The 2021 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study suggested that the global cybersecurity workforce needs to grow 65% to effectively defend organizations’ critical assets. To protect their systems, employees and data organizations need creative solutions for recruitment, training and retention to maintain safe operations. “Many organizations continue to repeat the mistakes of focusing their time and energy on hunting down and competing for a select few cybersecurity “All Stars” instead of strategically developing their teams at all skill levels to create a sustainable, long-term investment in their security personnel.” (2021 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Pursuers Study) The 2021 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Pursuers Study found that many organizations have unrealistic role expectations seen in overloading job descriptions with too many responsibilities or with improbable experience requirements

Cybersecurity has come to the forefront of state and federal policy over the past few years. In 2021, there were over 285 pieces of legislation related to cybersecurity introduced in state legislative sessions. In 2022, there were over 300 pieces of legislation introduced at the state level. The White House has made it clear that increasing funding and adding additional cybersecurity initiatives is a priority of the administration. The $1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed by President Biden in November 2021 and included $1 billion for grants to improve state, local, tribal and territorial government cybersecurity. That landmark bill was the largest federal investment in cybersecurity to date. Allocation of the $1 billion in funds to

Recognizing that potential barriers to certification globally are the time and resources some candidates must invest to travel to a test center, as well as ongoing health and safety concerns from the pandemic, (ISC)² began exploring online proctoring in 2021 for its cybersecurity certifications, including the renowned (ISC)² CISSP.  After two extensive pilot programs using the most stringent security protocols available, (ISC)² has concluded that online proctored exams do not satisfy its standards for security and integrity for exam administration.     During both pilot tests, (ISC)² and its leading exam delivery and security partners, documented widespread irregular exam results, clear violations of exam administration rules and agreements, and verified exam cheating attempts. At the same time the pilots were being administered, (ISC)²

Ready. Set. Vegas and Beyond! We are looking forward to our first-ever hybrid (ISC)² Security Congress on October 10-12. This year’s event will have something for everyone, whether you decide to attend in person at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas or virtually. More than 100 breakout sessions will cover all of the hot and trending topics in today’s cybersecurity climate including, but not limited to, incident response, Zero Trust, AI, IoT, cloud security, building and maintaining resilient cybersecurity teams and much more. View the Security Congress agenda now, including some of our most anticipated sessions:   Are Deepfakes Really a Security Threat? - Thomas P. Scanlon  So You Want to be an Expert Witness - Hoyt L. Kesterson, II  Mentalism, Magic

More than 1,400 individuals have taken the new (ISC)² entry-level cybersecurity certification exam during the pilot phase which began in January 2022. Scheduling for the pilot is currently available through August 26 and anyone interested in sitting for the “no experience required” exam may do so through an authorized Pearson VUE test center. Before a certification exam becomes fully operational, the pilot tests undergo a rigorous process of exploration, research, and validation necessary to ensure the qualification meets its intended purpose. All exams administered during the pilot phase thus far are currently undergoing this review and analysis. When the pilot phase ends, all test-takers will receive their individual results via email. Those who passed will earn the opportunity to seek