(ISC)² Blog

What Were the Best Cybersecurity Webinars of 2021?

As cybersecurity professionals, you work in an industry that is always evolving. It is imperative to... Read more →

Looking Back at 2021 and Forward to 2022

As 2021 draws to a close, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the past year, and the success and growth we have achieved together. Under the backdrop of escalating cyber threats and a continuing global pandemic, (ISC)² members have demonstrated to the world that remote work can be effective and drive enhanced collaboration and innovation. Together we stood up for diversity, equity and inclusion as a critical way to close the workforce gap and continued our commitment to refining and growing our skills through education. Our members are more vital than ever to securing their organizations against a growing... Read more →

2021 (ISC)² Leadership Webinars On-Demand

(ISC)² leadership is dedicated to keeping you informed and responding to your inquiries throughout the year. In 2021, we launched quarterly board updates and department-specific deep dives where (ISC)² CEO Clar Rosso speaks with a different member of the executive team to provide you with an update on functional areas of the association. Our (ISC)² leadership team believes that transparency is critical and are committed to continuing to provide regular updates and responding to your questions live in 2022. 2021 (ISC)² Leadership Webinars (ISC)² Town Hall 2021 Hear directly from members of the Board of Directors on what’s next for... Read more →

What do cybersecurity experts predict in 2022?

2022 Predictions for the Cybersecurity Industry and Advice for Newcomers or Those Working for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses By Diana-Lynn Contesti, CISSP-ISSAP, ISSMP, CSSLP, SSCP, John Martin, CISSP-ISSAP, CISM, BCS CITP, and Richard Nealon, CISSP-ISSMP, SSCP, SCF, CISM, CISA As long-time information security professionals and (ISC)² Community Champions, we have experienced the way cybersecurity employees engage and work with one another continue to adapt in response to changes in the workplace and world at large. In 2021, we experienced a rapid evolution to these interactions. Like us, you may be wondering, what will 2022 look like for information security professionals?... Read more →

Decisions, Decisions and the Role of Authorization

Technology and cybersecurity cannot be thought of as the responsibility of a siloed IT department – it is the lifeblood of the organization. In day-to-day operations, as well as during moments of crisis, a company’s different functional areas must be able to collaborate and must know who to turn to for leadership. System authorization has been employed in government for over 20 years, and it is becoming recognized outside government for the promise it holds as a practical approach for identifying and documenting business requirements for security, for ensuring that cost-effective controls are functioning appropriately, and for ensuring that weaknesses... Read more →

Find A New Cybersecurity Job in 2022

The 2021 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study revealed that the global cybersecurity workforce gap is 2.72 million. This is the number of jobs within the industry that are necessary to fill to defend critical assets. With so many cybersecurity organizations looking to fill positions, you may think to yourself, “Is cybersecurity a good industry to enter?” or “What are the pathways to cybersecurity?” and “Where would I find a cybersecurity job?” Cybersecurity Workers are Satisfied and Well-Compensated This year’s Cybersecurity Workforce Study showed that 77% of cybersecurity professionals are satisfied or extremely satisfied in their current role compared to only 49%... Read more →

The Other Type of Shadow IT

Virtual Shadowing Not Only Works – It’s the Way of the Future When cloud security specialists are onboarded, a period of adjustment and learning is required, regardless of their level of education and certification. No one knows the intricacies of their new employer until they’ve been there a while. But what happens when their new workplace has adopted a virtual or hybrid model, where shadowing entirely in person is impossible? The (ISC)² white paper, Cloud Adoption and the Skills Shortage, looks specifically at why a shortage of qualified specialists is proving to be one of the largest impediments to cloud... Read more →

The Cybersecurity Role as a Business Partner

If you were called into one of your executive’s offices and asked to explain the difference between Diffie-Hellman key exchange and RSA in non-technical terms, could you do it? As a security professional, that is probably not a problem. Even without too much effort, or math, you could easily help a non-technical person so that they would have a reasonable understanding of why these mathematical functions create the ability to securely conduct business on the internet. Now, if that same executive asked you to describe which one is recommended in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or the California Consumer... Read more →

Cloud Security Complements Data Privacy

The data protection and privacy landscape is evolving and almost every country has now a privacy law or regulation that dictates how businesses should safeguard sensitive, personal data. Although these laws share many similarities with the EU GDPR, businesses migrating their employee or customers data to the cloud should consider the specific requirements of these laws before collecting, storing, and processing electronic data in the cloud. In addition to the privacy and security requirements, businesses should understand that although cloud security and privacy are distinct concepts, data privacy complements and strengthens existing data security in the cloud. With data locality... Read more →

Top Books to Prepare You for CISSP Exam

With an exam as prestigious at the CISSP, it is important to be well prepared. To ensure your path is on track CISSP books are your best assets to gain exam item knowledge and a complete understanding of the CBK and the eight domains covered in the CISSP exam. To help you select the best texts, we asked CISSPs what books helped them prepare for the exam. Top CISSP Books to Prepare for Exam Day The Official (ISC)² CISSP CBK Reference, 6th Edition by Arthur Deane and Aaron Kraus This is the authoritative common body of knowledge (CBK) from (ISC)2for... Read more →

CCSP vs. Microsoft Azure Certified Security Engineer Associate — How Does Vendor Focus Factor In?

