Today will see the opening shot in a campaign to lift
the profile of IT security professionals and attract new talent by
declaring 2005 the year of the information security
professional.
The initiative is led by the International Information Systems
Security Certification Consortium, which certifies IT security
professionals. The group has won endorsement from 30 organisations,
including Microsoft, the Information Technology Association of
America and the University of London's Royal Holloway College.
"We need to increase our visibility so that the rest of the
people in our organisations can identify and appreciate the value
we bring," said James Wade, director of the group and former chief
security officer for the US Federal Reserve. "Through the year of
the information security professional we hope to highlight and
underscore what the profession is about and what benefits it
brings."
As part of the year of the information security professional,
the group plans to expand its conferences to attract people
interested in becoming information security professionals. A
spokeswoman said that the group planned to offer scholarships to
undergraduates. Currently it offers scholarships only to
graduates.
Other activities to generate interest in the field and inform
the public will include seminars, mentoring programmes and panel
discussions.
According to the group, there are about 1.3 million information
security professionals worldwide. By 2008, the number is expected
to reach 2.1 million, according to a study by market research firm
IDC.
The IDC survey also found that security professionals have
experienced growth in job prospects, career advancement, higher
base salaries and salary premiums for certification at faster rates
than other areas of IT.
"Information security professionals haven't received the
recognition they deserved until very recently," said group
spokeswoman Sarah Bohne. "They were seen as an offshoot of IT and
few companies, business people and certainly consumers knew that
they existed."
Joris Evers writes for IDG News Service