecurity: 13 years Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CISA, ISO27001LA, Cobit Foundation, ITIL V3 Foundation How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I studied information security during my undergraduate degree at Shanghai JiaoTong University. After graduating, I stayed to teach cybersecurity. The field of cybersecurity is enigmatic and it is a knowledge difficult to be fathomed, so I believe that is why some young people are interested in it. When I was still pursuing my studies, I volunteered as... Read more →

SSCP Spotlight: Adam Gorecki

Name: Adam Gorecki Title: System Administrator/Information Security Analyst Employer: Mountain View County Location: Didsbury, Alberta, Canada Years in IT: Over 10 years Years in information security: 1 Cybersecurity certifications: SSCP How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? Information security has been something that has always interested me. It has been at the forefront of my mind during my career as a network analyst and a system administrator. When the opportunity arose for me to take on an information security analyst role, I jumped at it. Why did you get your SSCP®? I wanted to get a designation that... Read more →

This Week on the Hill: (ISC)² Advocates for the Federal Workforce

Earlier this week, (ISC)² Managing Director for North America, Dan Waddell provided expert testimony to the Subcommittee on Information Technology during a hearing Reviewing Federal IT Workforce Challenges and Possible Solutions. The hearing aimed to examine the development, recruitment, and retention of the United States federal government’s IT and cybersecurity workforce and to discuss the potential for forming an industry-government rotational workforce. During his testimony, Mr. Waddell provided the Subcommittee members and others in attendance a short list of recommendations that the (ISC)² executive management team has gathered since the election. A complete list of recommendations will be released via... Read more →

Viewing Cybersecurity as a Business Enabler Versus a Money Pit

A data breach can cause a loss of revenue, destroy shareholder value, erode consumer trust and even open you up to legal consequences, whereas better security can add value to a company by preventing attacks, detecting breaches faster and mitigating the damage caused by cyber threats. The Ponemon Institute's 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study estimates that the average consolidated total cost of a data breach is $4 million; so why do we still view cybersecurity simply as an operating cost? Unfortunately, cybersecurity is often viewed as the organization that always says no versus the organization that makes the business... Read more →

CISSP Spotlight: Shashana Campbell

Name: Shashana Campbell Title: Manager, Cyber Risk Advisory Employer: Grant Thornton LLP Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Education: Master of Science in Information Systems from Drexel University and Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Pennsylvania State University Years in IT: 7 Years in information security: 7 Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CISA How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? I began my career in risk consulting, providing IT Auditing and Advisory service. I think once you build a foundation in understanding, assessing and implementing IT security controls, the next step is learning how to further strengthen those controls and... Read more →