Which Computer Security Certification?

Published September 23, 2005

Security certifications continue to be hot passport to a good job. But which certifications are hottest? We surveyed four job boards (ComputerJobs.com, DICE.com, Monster.com, ComputerWork.com) looking for particular security certifications and this is what we found:

CISSP is by far the most in demand, straight security certification, with 1907 job listings.
Check Point ranked second, with 797 job listings.
GIAC is also popular, with 276 listings.
The relatively new CEH was sought after in just 15 listings.
If the CISA, which is not a straight security certification, is included, it would take second place, with 1731 listings.

chart of security certification popularity

Notes:
We didn't look for Security+ because search features at most of the job boards treats the + symbol as a special character and will not search on it. Also, the Monster job board lists a maximum of 1,000 jobs for any particular search.

Choosing a security certification

The key to choosing the right security certification is picking the one that most closely matches your skill level and career goals. If you have little security experience, CompTIA's Security+ can be a good way to get those basic skills. If your company (or the one you want to work for) uses a Check Point environment, then clearly Check Point is your choice. For advanced, vendor-neutral security certification, choose between SANS GIAC and CISSP. The CISSP is more well-known, but SANS GIAC certification offers a slew of task specific designations, such as GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst, GIAC Certified UNIX Security Administrator, and GIAC Security Expert, among others.