Top IT Security Job Opportunities in 2024

When it comes to top cybersecurity certifications, CISSP and Security+ stand out. Both are respected and can lead to high-paying jobs. But which is right for you?The CISSP is the gold standard in cybersecurity certifications, geared towards experienced professionals with at least five years in the field. The exam is notoriously difficult, but it offers a comprehensive credential. Security+ is well-respected but aimed at entry-level and mid-level professionals. The exam is easier than CISSP, yet covers key cybersecurity concepts. It's quicker and cheaper to obtain.Only you can decide which to choose, but we can help by outlining key similarities and differences between CISSP vs Security+. We'll also offer tips on choosing the best certification for your needs. So, which is best? Let's find out.What is CompTIA Security+?CredlyCompTIA Security+ is a globally recognized certification that validates an individual's skills in cybersecurity. Security+ covers the most important foundation principles for securing a network and managing risk. The exam is designed to test an individual's knowledge of common security concepts, including vulnerabilities, attacks, and controls.Security+ is a vendor-neutral certification, making it ideal for anyone pursuing a career in cybersecurity or looking to enhance their IT credentials. As cybersecurity's importance is growing, Security+ certification sets you apart and is often a prerequisite for government and military roles. To earn this certification, candidates must pass a CompTIA-administered exam with multiple-choice and performance-based questions that assess security knowledge. While no experience is required, it's recommended to have at least two years of hands-on network experience before taking the exam.What is CISSP?Intellectual PointCISSP is an information security certification that was developed by the (ISC)². The CISSP designation is globally recognized and sets the standard for best practices in information security.To earn the CISSP, candidates must have a minimum of five years of experience in two or more of the CISSP common body of knowledge (CBK) domains, pass an exam, and agree to adhere to (ISC)²'s code of ethics. Earning the CISSP can help open doors to new job opportunities, demonstrate commitment to lifelong learning, and give you the confidence to stay ahead of the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.Whether you're just starting out in your InfoSec career or you're a firewall pro looking to take your career to the next level, the CISSP is a great goal to strive for. All you need is dedication and trustworthy resources like the CISSP certification training course for mock exams and live sessions.CISSP vs Security+: Table of DifferencesLet us find out briefly how CISSP differs from CompTIA Security+ certifications, before delving into in-depth details. CertificationCompTIA Security+ CertificationCISSP certification1. Number of Exams112. Exam Fee3396993. Experience LevelEntryExpert4. PrerequisitesNone, but Network+ and 2 years of experience in IT administration with a security focus is recommended5 years of experience (with 2 to 8 CISSP domain experience)5. MaintenanceValid for 3 years; 50 CE credits required for renewalValid for 3 years; renewal requires 120 CPEs plus an $85 annual fee6. Domain Covers 8 domains Covers 5 domains7. Salary Average salary $116,000Average salary $105,0008. Roles Systems Administrator, Network administrator, Security consultant, Security engineer, and many more.CIO/CISO, Security director, Security manager, Network manager, Analyst, Auditor, and many more.Main Difference Between CompTIA Security+ vs CISSPThere are a few key differences between CompTIA Security+ vs CISSP. Security+ is geared towards entry-level and intermediate IT professionals, while CISSP is intended for experienced security experts.Security+ also covers a broader range of topics, including network security, asset security, and data security. CISSP, on the other hand, focuses primarily on information security. Additionally, Security+ certification is valid for three years, while CISSP certification must be renewed every five years.These are just a few of the major differences between Comptia Security+ and CISSP. While both certifications are valuable for IT professionals who want to improve their computer and antivirus skills and advance their careers, the best choice depends on your experience level and career goals.1. CISSP vs Security+: Exam DetailsCISSP is geared towards managers and executives, while Security+ is more entry-level. In terms of exam topics, the CISSP covers a broader range of topics, including law, risk management, and incident response. Security+ focuses more narrowly on technical skills, such as cryptography, including SSH and network security.The CISSP is also a longer exam, consisting of 250 questions to be completed in six hours. The Security+ exam has only 100 questions and can be completed in three hours. In terms of passing scores, the CISSP requires a score of 700 out of 1000, while the Security+ requires a score of 750 out of 900.As you can see, there are both similarities and differences between these two exams. However, both exams are valuable for those seeking to start a career in IT security.2. CISSP vs Security+: Certification LevelIn order to make the best decision for CISSP vs Security+, it's important to understand the difference between these two certification levels.The CISSP is a more advanced certification than the Security+. It requires candidates to have at least five years of experience in two or more of the eight CISSP domains. In addition, CISSP candidates must pass a rigorous exam that tests their knowledge of all aspects of information security.In contrast, Security+ is an entry-level certification that is designed for those with little or no experience in the field. The exam is shorter and less comprehensive than the CISSP exam, making it a good option for those who are just starting out in their careers.3. CISSP vs Security+: DomainsThe CISSP and Security+ are both globally recognized IT security certifications. They are both great certifications for those looking to enter or further their career in the field of IT security. However, there are some key differences between the two certifications, particularly when it comes to the domains covered.The CISSP cyber security certification