Veterans Affairs Recognizes Cyber Security Experts

Premier Information Security Certification Awarded to 41 Professionals

SAN FRANCISCO – June 23, 2003 – The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2 SM, a non-profit organization dedicated to training and certifying information security professionals worldwide, announced its Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) credential will be awarded to 41 information security professionals today at a special ceremony to be held at the ninth annual Veterans Affairs InfoSec Conference 2003 in San Francisco. The awards will be jointly presented by Bruce A. Brody, CISSP, associate deputy assistant secretary for cyber and information security at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and Dow A. Williamson, CISSP, communications director for (ISC)2.
Considered the Gold Standard in cyber security credentials, the CISSP is offered by (ISC)2 for information security professionals with four years cumulative work experience in the field. CISSP certification was designed to recognize mastery of an international standard for information security professionals and their understanding of the 10 domains of (ISC)2’s proprietary CBK, a living compendium of information security “best practices.”

“VA is committed to professionalizing our cyber security workforce,” said Brody. “When I arrived at Veterans Affairs two years ago, I was only the third person in the department to hold the CISSP credential. Today there are 41 and the goal is to reach 100 within the year.”

“(ISC)2 is honored to support VA in this effort,” said Williamson. “We are participating in this awards ceremony because of our commitment to IT security in the federal government.”

Veterans Affairs is the second-largest cabinet department in the U.S. Government. With the mission of caring for the veterans who have served their country, VA has some 220,000 employees, an annual budget close to $60 billion, and a constituency of 25-million Americans. VA has the largest hospital system and roughly the fifth-largest insurance system in the U.S. The department handles insurance, loan, pension and education benefits on the order of $25 billion a year and medical care on the order of $30 billion a year.

The Veterans Affairs InfoSec 2003 Conference will be held from June 23-27, 2003 in San Francisco at the Hilton. This is the ninth annual conference and is the largest non-DoD event of its type in the federal government.

About (ISC)2:
Based in Vienna, Va. with offices in London and Hong Kong, the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc. (ISC)2 is the premier organization dedicated to providing information security professionals and practitioners worldwide with the standard for professional certification that is based on (ISC)2’s CBK, a compendium of industry “best practices” for information security professionals. Since its inception in 1989, the non-profit organization has provided training and certification and has advocated the need for one industry-wide security standard. The consortium provides three forms of certification: the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and the Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP), both unique by requiring years of experience in their field and, for the CISSP, an endorsement by a professional that is familiar with the background of the candidate; and, in partnership with the National Security Agency (NSA), the Information Systems Security Engineering Professional (ISSEPCM) credential for information security professionals who want to work for NSA as an employee or outside contractor. ISSEP professionals must first hold the CISSP certification. For more than a decade, (ISC)2 has certified thousands of security professionals in more than 90 countries. More information about (ISC)2 is available at www.isc2.org .

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