According to the recent global IT skills & salaries study, IT professionals with cybersecurity certifications have about 15% higher salaries than the rest. There are estimated to be about 3.5 million job openings in the field of cybersecurity by 2021, and certifications are essential for landing the dream cybersecurity job. Here we will get to know about the 10 most valuable cybersecurity certifications to target for succeeding as a cybersecurity professional.
Top 10 In-Demand Cybersecurity Certifications
- CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Security+ maybe an entry-level certification, but this doesn’t make it any less valuable. It is a globally recognized and vendor-neutral certification and requires professionals to have a minimum two-year network security experience. It is highly recommended for candidates to pursue CompTIA Network+ certification before enrolling in the CompTIA Security+ certification program. This is a United States Department of Defense approved security certification and mainly targets the topics of threat management, cryptography, security risk identification, identity management, security infrastructure, network access control, and security systems.
- CCSP: Certified Cloud Security Professional
Cloud security techniques and solutions greatly differ from conventional cybersecurity practices. This certification targets cloud security and provide professionals with a conceptual understanding of cloud services, architecture, operations, and design. This is an intermediate-level certification and requires a minimum of 5 years of experience in the field of cybersecurity. CCSP also covers the essential topics relating to the cloud platform and infrastructure security. Many businesses are transitioning from on-premises solutions to the cloud and there’s a great scope for Certified Cloud Security Professionals.
- CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker
Certified Ethical Hacker is an intermediate-level cybersecurity certification and is administered by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants. This is a must-have certification for professionals striving to pursue a career as a White Hat Hacker or Ethical Hacker. The primary objective of this certification is to help professionals develop proficiency in system hacking, network scanning, cryptography, social engineering, footprinting, enumeration, session hijacking, penetration testing, SQL injection, and numerous security threats & vulnerabilities.
- CISM: Certified Information Security Manager
Certified Information Security Manager is a high-level certification and trains professionals to pursue a professional career as an Information Security Administrator/Manager. Administered by ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association), this certification accredits the technical expertise of professionals managing enterprise-level security. CISM certification is only valid for three years and requires professionals to have a minimum of 5 years of experience in cybersecurity. To recertify this certification, professionals need to attain 120+ professional education credits within a period of three years.
- CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
CISSP is another vendor-neutral and globally recognized advanced-level IT certification and is best suited for professionals striving to become IT Decision-Makers. This certification provides them with the technical expertise required to guide, manage, and develop security procedures, standards, and policies. Professionals must have a minimum of 5 years of working experience in any two of the Common Body of Knowledge domains.
- OSCP: Offensive Security Certified Professional
This is one of the most challenging cybersecurity certifications but is surely worth the value and reward. It is one of the main ethical hacking credentials and requires professionals to pass a 24-hour examination to earn the certification. This certification accredits the technical expertise of professionals relating to vulnerabilities identification and trains them to work with vulnerable PHP scripts.
- CISA: Certified Information Systems Auditor
Certified Information Systems Auditor is a highly-valued cybersecurity certification tailor-made for professionals striving to learn assurance and audit control. This program helps professionals develop a conceptual understanding of organizational threats & vulnerabilities identification, compliance assessment, and organizational security controls. There are ample job opportunities for CISA-Certified individuals in the fields of governance, auditing, acquisition, asset protection, and service management.
- Certified Information Privacy Professional
Certified Information Privacy Professional Certification is specifically designed to help professionals attain proficiency in the compliance of the U.S. Privacy Regulations and Laws. Professionals with this certification can secure high-rewarding jobs in reputable organizations who are struggling to comply with the U.S. Privacy Laws & Regulations. This certification is supported by ANSI/ISO and accredits the technical expertise of professionals relating to the fields of governance and compliance.
- CCNP: Cisco Certified Network Professional Security
The teachings of this certification align perfectly with the job requirements of the Cisco Network Security Engineers. This accredits the expertise of individuals relating to the topics of switches, routers, networking appliances & devices, and firewall troubleshooting, deployment, and support. This is an all-in-one certification for professionals striving to learn about every essential concept of network security.
- CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Security
This is an associate-level cybersecurity certification and prepares professionals for stepping into the realm of CISCO Network Security. The core objective of this certification is to provide conceptual knowledge of security threats mitigation, security infrastructure development, and CISCO network security threats & vulnerabilities identification.