(ISC)²’s Professional Development Institute (PDI) launched earlier this year and aims to provide valuable, accessible education and training to cybersecurity professionals. One of the PDI courses currently available is Building a Strong Culture of Security. Like all PDI courses, it is free for (ISC)² members and associates, and available for purchase at $400 for the general public. Technology alone cannot protect an organization. It takes knowledgeable and aware team members to each do their part in ensuring critical assets are protected, and that goes beyond the security team. This self-paced, interactive course is intended for use by security professionals as a guide to develop and implement their own Security Education, Awareness and Training (SETA) programs.  The course includes four modules: 

by Dr. Chris Veltsos, CISSP, member of (ISC)² Advisory Council of North America   It’s easy to feel stressed, or conversely feel stuck in a rut, when it comes to the topic of professional development. We all know “we should/must do it” but aren’t exactly sure on how to go about it. And compared to security domain specific knowledge, skills, and abilities (group A CPE credits for holders of (ISC)² credentials), it’s easy to delay thinking and planning your activities regarding those strange group B CPE credits. Here’s to changing that reality, and in the process your mindset about their place in your future. Quick Review of Group B CPE Credits The official (ISC)² CPE handbook refers to Group B

With more than 140,000 members around the world, (ISC)² has, quite literally, a lot of ground to cover to get face to face with our members. There are a number of opportunities to meet with the team coming up this year, starting just next week at Secure Summit EMEA in The Hague. Secure Summit EMEA will take place April 15-16 and is themed Enrich. Enable. Excel. The two-day event will feature the best minds in cybersecurity from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Keynote speakers include Felicity Aston, Dr. Dennis Broeders, Joseph Carson, Dr. Jessica Barker and Lorna Trayan. On April 15, the ISLA EMEA ceremony will be held to honor winners for their achievements over the past year.

The cybersecurity profession remains primarily a man’s world. But for how long? (ISC)² research reveals women are making fast gains in the industry, and as a group, they are setting their sights on leadership roles. Overall, female representation in the cybersecurity workforce has increased to about one quarter (24%), more than double the 11% estimate from 2016, according to (ISC)2’s Women in Cybersecurity report. The report is based on findings in the (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study 2018, and it uses different research methodology from the earlier study. For instance, it includes women who spend at least 25% of their work hours on cybersecurity tasks. As of now, the industry still skews largely male, but the gender mix is certainly changing

By now you’re well aware of the widely-reported (ISC)² research that shows there is a global cybersecurity shortage of 2.93 million professionals. Identifying, recruiting and training skilled talent to adequately secure organizational data assets obviously remains a top priority in our industry. Well, over the past few weeks, both Tripwire and IBM have published reports that focus on different layers of the problem and add to the conversation. In its Cybersecurity Skills Gap Survey 2019, Tripwire found that 80% of IT security professionals believe it’s becoming more difficult to find skilled cybersecurity professionals. Not a surprising figure. The interesting wrinkle here? 93% of the respondents also indicated that the reason it’s so difficult is that the required skills have changed