Top 6 CyberSecurity and Information Security Certifications to Boost Your Career in 2023

The speculation is that by just 2023, there will be more than 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions. With the emerging demand for Cybersecurity professionals, it is now indispensable to hone your skill before jumping into the Cybersecurity domain. It’s not a secret that organizations are, now quite ever, facing challenges when it involves forming and staffing skilled cybersecurity professionals. The demand for skilled Cybersecurity Professionals to be increased by 150%.

Such predictions might sound grim to organizations looking to protect their systems, networks and therefore the growing attack surface against ever-evolving cyber threats, they're advantageous to those looking to enter the cybersecurity field. Many cybersecurity positions are in high demand in the current job market, and some of them mentioned below.

• Cybersecurity Analyst
• Cybersecurity Engineer
• Cybersecurity Administrator
• Network Architect/Engineer
• InfoSec Consultant
• Vulnerability Analyst/Penetration Tester
• Cybersecurity Operations Analyst

But this demand isn't exclusively of great significance to those entering the cybersecurity job market; many IT roles are being redefined with the adoption of secure development practices and multi-layered approach of cybersecurity throughout the organization.

What was once the responsibility only of CISOs, security engineers and analysts, has now shifted to the whole IT department. Software developers, network and system engineers were usually unconcerned about cybersecurity, but are now during a way forced to adopt safer practices. Organizations are pushing security to the start of the event process and place security at the middle of all their operations.

When entering the field, or when looking to enhance your skills, knowing which cybersecurity and infosec certifications are in highest demand and are respected the foremost may be a good place to start out in furthering and propelling your career. But, there are with great care many of them out there! and that we don’t blame you if you stray and confused during which ones to settle on. Do you have to choose the traditional ones about which you hear everyone talking, or some that are more specialized, or simply trying to find an honest deal as certifications do require an investment of your time and money?

The current skill and expertise level, combined with future aspirations should even be taken into consideration when looking into infosec and cybersecurity certifications. Are you only looking to expand on your skills and add on your existing certs, or you’ve just entered the cybersecurity industry, and are trying to find an best place to start?

We have worked out some of the comparison with the market demand and trend. And come up with a list of 6 best information security and cybersecurity certification, all are well-reputated, relevant and high paying in the market.

Let's take a look at the Top 6 CyberSecurity and Information Security Certifications.

1. CISM - Certified Information Security 

Manager

Image Credit: ISACA

This certification intended for those who loved managing enterprise information security teams and environments.

CISM, or Certified Information Security Manager offers more career opportunities and advancements and proves higher earning potential to those who earn the credentials. As the name implies, this is a certification designed for InfoSec managers that wish to harden their position as leaders of an enterprise security program and are already well-versed for this role as one of the requirements is a minimum of 5 years experience in the information security domain, and 3 of those should be in a management role.

The credentials for this certification provides by ISACA, a well reputated organization. CISM will show to your employers that you simply are an expert in information security governance, information risk management, incident management, and information security program development and management. Skills you'll take with you're those needed to create, deploy and manage enterprise security architecture and this certification is best fitted to those with a background as security auditors and managers, security consultants and designers , CISOs, risk officers and similar.

If you are wondering to move from the technical side of the industry into management, CISM is the certification to go for.

2. CISSP - Certified Information  

Systems Security Professional

Image Credit: (ISC)2

CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) is one of the highest-earning and well-reputed cybersecurity certifications out there, and it has been here for a long time. It is supported by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, known as (ISC)2, which makes this vendor-neutral credential highly respected in the market.

Individuals that mostly go for this certification are those that want to take more responsibilities over the development and management of security policies, procedures, and cybersecurity programs. There are some requirements in order to be eligible to apply for this certification.

To attempt to take the CISSP exam and get certified, you would need to have at least a 5-year experience in 2 or more of the (ISC)2’s eight Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) domains, or 4 years of experience in 2 or more of CBK domains and a college degree or an approved credential. Those domains are:

• security and risk management

• asset security

• security architecture and engineering

• communications and network security

• identity and access management

• security assessment and testing

• security operations

• software development security

So, quite a bit of requirement. But what do you get when you earn CISSP certification?

Individuals that secured the CISSP certification are those who have proven knowledge in all domains of security of information systems and it’s more of a management level credential, rather than a technical level. They are the decision-makers who involved in the decision-making processes of organizational security protocols.

CISSP is a highly sought-after information security certification and remains well recognized in the industry, and is a great next step in your career.

3. GSEC - The GIAC Security Essentials

Image Credit: GIAC

The GSEC is the one entry on this list that is not as advanced as others like the CISSP certification, to which the GSEC is often compared. The GIAC Security Essentials credential is provided by the SANS Institute, a reputed organization, which their information security certification will certainly reflect.