covers 8 domains: Introduction to Security and Risk ManagementAsset SecuritySecurity Architecture and EngineeringCommunication and Network SecurityIdentity and Access Management (IAM)Security Assessment and TestingSecurity OperationsSoftware Development SecurityThe Security+ certification covers 5 domains: Domain 1: Attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities (24%)Domain 2: Architecture and design (21%)Domain 3: Implementation (25%)Domain 4: Operations and incident response (16%)Domain 5: Governance, risk, and compliance (14%)4. CISSP vs Security+: SalaryOne factor that may influence your decision when choosing between the Security+ vs CISSP certification is salary. Generally speaking, CISSP holders earn higher salaries than those with Security+. The median salary for a CISSP holder is $116,000, while the median salary for a Security+ holder is $105,000 (Source: Payscale.com).If salary is your primary consideration, then the CISSP may be the better choice for you. However, it is important to keep in mind that salary is just one factor to consider when choosing between these two certifications. Experience, employer, geographic location, and skills in other best Cyber Security courses also play a role in determining your final compensation.5. CISSP vs Security+: Job OpportunitiesWhile the CISSP and Security+ exams are both important for a career in cybersecurity, they each focus on different aspects of the field. The CISSP exam is more comprehensive, covering topics such as access control, cryptography, and network security.As a result, it is generally seen as more difficult to pass than the Security+ exam. However, the CISSP certification is also more widely recognized by employers. According to a recent survey, nearly 70% of employers said they would prefer to hire a candidate with a CISSP certification.In contrast, less than 60% of employers said they would prefer to hire a candidate with a Security+ certification. Therefore, while both exams are important for a career in cybersecurity, the CISSP exam is generally seen as more valuable in terms of job opportunities.It is best to acquire information security skills for your career with KnowledgeHut’s CISSP Certification training course. You’ll be getting live training by experts, mock exams, and practical learning. All you need is dedication and focus on your goal.Looking to boost your career? Get certified in ITIL v4 Foundation Certification! Gain the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the ever-evolving IT industry. Don't miss out on this opportunity! Enroll now and take your career to new heights.CISSP vs Security+: Which’s Better?CISSP and Security+ certifications are two of the most popular cybersecurity certifications. They both have their pros and cons. CISSP is geared towards experienced cybersecurity professionals, while Security+ is for those who are just starting out.If you already have a few years of experience under your belt, then CISSP is probably the better choice. But if you’re just getting started and looking for an entry-level certification then Security+ will give you a good foundation in the basics of cybersecurity. Conclusion CISSP is ideal for experienced professionals aiming for senior roles in cybersecurity management, with a broad focus on security strategy and leadership. On the other hand, CompTIA certifications like Security+ are more suitable for beginners or those looking to build foundational skills. Both have their merits, but your choice should align with your career stage and goals—CISSP for advanced, high-level roles, and CompTIA for foundational knowledge or entry-level positions.

There is no rocket science in understanding why IT security is important for your business. Those days are gone when people use to write thousands of papers to secure their valuable data. This is the digital world, and we all are dependent on the tech devices that we carry wherever we go. This important and sensitive data can make or break your business that is why it always remain vulnerable to some extent, and there have always been different concerns about its security. There is no doubt that companies are trying their best to secure their data however there are some other forces too that are continuously trying to break your security and steal your data. That is why it is important to keep your data up to date to the modern technology to secure it against the theft. Following are some statistics and points that will help you to understand why every business owner should keep its IT security imperative over anything else. The similar risk for large and small businesses: As mentioned in the report published by the cyber security department of the government in 2016, 65% of large firms detected a cyber-security breach or any kind of cyber-attack last year. 25% of the same companies also mentioned that they faced these breaches at least once a month. As a whole, these breaches cost the big firms over £3 billion and at an average, these breaches cost £36,500. Not only the big firms, small businesses or startups has also been on the target of the cyber criminals. There are many reasons why small businesses are the targets of the cyber criminals. Usually, small businesses don’t concentrate on their IT security due to the various reasons like shortage of resources and human force. That is why they are the easy targets but not as lucrative as the big firms are for the cyber criminals. Recently accumulated figures about the cyber-security breaches on the small and medium-sized businesses have cost them as much as £310,800 last year. These numbers are not as significant as compared to the loss of big business owners but at the rate at which it jumped this year from 2014 is alarming. The total cost in the year 2014 was only £115,000 which nearly doubled just by the gap of one year. Firms need to be prepared for more attacks than ever this year: At the rate on which these cyber-attacks has increased in the last two years, it is expected that this year is going to have more attacks than ever. One of the reasons behind this drastic increase in the attacks is the startups and new businesses who are underestimating their IT security and more concern about establishing their businesses first. With every passing year, businesses which are entirely dependent on the computers and the internet are losing more instead of earning. These firms are not keeping