Top Isaca Certifications

The specialists who work in the field of IT and think about measuring and validating their professional expertise can consider various options for it. For instance, they can give attention to different certificates. There are many vendors that offer a variety of certifications. ISACA proposes several certificates in the domains of cybersecurity, risk and information systems control, systems audition, and information security management, among others.

ISACA Certification Program Overview

ISACA comes with eight certificates. They are CRISC, CISA, CGEIT, CISM, CDPSE, CSX-P, CET, and ITCA. Below are some details of these certifications:

• CISA

  CISA or Certified Information Systems Auditor is a certificate designed for the specialists in audit, monitoring, control and assessment of information technology and business systems of their organizations. Those individuals who want to get this certification should possess the relevant skills in planning, executing, and reporting on audit engagements. Besides that, this certificate checks the expertise of the candidates in communicating with the legal professionals and effectively and cost-effectively maintaining an organization’s compliance with requirements. Furthermore, it covers building and implementing privacy solutions aligned with the organizational needs and goals. In addition, this option takes a look at assessing, building, and implementing comprehensive privacy solutions.

• CRISC

  The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control certificate assesses the competence of the professionals in managing and identifying enterprise IT risk as well as maintaining and implementing information systems controls. Moreover, this certification measures their proficiency in building a well-defined, agile risk-management program based on best practices to identify, assess, evaluate, prioritize, analyze, and respond to risks. Furthermore, it evaluates the skills of the applicants in utilizing governance best practices and continuous risk monitoring and reporting.

• CISM

  Certified Information Security Manager is a certificate that focuses on program development and management, information security governance, risk management, and incident management. Besides that, this certification assesses the competence of the individuals in developing and maintaining an information security program, which identifies, protects, and manages the organization’s assets as well as aligns to the information security strategy and business goals. Moreover, it includes planning, establishing, and managing the capability to detect, investigate, respond, and recover from information security incidents for minimizing business impact.

• CGEIT

  The Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT certificate evaluates the proficiency of the individuals in assessing, designing, implementing, and managing enterprise IT governance systems aligned with the overall business goals. Moreover, it measures their competence in ensuring that an IT risk management framework exists for identifying, analyzing, mitigating, managing, monitoring, and communicating IT-related business risk. Furthermore, this certification concentrates on managing IT investments for maximizing return on investment as well as optimization of IT resources (they include services, information, applications, and infrastructure) and people for supporting the achievement of enterprise objectives.

• CSX-P

  Cybersecurity Practitioner Certification focuses on five security functions: detect, identify, protect, respond, and recover. The applicants for this certificate need to show their expertise in utilizing vulnerability assessment processes and scanning tool sets to identify and document vulnerabilities. Furthermore, they should have the relevant skills in getting and aggregating information from various sources for use in threat intelligence, metrics incident detection, and response. Additionally, this certification gives attention to performing initial attack analysis to determine the attack scope, targets, vectors, and potential impact as well as implementing specified cybersecurity controls and validating that controls are operating as needed by the defined procedure or policy.

• CDPSE

  The Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer certificate takes a look at assessing, building, and implementing comprehensive privacy solutions. Those who plan to get this certification should be familiar with creating and implementing technical privacy solutions as well as mining and analyzing data for customer insights. Moreover, it covers implementing procedures that align with privacy policies, developing and/or implementing a prioritization process for privacy practices, and evaluating advancements in privacy-enhancing technologies and changes in the regulatory landscape, among others.

• ITCA

  Information Technology Certified Associate is a certificate that includes five work-related subject areas and consists of five certifications focused on these domains. The Computing Fundamentals certificate gives attention to the basic computing and data concepts as well as introductory concepts of security, networking, and virtualization. The Networks and Infrastructure Fundamentals certification is about commonly used protocols and services, networking architecture and operations, and wireless and physical connectivity. The Cybersecurity Fundamentals certificate covers critical areas of information security and cybersecurity. It includes threat analysis and prevention, controls and operations, and risk assessments. The Software Development Fundamentals certification takes a look at the software development life cycle, software theory, and practical programming skills. The Data Science Fundamentals certificate, in its turn, is revolved around data science. It includes analysis, structure, management, and governance. Besides that, it covers data collection, classification, and communication of results, as well as data privacy and ethics. To obtain ITCA, the individuals need to nail five tests and earn five certifications described earlier.

• CET

  The Certified in Emerging Technology certificate concentrates on IT audit, cybersecurity, security, risk, privacy, governance, and business development. To earn it, the applicants need to pass four exams and get four certifications. The Cloud Fundamentals certificate checks the specialists’ comprehension of main Cloud computing principles and concepts. It includes Cloud governance and service supporters. The Blockchain Fundamentals certification covers the basic Blockchain concepts, usage, and considerations. To obtain the IoT Fundamentals certificate, the individuals need to be conversant with the major IoT concepts, principles, and enabling technologies. Furthermore, it assesses their proficiency in utilizing IoT operating systems and applications. The Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals certification measures the professionals’ knowledge of AI IQ concepts, principles, and implementations. In addition, it evaluates their competence in using fundamental software and algorithms.

Preparation Options

By using a variety of preparation tools, the individuals can get ready for their certification exams. They may explore the official website to find some useful training resources. They may be:

• Webinars
• Training weeks
• Virtual training
• Online events
• Books

In addition, the learners may check third-party platforms that propose various study materials for different certification tests.

Career Opportunities

There are various positions that can utilize the ISACA certificates. They may include a Consultant, an Internal Auditor, and an IS Auditor. On the other hand, these can be a Data Analyst, a Data Scientist, a Privacy Analyst/Engineer, an IT Project Manager, a Privacy Advisor/Manager, a Software Engineer, and a Privacy Solutions Architect. As per PayScale, the Internal Auditors can earn about $59,000 per year, while the Data Analysts can expect to get $61,000 per annum.