Actu
IISP Launches New Skills Framework for Information Security Professionals
May 2017 by Emmanuelle Lamandé
The not-for-profit, Institute of Information Security Professionals
(IISP) has launched a new version of its Skills Framework, which is widely accepted
as the de-facto standard for measuring the knowledge, experience and competency of information security and assurance professionals.
First introduced in 2006 and
developed by world-renowned academics and security experts in collaboration with
industry, government and universities, the IISP Skills Framework is used by the UK
Government to underpin its Certified Professional Scheme and by organisations to
develop and benchmark their own in-house capabilities. It is also fundamental to the
development of training courses and syllabi for UK university courses in information
security, while The Tech Partnership will use the latest version as the foundation
for Cyber Security apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships.
The changes to the 2017 Framework reflect the evolving threat landscape, new
technologies and significant changes in cyber skill profiles and challenges. The new
Framework includes new skills groups for Threat Intelligence and Assessment, Threat
Modelling, Cyber Resilience, Penetration Testing and Intrusion Detection and
Analysis as well as Incident Management, Investigation and Response, while also
expanding the roles of Enterprise and Technical Security Architecture and redefining
the skills profile for Audit, Compliance and Testing. The IISP also puts more focus
on Management, Leadership and Influence, Business Skills and Communication and
Knowledge Sharing. The four defined competency levels have also been expanded to six – two based on knowledge and four on measuring practical experience.
The IISP Skills Framework is the only competency-based assessment for information
security professionals, setting it apart from knowledge-based qualifications. The
IISP also uses the Framework itself to independently assess individuals via peer
review and assess the quality of training courses for its Training Accreditation
scheme. The IISP offers three levels of accredited individual membership; Associate,
Full and Fellow.
The IISP has also revised the accreditation processes to simplify but maintain a
high level of rigour and Version 2.1 is now published and available free through the
IISP web site to members and to non-members on application, www.iisp.org.
