Data breach cases are on the rise worldwide, and this figure is increasing day by day. The basis of occurrence of the majority of the cases was human error. It further increases the need to spread cybersecurity awareness among individuals and have a skilled and trained cybersecurity workforce.
Employers now give more credit to candidates having globally acclaimed risk handling certificates.
There is a vast list of certificates available apart from CISA, and to simplify the selection process for you, we have shortlisted the top seven alternatives to CISA certification.
1. CRISC: Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control
CRISC is an internationally recognized IT certification offered by ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association), a global association for IT professionals and one of the best alternatives to CISA certification. Both technical and non-technical risk management professionals can obtain this certification.
Due to the increased number of cyber-attacks, the jobs for certified professionals are also at an all-time high. It deals with identifying possible threats in the information security system of your company, how to devise strategies to lower their occurrence, and supervising the implemented processes for smooth business functioning of your company.
Prerequisites: To appear for the exam, you must have a minimum of three years of experience in IT risk management and also in at least two of four domains. One domain should be either IT risk management or IT risk assessment.
Best Suited for:
- IT professionals
- Business analysts
- Project managers
- Compliance professionals
- Business and finance professionals
Domains covered:
- IT risk identification
- IT risk assessment
- Risk response and reporting
- Information technology and security
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are 150 multiple choice questions, and a score of 450 or higher is required to pass the exam.
Exam Duration: You have a total of 4 hours to complete the exam.
Exam Cost: ISACA member: USD 575, Non-ISACA member: USD 760
The exam fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years from the date of exam clearance. Once you receive certification, you need to pay a maintenance fee annually, follow ISACA's continuing education policy, and complete a minimum of 20 contact hours annually and 120 hours over three years.
2. CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker
Hackers constantly find innovative methods to gain access to sensitive business information, and hence businesses need skilled IT professionals to safeguard their information systems. CEH by EC-Council is an intermediate to advanced-level certification that focuses on implementing ethical hacking techniques. Professionals themselves try to hack the system that hackers might use to find security faults and penetration points in network infrastructure to protect the system from getting hacked by malicious hackers.
Prerequisites: You must have a minimum of two years of work experience in an information security-related field with an educational background in the related field.
Best Suited for:
- Security officer
- Auditor
- Site administrator
- Network professional
Domains Covered:
- Ethical hacking basics
- Footprinting and reconnaissance
- Network scanning
- Enumeration
- System hacking
- Trojans and backdoors
- Viruses and worms
- Sniffers
- Social engineering attacks
- Denial of service attacks
- Session hijacking
- Server hacking
- Web application hacking
- Hacking wireless networks
- Evading IDSs, firewalls and honeypots
- Buffer overflow
- Cryptography
- Penetration testing
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are 125 multiple-choice questions.
Exam Duration: You need to complete the exam within 4 hours.
Exam Cost: $950
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years from passing the exam. You must earn 120 continuing professional education credits (CPEs) within this duration. These can be achieved by IT security-related webinars, classes, and reading subject-related stuff.
3. CompTIA Security+
It is a foundational-level certification that enhances your problem-solving and technical skills per the latest techniques. You gain knowledge to install and configure systems to protect applications, networks, and devices from threats, assess and manage risk, suggest risk handling activities, handle enterprise networks and cloud operations, and perform all activities following the prescribed laws and policies.
Prerequisites: To appear for this certification exam, you must possess a minimum of two years of experience in IT administration working as a network security specialist. Hence, it is recommended to obtain a Network+ credential first.
Best Suited for:
- Cloud engineers
- System administrators
- IT auditor
- Project manager
- Security and helpdesk analyst
- Network administrators
Domains Covered:
- Threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities
- Identity and access management
- Technologies and tools
- Risk management
- Architecture and design
- Cryptography and Public key infrastructure (PKI)
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are 90 questions, and a minimum passing score is 750 on a scale of 100-900.
Exam Duration: 90 minutes
Exam Cost: $339. Discounts may be offered to CompTIA members.
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years. You need to earn 50 continuing education units (CEUs) or complete CertMaster CE online course within three years to renew it. You can achieve these credits by blogging, teaching, writing, publishing articles, or participating in webinars and conferences.
4. CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
CISSP offered by ISC2 (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium) is an advanced-level certification, and certified professionals are recognized globally by organizations to handle cyber threats. You gain skills and knowledge to design, implement, and supervise cybersecurity programs, policies, and procedures within your organization.
