With organizations increasingly adopting cloud platforms and cyber-attacks against cloud workloads making the news headlines, cybersecurity professionals with cloud security skills are the most sought-after. To take advantage and launch a career in cloud security, a certification can become a valuable asset
This is an Intergalactic Emergency
Organizations in all industries and sectors are becoming less confident about their cloud security posture because of the complexity involved with multiple cloud environments and the expanded threat landscape. As a result, they are looking to hire cloud security accredited professionals to address these challenges. The (ISC)² 2020 Cybersecurity Workforce Study indicates that 40% of industry professionals plan to pursue cloud security training within the next two years. This rate will continue to grow as organizations turn to cloud-based solutions versus on-premises legacy ones.
The cybersecurity industry needs highly skilled professionals as adversaries continue to challenge the integrity and confidentiality of data in the cloud and the security measures in place to protect them.
So, Your Inner Voice Advises You
Security professionals need to keep competitive if they want to ignite a successful career. A solid knowledge and understanding of cloud security are a great asset for any practitioner, differentiating themselves from their peers and developing more career opportunities.
Cybersecurity professionals must know how to plan and implement security strategies to reduce risk and enhance protection; understand legal and ethical issues associated with information security, privacy, and digital rights; and have core knowledge surrounding cloud computing and security best practices.
The best way to develop these skills is by acquiring a cloud security certification. Security professionals have a breadth of certifications to choose from, both vendor native and vendor neutral ones.
We have a friend in need
Cloud-specific security certifications help security teams configure and safely use their platforms. The best-known certifications are the ones offered by AWS, Google and Azure:
- Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer
- Azure Security Engineer Associate
These certifications are focused on the operational use of the respective platforms. They offer in depth how-to, practical product training and they assist cloud security professionals in avoiding critical mistakes in configuring and hardening their platforms.
However, these certifications are vendor-specific only. The knowledge they offer can be used only on their specific platform, limiting the scope.
I am proud of you, cowboy!
With more organizations opting for vendor-neutral cloud security solutions to avoid vendor lock-in, the neutrality of a certification is a bonus for cloud security practitioners seeking to apply effective controls, policies, and configuration best practices across a variety of platforms.
The biggest advantage of a vendor-neutral certification is that it gives the practitioner a balanced approach and knowledge base of all aspects of cloud computing security, including the advantages and limitations of these technologies. This is a benefit for security professionals since their skills will not be limited to a specific vendor. Following such a certification can help “become a well-rounded security professional that can effectively help solve cloud cybersecurity issues of today.”
Even if you already hold a vendor specific certification, pursuing a vendor neutral credential will build the end-to-end foundational knowledge needed for effective cloud security. The knowledge gained ensures your ability to protect sensitive data in any cloud environment.
“Accomplishing certification provided me with a holistic view and understanding of all aspects of the cloud including governance, infrastructure, deployment methods, risk management and emerging cloud technologies.”
– Kimberley Dray, Sr. Information Security Analyst, University of Victoria (UVic), Canada
The holistic approach to cloud security offers great job prospects. Vendor neutral cloud certification open a variety of job opportunities since almost all organizations now operate to some degree in the cloud and robust cloud security posture is a key factor to allow them to innovate and gain competitive advantage.
“The certification has opened new doors for me at work, and allowed me to progress, taking more leadership type decisions when it comes to cloud security. “It complements my other certifications, which allows me to build out fit for purpose, secure cloud architecture. In doing so, it has set me apart from other candidates who just only know how to secure a single cloud.”
– Abhishek Vyas, Cloud Security Architect, Admiral Group
With some many businesses across all industries migrating to the cloud, vendor agnostic certificates are a great advantage since they can help you increase your credibility and your salary. Finally, they place you ahead of the competition for getting hired.
To Infinity and Beyond!
The ISC2 Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) is the answer to all your concerns. CCSP is the benchmark of cloud security certifications and is repeatedly recognized as the most valued and well-rounded cloud security certification.
CCSP is a vendor-agnostic certification which ensures that certified practitioners have the security knowledge to successfully secure any cloud environment. The CCSPs unique criteria have elevated it to a standard that has allowed it to be identified as the premier cloud security certification, providing an advantage in an increasingly competitive corporate landscape. Certification Magazine calls the CCSP “the most well-rounded certification by far for the cloud protection area,” and has ranked it as the #1 certification their survey respondents plan to earn.
The CCSP shows you have the advanced technical skills and knowledge to design, manage and secure data, applications and infrastructure in the cloud using best practices, policies and procedures established by the cybersecurity experts at ISC2. The CCSP is the start of your journey to cloud computing. The structured knowledge earned by holding the CCSP certification is a sure path to your career success and your organization gaining competitive advantage in a shifting global environment.