Certified Information Systems Security Professional

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is an independent information security certification governed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, also known as (ISC)².

As of June 1st 2015, there are 100,102 (ISC)² members holding the CISSP certification worldwide, in 160 countries. In June 2004, the CISSP obtained accreditation by ANSI ISO/IEC Standard 17024:2003 accreditation. It is also formally approved by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in both their Information Assurance Technical (IAT) and Managerial (IAM) categories for their DoDD 8570 certification requirement. The CISSP has been adopted as a baseline for the U.S. National Security Agency's ISSEP program. CISSP is a globally recognized certification in the field of IT security.

History

In the mid-1980s a need arose for a standardized, vendor-neutral certification program that provided structure and demonstrated competence. In November 1988, the Special Interest Group for Computer Security (SIG-CS), a member of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), brought together several organizations interested in this goal. The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium or "(ISC)²" formed in mid-1989 as a non-profit organization.