Not so long ago, we had a look at what kinds of skills were necessary to protect a cloud-based environment, and discovered that there were a lot of skills needed, many of which depended on just what kind of cloud setup was used. Shortly thereafter, word emerged that SecureSet had graduated its first class of students in its cyber security academy, bringing out a set of new professionals with skills geared toward protecting the growing slate of computing options out there.
With the graduation from the academy—a 20-week program—users get not only knowledge and experience in addressing many common issues, but also a certification as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Currently, there are around 200,000 jobs nationwide for such professionals, with an average salary of about $93,000 per year. Reports from SecureSet's managing partner and academy president Bret Fund noted that each of the graduates either has or is negotiating an employment offer right now, suggesting that we may have a new glut of CISSPs before too much longer has passed. Indeed, reports noted that some students were actually sponsored by certain organizations, which means the organizations paid for the student to attend the training and clear the program.
Graduation events have been taking place all week, with a career fair, an interactive War Games event and a graduation ceremony featuring former National Security Agency (News - Alert) (NSA) director Bill Crowell. The next semester is set to start July 2016. The academy has partnerships with several major organizations, including Hewlett-Packard (News - Alert), the Global Accelerator Network, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Webroot, among others.
There's no doubt that online security, in all its forms, is vital to the ongoing economic health of just about every institution around. From the simplest retailer to the largest multinational corporation, the importance of having a working, safe network from which to operate is essential to even the simplest operations. Reordering product, providing customer service, moving toward that omnichannel customer experience that most every business wants to provide...all of it requires a safe network. With all that information flowing, it's a golden opportunity for cybercriminals and similar bad actors to step in and seize that valuable pot for themselves. An increasing number of potential failure points with the Internet of Things (IoT) only ups the ante, and makes trained cyber security professionals more valuable in the field, as evidenced by the average salary and rapid hiring.
With the economy in the state it’s in, it wouldn't be surprising to see a lot more CISSPs get minted, and that average salary decline with the growing supply. For right now, however, the bubble seems only to be starting its inflation, so this highly necessary service will be in demand for some time to come.
Edited by Maurice Nagle