Cybersecurity Certifications

More than 70 percent of American cybersecurity professionals were required to have a certification to verify their skills to their employer. With each certification earned, there is a salary boost of on average $10,000. Choose a certification that matches your level of experience to open up improved job prospects. Some employers will invest in your education by paying for your certification.

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

You don’t have to look far for the most coveted credentials in the industry. ISC is a cybersecurity professional organization that provides the CISSP certification.

Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in designing, implementing and monitoring to upgrade to the following positions:

• Chief information security officer
• Security administrator
• IT security engineer
• Senior security consultant
• Information assurance analyst

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

ISACA is a professional IT association specifically for mid-level IT professionals. This cybersecurity auditing credential creates experts in:

• assessing security vulnerabilities
• designing and implementing controls
• reporting on compliance

Cyber professionals can also pivot toward:

• IT audit manager
• Cybersecurity auditor
• Information security analyst
• IT security engineer
• IT project manager
• Compliance program manager

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

Pivot to the managerial side of cybersecurity with the CISM certification also from ISACA, which demonstrates skills in management of information security, including governance, program development as well as program, incident, and risk management.

Upgrade to:

• IT manager
• Information systems security officer
• Information risk consultant
• Director of information security
• Data governance manager

Security+

Gain an entry-level certification to validate core skills needed to excel in a cybersecurity role. Tech professionals will be able to demonstrate expertise in:

• the security of an organization
• monitoring and securing cloud, mobile, and internet of things (IoT) environments
• understanding laws and regulations related to risk and compliance
• identifying and responding to security incidents

Apply to become a:

• Systems administrator
• Help desk manager
• Security engineer
• Cloud engineer
• Security administrator
• IT auditor
• Software developer

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Call it white hat hacking, penetration testing, or red team, ethical hacking allows candidates to learn how to uncover vulnerabilities. Offered by the EC-Council, the CEH Certified Ethical Hacker certification verifies that candidates have skills in penetration testing, attack detection, vectors and prevention.

Create a new future as a:

• Penetration tester
• Cyber incident analyst
• Threat intelligence analyst
• Cloud security architect
• Cybersecurity engineer

GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC)

If you have a background in information systems and networking, this entry-level credential from Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) is for you.

Validate skills in:

• Active defense
• Network security
• Cryptography
• Incident response
• Cloud security

Use your GSEC skills to move into position as a:

• IT security manager
• Computer forensic analyst
• Penetration tester
• Security administrator
• IT auditor
• Software development engineer

Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)

With this intermediate security credential from (ISC)², you can show employers that you have the skills to design, implement, and monitor a secure IT infrastructure. The exam tests your expertise in access controls, risk identification and analysis, security administration, incident response, cryptography, and network, communications, systems, and application security.

Hands-on IT professionals (like the ones listed below) focused on an organization’s security systems or assets will greatly benefit from this certification.

• Network security engineer
• System administrator
• Systems engineer
• Security analyst
• Database administrator
• Security consultant

CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+)

Advanced cybersecurity professionals who want to continue working in tech rather than management can demonstrate their expertise with the CASP+. Topics include:

• Enterprise security domain
• Risk analysis
• Software vulnerability securing cloud and virtualization technologies
• Cryptographic techniques

Give yourself more opportunities in advanced roles in architecture, risk management, and enterprise security integration by transitioning into roles like:

• Security architect
• Security engineer
• Application security engineer
• Technical lead analyst
• Vulnerability analyst

GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)

Hacking is on the rise globally. A GCIH certification affirms understanding of offensive operations, most likely attack techniques and vectors. Obtaining this will demonstrate your ability to detect, respond and defend.

The certification delves into incident handling, computer crime investigation, hacker exploits and hacker tools. This certification is meant for anyone working in incident response. Job titles might include a security incident handler, security architect or systems administrator.

Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)

Penetration testers rave about the OSCP from Offensive Security. Learn how to compromise a series of target machines using multiple exploitation steps and produce detailed penetration test reports for each attack.

Harness the power of this certification to become a penetration tester, ethical hacker, threat researcher or even an application security analyst.