Become a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)! It is the new Information Security Career Path!

A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is called a five-star general for an IT security department. As we know the Cyber Security becomes more essential, so the Chief Information Security Officers are also in high demand. At big companies, CISO consult with the law enforcement, FBI and government on corporate security matters.

Responsibilities of a CISOs

· CISO do planning for the deployment of information security technologies.

· Under security policies and information protection strategies, CISO Integrate IT systems developments.

· CISO has to appoint and guide a team of IT security experts.

· CISO anticipate new security threats.

· CISO should be up-to-date with evolving infrastructures

· CISO monitor security vulnerabilities, threats and events in network.

· To handle security incidents, CISO has to develop strategies.

· CISO supervise development of corporate security policies, standards and procedures for it.

· CISO establish an IT security risk management program.

· CISO prepare financial forecasts for security operations.

· CISO provide leadership, training opportunities and guidance to personnel.

· Work with senior management to ensure IT security protection policies are being implemented, reviewed, maintained and governed effectively.

· CISO provide comprehensive risk assessments by audit existing systems.

· Act as a focal point for IT security investigations and direct a full investigation with recommended courses of action.

Career Paths for a CISOs:

CISO can start as a:

System Administrator

Network Administrator

Security Administrator

After that CISO can build technical skills in jobs like:

Security Auditor

Security Engineer

Security Analyst

Security Specialist

Senior level-positions:

Security Director

IT Project Manager

Security Manager

Security Architect

Certifications Required for CISOs:

· CISSP-ISSMP: Information Systems Security Management Professional

· GSLC: GIAC Security Leadership

· CGEIT: Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT

· CISA: Certified Information System Auditor

· CISM: Certified Information Security Manager

· CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional

· CCISO: Certified Chief Information Security Officer

Skills Required for CISOs:

· Knowledge of auditing and cloud risk assessment methodologies.

· Knowledge of auditing and cloud risk assessment methodologies.

· PCI, HIPAA, NIST, GLBA and SOX compliance assessments.

· Practices and methods of IT strategy, enterprise architecture and security architecture.

· Worth Knowledge of Firewall and all the detection/prevention protocols.

· Knowledge of all the security concepts related to routing, DNS, authentication, VPN, DDOS and proxy services mitigation technologies.

· ISO 27002, ITIL and COBIT frameworks.

· Knowledge of Windows, UNIX and Linux operating systems.

· Secure coding practices, ethical hacking and threat modeling.

· Knowledge of C, C++, C#, Java and/or PHP programming languages

· Knowledge TCP/IP, computer networking, routing and switching etc.

· Network security architecture development and definition of all its components.

Salaries for CISOs:

There are two categories of pay scale for Information Security Officers:

1. According to (2014 figures), the median salary for a CISO is $131,322.

2. According to (2014 figures), the median salary for a CSO is $139,763.