PALM HARBOR, Fla., USA, July 11, 2006 - The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc. [(ISC)2 ®], the non-profit international leader in educating and certifying information security professionals worldwide throughout their careers, today announced the latest edition of its career guide, "Decoding the Information Security Profession," the only guide of its kind and a valuable tool for school counselors, students and hiring managers.
Sponsored again this year by Microsoft Corp., the 40-page guide provides background on the profession, a catalogue of colleges and universities that offer degree programs in information security, job descriptions and salary information, advice from profession pioneers, as well as a listing of professional certifications and organizations.
"Increasing threats and regulatory requirements are accelerating the demand for well- educated information security professionals," said Pat Myers, CISSP-ISSMP, chairperson, board of directors, (ISC) ". "Our production of the guide demonstrates (ISC)2´s commitment to supporting the profession by promoting the importance of education and certification for those wishing to enter the field."
The guide is made available to more than 20,000 school counselors, administrators and educators through the National Career Development Association and the American School Counselor Association and was distributed at the two associations´ conferences in June. In addition, the guide was distributed at the National Educational Computing Conference earlier this month.
Free printed copies of the guide are available to the public from careers[at]isc2.org. In addition, the guide is also available for download through the (ISC) " Website at www.isc2.org/careerguide and various online career and resource centers.
According to the 2005 (ISC) " Global Information Security Workforce Study, conducted by global analyst firm IDC and sponsored by (ISC) ", the number of information security professionals worldwide in 2005 was 1.4 million, a nine percent increase over 2004, and nearly twice the expected growth in the number of IT employees globally. This figure is expected to increase to more than 1.9 million by 2009, a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 percent from 2004.
"(ISC) " has a great understanding of the importance of well-balanced knowledge, skills and experience required to secure information assets that are essential to the success of both an organizations´ daily operations and its strategic objectives," said Steven B. Lipner, senior director of security engineering strategy at Microsoft Corp. and a certified information systems security professional. "This career guide is a very useful tool for counselors, students and hiring managers who are involved in helping to fill the rapidly growing need for qualified information security professionals across the country."
"Decoding the Information Security Profession" covers the following areas:
- Description of information security
- Typical jobs, titles, industries and organizations
- Professional requirements
- Certification options
- Typical salaries
- Career outlook
- A listing of schools, education facilities, certification companies and other resources and associations
In addition, quotes are dispersed throughout the guide from men and women information security professionals from major organizations nationwide such as Microsoft, American Express and the U.S. Postal Service, offering insight about how they got started in the field, their professional responsibilities, educational recommendations, future opportunities, words of wisdom and more.
In addition to its career guide, (ISC) " has launched an online career center at careers[at]isc2.org, that matches qualified information security professionals with companies and organizations free of charge. Only certified (ISC) " credential holders may post resumes on the (ISC) " Career Center, but anyone may send an information security career-related question to the (ISC) " Newsletter Career Corner at newsletter[at]isc2.org. Chosen questions and a response to them by an industry expert will be printed in the (ISC) " bi-monthly Newsletter, which (ISC) "´s 41,000 members and other information security professionals can view on (ISC) "´s Website.
For more information on the "Decoding the Information Security Profession" career guide, please contact Sarah Bohne, (ISC)2 director of communications and member services, at sbohne[at]isc2.org