Prerequisites: You must have a minimum of five years of full-time work experience in two or more domains of ISC2 standard body of knowledge or four years of experience in two of the eight domains or an equivalent college degree.
Best Suited for:
- IT and security managers
- IT auditors
- Engineers
- Chief information security officers
- Architects
- Consultants
- Analysts
Domains Covered:
- Security and risk management
- Asset security
- Security architecture and engineering
- Communication and network security
- Identity and access management
- Security assessment and testing
- Security operations
- Software development security
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are a total of 150 questions for the English three hours testing window and 250 questions (both multiple-choice and subjective) for a six-hour non-English testing window, and you need to score 70%.
Exam Duration: The exam duration is of 6 hours.
Exam Cost: $749
Certification Maintenance: The certification remains valid for three years, and you need to pay annual maintenance fees. You have to earn 40 continuing professional education (CPE) credits every year and 120 credits during three years to renew.
5. CISM: Certified Information Security Manager
CISM by ISACA is a globally acclaimed certification. It primarily involves enterprise-level management-based security practices. It equips you with the knowledge and skills to design, supervise, and assess information security systems per your organization's business goals.
Prerequisites: You are required to have a minimum of five years of full-time work experience as an information security specialist and three years of management experience in three or more CISM domain areas.
Best Suited for:
- Security or IT manager
- Security systems auditor
- Security systems engineer
- Chief compliance
- IT consultant Information security officer
Domains Covered:
- Information security governance
- Information risk management
- Information security program development and management Information security incident management
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are a total of 150 questions, and you need to score 450 out of 800 to pass the exam.
Exam Duration: The exam lasts for 4 hours.
Exam Cost: ISACA member: USD 575, Non-ISACA member: USD 760
The exam fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years. To maintain your certification, you need to pay annual maintenance fees, follow ISACA's continuing education policy, abide by the code of professional ethics, and complete at least 20 contact hours annually and 120 contact hours over three years.
6. PMP: Project Management Professional
PMP by Project Management Institute (PMI) is one of the most popular projects management certifications worldwide. This certificate equips you with the knowledge and skills to handle different project life cycle stages effectively. These stages are initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing. It is not a niche-specific skill, and you can apply the acquired knowledge to any project.
Prerequisites: To get certified, you must complete 35 hours of project management training or CAPM certification and work experience of 36 months in leading projects and a four-year degree. Additional 35 hours is required if you have a high school diploma or associate degree and 60 months of experience in leading projects.
Best Suited for:
- Program manager
- Project analysts
- Product managers
- Project sponsors
- Project coordinators
- IT project managers
- Project leaders
- Project team members
- Associate project managers
- PMO office representative
Domains Covered:
- People (soft skills to manage a team)
- Process (technical aspects of project management)
- Business environment (executing projects in compliance with the organizational strategy)
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are 180 questions, out of which 175 are scored. The questions can be multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, multiple responses, matching type, hotspot, etc.
Exam Duration: Around 4 hours
Exam Cost: ISACA member: USD 575, Non-ISACA member: USD 760 The exam fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years, and you need to earn 60 professional development units (PDUs), i.e., 60 hours of project management education over three years, to maintain it. After this period, you can renew by paying recertification fees.
7. SSCP: System Security Certified Practitioner
SSCP by ISC2 is best-in-class ISO recognized foundational-level certification. Professionals with practical and technical skills in handling operational IT roles benefit the most by getting certified. It helps you upgrade your existing cybersecurity knowledge and show your expertise and dedication to protect the company's digital assets.
Prerequisites: You must have a bachelor's degree or one year of cumulative work experience in cybersecurity.
Best Suited for:
- Network analysts
- System and security analyst
- Administrators
- Engineers
- Consultants
Domains Covered:
- Access controls
- Security operations and administrations
- Risk identification, monitoring, and analysis
- Incident response and recovery
- Cryptography
- Network and communications security
- Systems and application security
Number of Exams: One
Number of Questions: There are 125 questions, and you need to obtain a scaled score of 700 out of 1000 to pass the exam.
Exam Duration: 3 hours
Exam Cost: USD 250
Certification Maintenance: The certificate remains valid for three years and must earn 60 continuing professional education (CPE) credits. You can renew by paying recertification fees at the end of this period.
The Final Words
So apart from CISA, several other IT certifications can boost your career prospects in no time. A few of the significant alternatives to CISA certification we have covered here.
You can go for any certification depending on your job requirement, experience level, exam cost, training required, or renewal process.
You can mention any other IT security certification that we should write about in the comments below if you think about any other IT security certification.
