CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional

The CISSP is known as the "gold standard" of security certifications. It is governed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium or (ISC)2. The CISSP is a baseline certification recognized by the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency.

There are several requirements that must be met for the CISSP certification:

• You must have a minimum of five years of professional experience in information security. One year of this may be waived if you have a four-year college degree, a Master's degree in Information Security, or if you have one of a number of other certifications from other organizations.
• You must attest to the truth of their assertions regarding professional experience and you must accept the CISSP Code of Ethics.
• You must attest to lack of criminal history and related background.
• You must pass the CISSP exam with a score of 700 points or greater. The exam is an intense, 250 questions to be answered over a period of six hours.
• You must have your qualifications endorsed by another CISSP or other qualified professional. For this requirement, the endorser will be attesting that your claims of professional experience are true (to the best of their knowledge) and that you are in good standing within the information security industry.

There are also 3 concentration certifications available with the CISSP. The concentration certification shows an expertise in a specific core subject. The concentartions available are:

• ISSAP - Information Systems Security Architecture, which is a concentration in Architecture
• ISSEP - Information Systems Security Engineering Professional which is a concentration in Engineering
• ISSMP - Information Systems Security Management Professional, which is a concentration in Management

Information on the certification requirements and exams can be obtained from (ISC)2.