The SCP Certification Program

by Michael C. Gregg

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It seems that not a week goes by that we don't hear about another security program or product being released. The events of 9-11 have certainly contributed to this phenomenon, but even before then, information security was of growing concern.

• Businesses are increasingly concerned about protecting their business infrastructures from threats. Lost revenue, sales, and creditability are not easily replaced.
  
  
• TCP/IP, the engine of the Internet was designed for connectivity, not security. Flexibility, fault tolerance, and no single point of failure were its basic design tenets.

As companies seek to protect themselves, their customers, and critical data, they are turning to information security professionals for answers. Some business gain access to security expertise by hiring an outside consultant, while others train in-house personnel to fulfill the role.

"Network break-ins and virus infections are costing the business community millions of dollars every year" warned a January 2002 Unisys World article. "Moreover, there are a growing number of attacks on brand names and the privacy of companies' customer data. Companies are responding by hiring and training individuals to respond to these threats," it reported.

This hunger for skilled security professionals is reflected in the current job market. Recent salary surveys show that IT Security Professionals posted the highest wage gains during 2001. The high demand for these individuals has fueled salary increases and training. Highly skilled individuals are needed to deploy cutting edge security technologies; individuals whose skills have been validated in a way that employers can recognize and rely on. In the computer industry, professional certification has become the standard measure that provides such validation.

The Security Certified Program

The SCP program was designed around a very basic premise in which all security functions can be grouped into one of two categories:

1. Defense Orientated Security
2. Trust Orientated Security

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