Today is an exciting day for (ISC)² members as your membership just got a whole lot more powerful. We are happy to announce the launch of the (ISC)² Professional Development Institute, known simply as PDI. PDI will be your go-to resource for timely and relevant continuing educational opportunities to keep your skills sharp and curiosity piqued. Best of all, these courses will all be available to members at no cost. With three courses already available — Building a Strong Culture of Security, DevSecOps: Integrating Security into DevOps, and GDPR for Security Professionals: A Framework for Success — we are thrilled to share that there are plans for as many as 30 new courses in 2019 alone. We understand that cybersecurity

Stop us if you heard this one before: Cybersecurity professionals are responsible for protecting their organization’s users and data from the dangers of cyber threats, but they feel underappreciated. Two-thirds (67%) believe “IT security is viewed either as merely reactive to business needs or a cost rather than an asset to the organization,” says a survey of cybersecurity professionals and CISOs by Thycotic, a privileged access management (PAM) vendor. The survey found that a majority of cybersecurity professionals in the United Kingdom and Germany say executives and co-workers see them as more of a burden than a business benefit – a notion that restricts them in their work. “Traditional attitudes about cybersecurity appear to remain entrenched, with boards seeing IT

By John McCumber, Director of Cybersecurity Advocacy, (ISC)² After a lot of planning and coordination, we were excited to announce our new partnership with CyberUSA earlier this week. What is CyberUSA, you may ask? Governed by its members, the nonprofit was established to enhance information sharing between states and improve cyber resilience at all levels of participation: local, regional, and national. It is focused on the common mission of enabling innovation, education, workforce development, enhanced cyber readiness and resilience within our state and local communities, and connects them at the national level. What does all that mean? The key takeaway is that – against the backdrop of a shortage of half a million skilled cybersecurity professionals in North America –

Name: Renju Damodaran Title: Senior Manager, Cyber Risk ServicesEmployer: Wipro LimitedLocation: Boston, MAEducation: BS, Information Systems from BITS, Pilani.Years in IT: 20Years in cybersecurity: 16Cybersecurity certifications: CISSP, CISA, SABSA SCF   How did you decide upon a career in cybersecurity? Back in the day (early 2000s), I was involved in setting up IT infrastructure for a startup company. I started interacting with information security professionals from external consulting firms and developed an interest in security as a profession. I learned BS7799 framework and landed an information security officer role in ING Vysya Bank (now known as Kotak) at India in November 2003.   Why did you decide to pursue your CISSP? I was initially influenced to pursue the CISSP by