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Jumping the Pond: Making the sideways move into CyberSec pt. 2


Following on from my last article, here’s some more information on changing industries for managers. Hopefully I didn’t put too many of you off switching careers in my previous article, where I explored what managerial life would look like in the InfoSec world. As a continuation, this post looks at which certifications are best to get you the necessary managerial competence in the field to start your new career.

Some of these do include a certain amount of technical training in the course material, others just look at concepts instead. Should you choose one of those, I would recommend at least doing some research into the technical side of things. While exploring free, online learning resources might not cut it completely, they are better then nothing and will help give you a grounding for when you choose to complete a recognised technical qualification.

Certifications


This will be by no means a comprehensive list of certs, but it will be enough to get you started and pointed in the right direction. As you haven’t spent your working years within IT or Cyber Security, getting yourself certified is a good, and quick, way of getting up-to-speed with the industry, its standards, and where it sits in terms of organisations and the wider world.

ISO27001 Foundation is a highly recommended place to start. Its purpose is to provide a managerial overview of Information Security, how to provide and document an Information Security Management System. This is but the first of several certifications available relating to the ISO27001 Standard, which lays out best practice for InfoSec.

ISACA’s CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) is one of the most prized certifications in the industry today, and almost certainly a requirement for senior management and for IT-related C-suite posts. Working your way through this certification will help you gain technical competence, and how to bridge the gap between Cyber Security practices and the rest of the business.

CISMP is a foundational certification from the BCS, The Charted Institute for IT. It is purpose-designed for anyone looking to get into the management structure through InfoSec, covering a range of topics including CyberSec, legislation, security standards and business continuity. Given its broad subject area, and the fact that it is run by the BCS, the Certificate in Information Security Management Principles would be a personal recommendation to breaking into CyberSec management.

CISSP from ISC2 is also a highly recommended certification to hold and course to take, but is a little more geared towards industry-experience management. To see more, I have written about this cert in an earlier blog, but thought it worth mentioning here as an idea of where you might want to start looking for future development.

These certifications, and their associated courses, are a small, but recommended selection for getting started on the transition into CyberSec management, and not the be all and end all. While certain types of threats, concerns and vulnerabilities will stay similar over time, the landscape is ever shifting, and will require constant training to ensure you and your teams are prepared and armed to combat the latest disaster-in-waiting.



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