Adoption and usage of the cloud is evolving to combine with technologies like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 5G and more, according to Sid Nag, Research Vice President at Gartner. “In other words,” he says, “cloud will serve as the glue between many other technologies that CIOs want to use more of, allowing them to leapfrog into the next century as they address more complex and emerging use cases.” With cloud roles expanding and so many certifications out there, which option offers cybersecurity experts the flexibility to grow with the coming waves of opportunity? Let’s compare two popular options,... Read more →

What is Relevant Work Experience for CISSP?

In order to become fully certified as a CISSP, you must not only pass a rigorous experiential exam, but meet the CISSP work experience requirements. CISSP candidates are required to have a minimum of five years of cumulative work experience in two or more of the eight domains of the CISSP CBK. There are a few paths to accumulate this time: Education You can satisfy one year of work experience with either a college degree or an approved certification. You can apply either of the below to meet one year of the requirement: A four-year college degree or regional equivalent... Read more →

(ISC)² Ransomware Study: Collaboration and Communication are Essential for Ransomware Readiness

Global C-suite executives are confident in their organizations’ preparedness to handle a ransomware attack, according to a newly published (ISC)² ransomware study titled, “Ransomware in the C-Suite: What Cybersecurity Leaders Need to Know About What Executives Need to Hear.” Although confident, C-suite executives express a strong willingness to invest in technology and staff to improve defenses—signaling that now is an opportune time for cybersecurity leaders to proactively address their organizational readiness with the executive team. In response to several high-profile cyberattacks this year, (ISC)2 commissioned a survey of 750 C-level executives across the United States and the United Kingdom to... Read more →

CCSP vs. Google Cloud Certified-Professional Cloud Security Engineer: Which Shows Broader Mastery in Cloud Security?

A surge of organizations are moving their operations to the cloud for the benefits of improved efficiency, better scalability and faster deployment. But with the wave of migration to the cloud come more threats than ever before. The cloud is giving bad actors a more expansive set of targets, as well as new tools to conduct attacks, says Or Azarzar, Co-founder and CTO of Lightspin, in an article in Dark Reading. With so many risks for cyberattacks targeting the cloud, which certification demonstrates a broader understanding and skillset to protect cloud security? Let’s compare two cloud certs, (ISC)² Certified Cloud... Read more →

(ISC)² Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities – Open Now!

(ISC)² is now accepting applications for its 2022 Women's Cybersecurity Scholarships, Undergraduate Cybersecurity Scholarships and Graduate Cybersecurity Scholarships. More than $100,000 in scholarships will be awarded in 2022. Applicants are evaluated based on academic excellence, passion for the industry and financial need. They are reviewed by volunteer (ISC)² members. If you are a member interested in participating and earning CPE credits, send an email to [email protected] These scholarships are part of an effort to bridge the cybersecurity workforce gap—which stands at 2.72 million needed professionals—by providing future cybersecurity professionals across the globe with scholarships to prepare them for a rewarding... Read more →

Bringing Cybersecurity to the Board (and Vice Versa)

The Role of the Board in Effective Risk Assessment The growing sophistication of cybercrime is making it a necessity for companies to discuss its challenges and defense methods regularly at the board level. The results of an attack may involve refusal of an insurance company to pay, the potential for class action lawsuits, infections that penetrate too deep into the IT system to be removed, and violation of data protection rules. Boards and directors must approach cybersecurity as an enterprise-wide risk management issue. They must embrace their organization’s cyber risk appetite and understand the types of internal and external threats... Read more →

Poll Data: What CEOs Need to Know About Cybersecurity Going into 2022

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the past 12 months and create a plan to improve in 2022. Like years past, 2021 revealed more of the same for the cybersecurity industry—more breaches, bigger ransomware attacks, higher stakes. Some of the most disruptive cyberattacks occurred this year, such as JBS Foods, Kaseya and Colonial Pipeline. These attacks received global attention and spotlighted the need for even more attention on cybersecurity best practices. To help CEOs around the globe better understand cyber risks and how to make their businesses more secure, (ISC)² conducted an online poll... Read more →

Data Consistency Storage in the Cloud

In cloud computing environments, files are not stored in a hierarchical way. Most cloud architectures use a combination of splitting data vertically, horizontally and replication to improve response times, scalability, availability and fault tolerance. This is called object storage. Objects are accessible through APIs or through a web interface. Object storage introduces new challenges related to data consistency, which are not present in relational databases. One of the more fundamental decisions cloud professionals need to make is whether they will choose eventual consistency for data in corporate systems or strong consistency. Selecting a data consistency model is a decision that... Read more →

CISSPs from Around the Globe: An Interview with Chinyelu Philomena Karibi-Whyte

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification is considered to be the gold standard in information security. This is so because of all the doors that certification opens to a CISSP professional. Those doors lead to many different types of positions and opportunities, thus making the information security community dynamic and multifaceted. In this installment, we talk Chinyelu Philomena Karibi-Whyte. Chinyelu shares with us why she pursued CISSP and how achieving it enabled her to develop her career and negotiate a better salary. What job do you do today? I am a Cyber Security Consultant within the Cloud Infrastructure... Read more →