Top 10 Cybersecurity Certifications to Help Protect Your Business

How important is security in your business? If the answer is anything less than ‘extremely’, you could be faced with some very serious and expensive problems in the future. The threat of hacking is at an all-time high and many companies are defenseless against attacks. Hackers can customize their attacks based on specific software, firewalls, industry, or servers they are infiltrating, which makes the threat of cybercrime colossal.

From small businesses to large enterprises, security is a necessity for everyone but fear not because several certifications are available to help arm your employees with the knowledge they need to prevent and/or combat cyber-attacks. This blog focuses on security certifications that can positively impact every member of your organization, from your end-users to your cybersecurity professionals.

Giving your team members the right tools to protect themselves – and your companies data and assets - is a great first step in executing your cybersecurity strategy.

Certification for End-Users

1. CyberSAFE (Securing Assets for the End User)

This course works on a larger scale, teaching end users about safe practices and a better understanding of systems already in place to protect you. End-users may know terms like ‘malware’ but they may not know what it means to their computer or how it affects them. This course will help to show security considerations to take, social engineering, and other security-related concepts that can be implemented by them. This course speaks to non-technical users; in essence, anyone with a computer, tablet, smartphone, and an Internet connection. Learn more about the CyberSAFE certification.

Certifications for IT Professionals (non-Security focused)

2. CompTIA Security+

CompTIA’s Security+ course specializes in teaching professionals to not only identify security incidents but how to address them with plenty of hands-on activities. Security+ packs a huge punch and those who dive into it will learn more about installation and configuration of secure applications, threat analysis, risk mitigation techniques, cryptography, awareness of cybersecurity policy and law, types of attacks and their solutions, network layers, and protocols, mobile security, architecture design for maximum risk mitigations, and forensics. Learn more about CompTIA’s Security+ certification.

3. EC-Council Certified Network Defender (CND)

The goal of the CND certification course is to properly skill Network Administrators to defend, detect, and take action against threats across the network. Offering hands-on experience with real-life situations involving network defense, individuals will not only gain the technical depth required to actively design a secure network but will also learn how to avoid cyber breaches and master the basics of computer network and defense. These skills can ultimately lead to greater cost savings by avoiding hacks completely. Learn more about EC-Council’s CND certification.

Certifications for Cybersecurity Professionals

4. CompTIA PenTest+

CompTIA’s PenTest+ certification course is designed to assess penetration testing, vulnerability management, and management skills. This course is broken down into 5 domains that include both technical topics and nontechnical material: Planning and Scoping, Information Gathering and Vulnerability Identification, Attacks and Exploits, Penetration Testing Tools, and Reporting and Communication. Reviewers have said that this certification would be exceptionally handy for Network Engineers, Software Engineers, Security Analysts, and System Administrators. Learn more about CompTIA’s PenTest+ certification.

5. CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

The latest from CompTIA, the Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) certification helps apply behavioral logistics to improve company IT security as a whole. This certification launched in February 2017 and offers a great deal of knowledge to a rapidly growing position. A CySA helps organizations detect any potential threats, compile data, and interpret the results to identify weak spots that might exist in your systems. Along with PenTest+ and CASP+, CySA+ is part of CompTIA’s cybersecurity pathway of certification, providing students critical cybersecurity skills. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that related cybersecurity positions will be growing by about 37% through 2022. CySAs are globally recognized, providing opportunities for all employees on a local and international scale. Learn more about this CompTIA certification.

6. EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

The CEH course allows participants to learn common strategies used by hackers and includes 270 different cyber-attack tools to expose how and when hackers put them to use. The International Council of Electric Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) works to create professional certifications to help people maintain security within IT systems. EC-Council created CEH and many other certifications available to those wanting to start or further their knowledge of cybersecurity. The CEH doesn’t require any prior experience. It can be learned by auditors, security professionals and officers, site administrators, and anyone who wants to help keep the network infrastructure intact. Learn more about the CEH certification.

7. EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI)

Another certification created by EC-Council, the CHFI course is more advanced for those who have some experience with forensic network security. CHFI lets users retrace computer footprints that any intruders may have left. It also helps gather evidence that can, if desired, be legally brought to a court of law. The capabilities of CHFI can help track down hackers, felons of fraud, even senders of offensive emails. The need for businesses to become more efficient and integrated with others makes easy ways for hackers to sneak in. CHFI will help users achieve the necessary skills to identify when attacks have taken place as well as what steps to take to fix and prevent issues. Learn more about the CHFI certification.

8. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

CISSP expands on the eight domains that comprise the information systems security Common Book of Knowledge (CBK). Created by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, abbreviated (ISC)2, CISSP is a vendor-neutral credential that has been recognized many times for its excellence. A big part of its industry recognition stems from its job-related approach to training. The course utilizes real-world examples to teach students what and how to analyze various components within the CBK. Learn more about the CISSP certification.

9. NIST Cyber Security Professional (NCSP) Foundation

NCSP is the industry's first accredited training program designed to help organizations and individuals engineer and implement the NIST Cyber Security Framework across their organization and supply chain. The course focuses on 4 main specialties: cyber operational planning, cyber operations, cybersecurity management, and program and project management and acquisition. Once the course is complete, students will have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to design, build, test, manage, and improve a cybersecurity program based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Learn more about NCSP Foundation certification.

10. Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)

Since its unveiling in 2015, the CCSP certification has become one of the most well-known vendor-neutral certifications for cloud security around the globe. Geared towards Information Security Leaders, the CCSP is the highest standard for cloud security expertise. Due to the in-depth and strenuous workload in the course, there are several prerequisites required of individuals wanting to partake:

• Candidates must have a minimum of five years cumulative, paid, full-time work experience in information technology.
• Three years must be in information security, and one year must be in one or more of the six domains of the CCSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK).
• Earning (ISC)²’s CISSP credential can be substituted for the entire CCSP experience requirement.

The course evaluates expertise across 6 security domains: legal and risk compliance, cloud concepts architecture and designs, cloud security operations, cloud data security, cloud application security, cloud platform, and infrastructure security. Whether you are looking for the next step in your career or looking to grow more knowledge to help your company, the certification is highly recognized and is proof that practitioners have a complete understanding of how the concepts learned can be applied. Learn more about CCSP certification.

Closing Thoughts

Whether you are looking to help boost your company’s security or create an action plan for breaches, the ten certifications listed above can raise the level of your team and empower them to do more. Cybercrime can be expensive, especially if you do not know how to identify it or contain it. United Training can assist you in planning your cybersecurity strategy with training solutions for every member of your team. Click here to view our cybersecurity offerings.