ISACA and Cloud Security Alliance Team Up to Create New Certificate
A few years back, Cloud Security Alliance teamed up with (ISC)2 to create a new cloud computing certification: Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP). Now CSA has turned to another IT industry association, cybersecurity and IT governance group ISACA, to forge a similar arrangement. Working together, the two organizations will finalize the structure and content of the Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge (CCAK), which CSA announced at the end of 2019. With the CCSP, which is officially included in the (ISC)2 certification portfolio, CSA played a role similar to that which ISACA will now take on regarding CCAK. The CCAK credential will be part of CSA's training and education portfolio, but ISACA will be acknowledged as a full partner in the design and creation of the new credential. CCAK is expected to be available later this year.
Low-Code and No-Code Mantra: Anyone Can Create an App
An interesting cul-de-sac (or maybe it's a branching thoroughfare) on the road to automation is the continued growth of "low-code" and "no-code" software development. It takes thousands upon thousands of lines of code to create and operate even a simple software application. Someone has to write all, or at least some, of that code. (Programmers often recycle proven solutions, using or slightly modifying blocks of existing code to suit new ends.) But what if no one had to write most, or any, of that code? That, in a nutshell, is the dream of the no-code/low-code movement, as unfolded in an engaging new article at Certification Magazine. The article is pessimistic about the possibility that low-code and no-code tools will eventually become the primary building blocks of software development: customization and specialization is too integral to the development process for any but the most basic of apps to be achievable via current no-code/low-code tools. As Yoda once observed, however, "Always in motion the future is." The low-code/no-code tools of tomorrow could be far more powerful than is currently possible (or seems likely).
CompTIA Breaks Down Changes Between Old and New Security+ Exams
The new Security+ certification exam from tech industry association CompTIA won't be available for at least another two months. CompTIA recently committed to a release month (November), but hasn't put much other information out there about the forthcoming new version of one of the most popular cybersecurity certifications on the market – until this week, that is. OK, technically it was the end of last week: On Friday, Patrick Lane, CompTIA's director of products, posted a lengthy comparison on the official CompTIA blog, detailing the differences between the current Security+ exam (SY0-501) and the one (SY0-601) that will replace it in November. Perhaps the most visible change is that the soon-to-expire 501 exam has six domains, whereas the soon-to-be-incumbent 601 exam had five. Two domains are essentially unchanged, except for in their weighting, but four of the previous exam domains have been boiled down into three new domains. If you've been feeling a little starved for information about the new exam, then Lane's post will help to alleviate your hunger.
British Computer Society: More Females Taking an Interest in Technology
Within the information technology (IT) industry, women have long been outnumbered by men. Women are just as capable of learning about computers and related technology as men, of course, but an array of cultural and societal forces have tended to steer women in other professional directions for decades. Many of those former attitudes and pressures are shifting or dissipating, however, and companies and organizations have in recent years made a concerted effort to recruit women into the IT industry. New research by the British Computer Society indicates that, at least in the United Kingdom, a generational wave of future female IT professionals may be building. By looking at numbers of female students who have chosen to study computer science and related disciplines, BCS researchers tracked a 300 percent increase over the past five years. It's not just that more girls and female teens are expressing interest in IT disciplines, either. A substantial portion (a little more than one-third) of the young women and girls who do go down that path, data revealed, are not just getting by, but excelling. It's an encouraging indicator for an industry that has needed a large infusion of workers for quite some time.
That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to the GoCertify News Editor.