The GSEC is a more technical certification that indicates hands-on knowledge in a wide array of topics. And when we say wide, we really mean it, this certification covers 33 topics. They are following below:

• Access control and password management
• Active defense
• Contingency plans
• Critical controls
• Cryptography
• Cryptography algorithms and deployment
• Cryptography application
• Defense-in-depth
• Defensible network architecture
• Endpoint security
• Enforcing Windows security policy
• Incident handling and response
• IT risk management
• Linux security: Structure, permissions and access
• Linux services: Hardening and securing
• Linux: Monitoring and attack detection
• Linux: Security utilities
• Log management and SIEM
• Malicious code and exploit mitigation
• Network device security
• Network security devices
• Networking and protocols
• Securing Windows network services
• Security policy
• Virtualization and cloud security
• Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
• Web communication security
• Windows access controls
• Windows as a service
• Windows automation, auditing and forensics
• Windows security infrastructure
• Wireless network security

As you can see, this certification is not specialized or directed at a specific group of security professionals. Rather, it shows that the individual is a technically-oriented information security professional who can quickly solve most of the problems efficiently. As this is an “essentials” certification, there are no true requirements, it is intended for anyone who is interested in infosec and has at least some background knowledge as an IT engineer, auditor, pentester, security administrator, so on and so forth.

While CISSP and GSEC certifications are often compared to each other but we can clearly see the difference: CISSP has more of a managerial focus, while GSEC is its technical counterpart. If you want to work in roles where it is expected to be more hands-on, the GSEC would be a better option for you.

4. CRISC – Certified in Risk and 

Information Systems Control

Image Credit: ISACA

CRISC, or Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control, is another ISACA certification on this list, and is equally as globally recognized and provides those that earn it with career and monetary benefits, and with an opportunity to showcase their skills in enterprise risk management and implementing information systems controls.

Professionals that go for this certification are those who are already associated in business risk management and controls, such as risk and control professionals, compliance analysts and project managers and similar. And to even be able to apply to qualify for a CRISC certification, you are required to have 3 years of experience in managing IT risk and designing and implementing controls. You also have to have experience across at least two of the four CRISC domains. Those domains are:

• IT risk assessment
• risk and control monitoring and reporting
• risk response and mitigation
• IT risk identification

CRISC is one of the most valued certificates when credential holders want to prove their position in the real-world threat landscape, evaluate and manage enterprise risks using advanced security tools.

With career advancement opportunities and competitive advantage holding this certification has, if you are someone that wants to invest in their risk management career, this is the cybersecurity certification for you.

5. CSSLP - Certified Secure Software 

Lifecycle Professional

Image Credit: (ISC)2

And yet again, an (ISC)2 certificate makes its way to our list. The Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional, or CSSLP for short, is there to help professionals officially show their AppSec skills and their knowledge of security problems that happen during the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). Due to its domain, individuals that are pursuing this cert are mostly application security professionals, application designers, software engineering and security and network professionals, as well as software developers.

To qualify for the CSSLP, you are required to have four or more years of experience in one of the eight SDLC domains, that are also covered in the test for the cert, and they are as follows:

• secure software concepts
• secure software requirements
• secure software design
• secure software implementation and programming
• software testing
• secure lifecycle management
• software deployment, operations, and maintenance
• supply chain and software acquisition

The requirements are not so strict, as you can cut one year of experience by possessing a BA in CS, infosec, or related field, or even pass the test prior to obtaining the certificate, and wait out while you gain the needed work experience.

CSSLP, once earned, will validate the candidate’s expertise in application security, vulnerability management, how they handle app vulnerabilities during each part of the SDLC, and pinpoint threats that are targeting applications. As application security is (finally) becoming more and more important in the current organizational security environment, this is a valuable cybersecurity certification to earn.

6. CISA - Certified Information Systems 

Auditor

Image Credit: ISACA

CISA stands for Certified Information Systems Auditor and is globally recognized for security auditing professionals and those looking into this field. Certified individuals have proven knowledge in auditing, control and assurance of organization’s information technology and systems.

Another ISACA certification, it is highly recognized in the job market and they have a cool catchphrase: “In a World Full of Auditors, be a CISA” which really accompanies what holding this cert means — expert-level security auditor. And skills one can gain are - Information systems auditing process, governance, and management of information systems, as well as their operations, development and implementation and how to protect their assets.

As with plenty of other entries on this list you need a minimum of 5 years of experience in order to take the test, and that experience should be in information system auditing or security, however, there are ways to reduce that requirement with other notable professional and/or educational ground.

While a higher-level and well-paying certification, CISA can be a good choice even for an entry-level auditor, as you can pass the exam and wait to fulfill the work experience requirements. This certification will show employers that you possess the knowledge for planning, executing, and maintaining audit operations efficiently.

Conclusion

There are a number of cybersecurity and information security certifications out there, and it can be daunting to choose which one to pursue, as many of them are investments in both time and money. And should you go for the most popular ones? But with this list in mind, we hope that those looking to further their career and skills in the industry have found this article useful in order to choose one for them to uplift their career.