IT Cyber Security Certifications list, prerequisites and cost

Every year has its fair share of cybersecurity breaches and cybercrimes. 2018 hasn’t been an exception to this phenomenon and the demand for security professionals has been on higher than ever before. To prevent this ongoing assault on the cyber world companies are hiring more security professionals. When evaluating prospective candidates, employers often look for credentials to support their knowledge and what is better than showing the results of a certificate you earned from an IT Security governing body. There are many certifications offered by various governing bodies such as EC-Council, (ISC)2, ISACA, CompTIA etc. and we have examined a few of those and considered them as the top in Information Security field

• (EC-Council) Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• (ISACA) Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• (SANS) GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC)
• (CompTIA) Security+ (SYO-401)

(EC-Council) Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

International Council for E-Commerce Consultant commonly known as EC-Council offers several Information Security Certifications from Basic to Expert level. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) is an intermediate level certification for IT professionals who are pursuing careers in ethical hacking. A Certified Ethical Hacker must have knowledge on hacking practices such as social engineering, wireless networks and web applications, honeypots, footprinting and reconnaissance, denial-of-service attacks, penetration testing, scanning networks, system hacking, worms and viruses, session hijacking, hacking web servers, sniffers, SQL injection, cryptography, evading IDS, trojans, firewalls, and enumeration.
Certification Name: Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
Prerequisites: Must attend official training offered by EC-Council or must have 2 years of Professional experience in the field of Cyber Security.
Exam: The CEH exam contains 125 questions and lasts four hours: 70% is the pass score.
Cost for exam: The exam costs $850 USD for US residents and $885 USD for international candidates

(ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification offered by International Information System Security Certification Consortium, otherwise called as (ISC)2 is a universally recognized certification for security professionals. CISSP holders are decision-makers who have expert knowledge and expertise in developing and managing security standards, policies, and procedures within their organizations. CISSP exams come with optional special areas of interest such as Architecture (CISSP-ISSAP), Engineering (CISSP-ISSEP) and Management (CISSP-ISSMP).
Certification Name: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with optional on CISSP Architecture (CISSP-ISSAP), CISSP Engineering (CISSP-ISSEP) and CISSP Management (CISSP-ISSMP)
Prerequisites: Candidates must possess five years of full-time work experience in at least two of the eight (ISC)2 domains or four years of full-time experience in at least two of the eight (ISC)2 domains and a college degree.
Exam: 100 – 150 with three hours to complete (one exam for each specialization)
Cost of Exam: CISSP general exam is $699 and $599 for each concentration exam

(ISACA) Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

Certified Information Security Manager is one of the top credentials for IT professionals who manage, develop and oversee information security systems on an enterprise level. Information Systems Audit and Control Associate (ISACA) offers CISM certification along with other security certifications.
Certification Name: Certified Information Security Manager (CISM
Prerequisites: Agree to ISACA code of professional ethics and must possess a minimum of five years of information security work experience or Pass CISM examination and then earn the five year of work experience with six years after passing the exam.
Exam: The CISM exam contains 150 questions and four hours to complete
Cost of Exam: $575 USD for existing ISACA members, and $760 USD for nonmember.

(SANS) GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC)

GSEC holders are not only considered as skillful and knowledgeable but also can have technical expertise to occupy hands-on security jobs. GSEC exam is focused on identifying and preventing common and wireless attacks, network protocols, authentication, password management, public key infrastructure, DNS, ICMP, IPv6, cryptography fundamentals, Linux, network mapping and access controls.
Certification Name: GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC)
Prerequisites: None
Exam: 180 questions in five hours
Cost of Exam: $1899 USD

(CompTIA) Security+ (SYO-401)

CompTIA’s Security+ certification is a well-received and recognized certification in the field of information security. Security+ professionals are often considered and well recognized for their technical skills, broad knowledge and expertise in multiple security-related disciplines. IT Professionals with this certification possess great knowledge in security risk identification and mitigation, threat management, security systems, cryptography, identity management, security infrastructure, and network access control.
Certification Name: (CompTIA) Security+ (SYO-401)
Prerequisites: To pass Security+ Certification one must pass Network+ certification and possess 2 years of work experience in IT administration.
Exam: Security+ exam consists of 90 questions needs to be answered in 90 minutes
Cost of Exam: $339 USD