ISO Jobs

A job as an Information Security Officer (ISO) can be a great career choice. Why? Because they are a mandatory position in most companies, are fairly senior level in many cases, and the demand for them continues to grow due to continued use of the Internet for business and growing threat from hackers and malicious software. Also, an ISO is unlikely to be outsourced because it's contrary to the oversight role of this position.

What type of skill sets do you need as an ISO? Ideally, you have a combination of technical understanding of IT security controls, good communication skills, strong analytical skills, and in some cases management experience. Many times the IT technical side of things will not be handled by the ISO, rather by subordinate staff or even by a different group within the organization. However, it's still critical to understand the purpose of major security tools such as firewalls, IDS/IPS, antivirus, vulnerability scanners, penetration testing tools, data loss prevention, encryption standards/tools, etc.

The analytical skills become important because most often an ISO is responsible for development of security policy. To develop security policy you need to learn all about the compliance regulations and laws the company must abide by. These can often be highly complex overlapping regulations at both state and federal levels.

In larger organizations, an ISO may manage other staff, and thus needs the appropriate skills for this such as leadership. The ISO may have frequent contact with executive staff and be expected to dress appropriately and be able to understand and speak to the business side of things and avoid getting too "techie". In smaller organizations, the ISO may instead be expected to do hands-on work with technical security tools, such as conducting network scans and combating virus outbreaks.

The most common certification being looked for in ISO jobs is the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), as it provides a broad foundation across 10 topic areas (called domains). Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) is another certification to consider.

If you don't have enough experience to get selected for an ISO job, look for jobs that build the experience that will help improve your resume. Also, perhaps a lower level job in information security can be a stepping stone to applying for the ISO job should it become vacant.

I hope this article has helped you with some of the issues to consider in looking into an ISO job.

A job as an Information Security Officer (ISO) can be a great career choice. Why?

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