up with every new security update. Conversely, the cyber criminals are equipping themselves with every latest technology and becoming more lethal with every passing year. There is no doubt in it that these small businesses are the favorite targets of the cyber criminals. Moreover, these small businesses have also become a reason to worry for the big firms. Many big firms hire small companies as their vendors who do different work for them. The cyber criminals use this connection of big and small firms and breach the strong systems of big firms by using the small businesses. This is how these criminals are surrounding the businesses from all sides and the need for strong IT security has become the most important thing to sustain in the market for the businesses. How to ensure the security: Since cyber-security has become the major threat for businesses all over the world, companies have now started hiring the professionals to cope with it. However, small businesses who are still on their burning rate cannot get the services of the professionals to secure their businesses from such threats. For the small business owners, I am listing down some of the cost effective ways through which they can secure their digital network to some extent. Ensure the security of your staff information like passwords and usernames. Arrange a proper training session and educate your staff about the precautions that they should take while using company’s devices. Keep your computers up to date and always use paid anti-virus and encryption software for maximum security. If you provide mobile devices to your staff then standardized them. Keep updating the security on employee’s devices. Change the passwords of your computers and every account that you use after every 60 days and ensure that the changed password is stronger than the previous ones. Do not allow everyone to have access to company’s sensitive documents. Only allow the access on a need to know basis. If you can’t hire them permanently, at least hire the cyber security professionals on the contract base for 2 to 3 months every year so they can assist your IT security.

It's no wonder that technology has become an important part of our lives; consequently, its use has grown exponentially in the current business world. If you are desperate to explore new things and love to be in the IT industry, then Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) is one of the great career options you can have. This article will discuss what is CISA and what all are the things you must know about CISA domains. Also, learn how to get on track to earn the CISA certification course. Preparation for this CISA exam may take almost four to eight months based on a person's knowledge and experience level. IT professionals who wish to get a CISA accreditation should complete the CISA course covering all the five domains called modules. You have to finish reading all these five domains before being considered eligible to take the CISA certification exam.What are CISA Domains?You can get the Certified Information Systems Auditor certification by learning cyber security training courses. This validates your skills and knowledge for governance, cybersecurity, control, assurance, security, information, and systems auditing. CISA has five domains, and all these CISA 5 domains also include subdomains. These CISA exam domains refer to how the CISA exam content has been organized. In this article, you can learn about those 5 domains of CISA. Learn more CISA domains with our cyber security training courses. CISA Exam Syllabus: The 5 Domains (Overview)ISACA defines five CISA domains on which you will be examined: Domain 1 - Information System Auditing Process (21% of exam) Domain 2 - Governance and Management of IT (17% of exam) Domain 3 - Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Imp. (12% of exam) Domain 4 - Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience (23% of exam) Domain 5 - Protection of Information Assets (27% of exam) The CISA exam domains are graded on a scale of 200 points to 800 points. Therefore, you need to get 450 or more points to qualify for this exam. The time allocated for the exam will be four hours. A total of 150 multiple choice questions are given, covering five main job practice areas in IS control, security, and auditing. All the five domains are explained below.1. Auditing Process of Information SystemsDomain 1 of 5 ISACA CISA domains consists of the IT auditing basics and how to offer audit services that align with the required best practices for controlling and protecting the information systems. The domain covers the implementation and development of a complicated IT audit method. In this domain, you would also have to prove that you know how to apply these standards and regulations in a practical work environment. Candidates are also expected to study the ISACA IT Assurance standards and Audit rules, tools, techniques, and rules. This process of auditing information systems will let you know about the audit services organization, following ISACA's perspective of IS audit regulations. It also includes the motto of helping organizations control and protect their information systems. The important works of this domain also include risk based IS audit technique execution by following the IS audit grade. It should also ensure that the vital details areas are audited perfectly. It is important to know how to organize particular audits to tell if the information techniques are secured and are also controlled. You should also know how to organize audits concerning IS audit levels to meet the planned audit objectives. Another major point is the capability to communicate about the output of the audit and to have suggestions for the stakeholders through audit reports and audit meetings. It is very vital to get interchange when required. You should also know about research audits to understand whether the management system made ideal changes or not and that too promptly. There are mainly 7 sub-domains that you have to study in this domain. They are: The Evolving IS Audit Process Control Self-Assessment Performing an IS Audit Internal Controls Risk Analysis ISACA IT Assurance and Audit Guidelines Management of the IS Audit Function2. Management and Governance of ITDomain 2 mainly concentrates on IT management and IT governance and validating your capability to identify vital issues and provide recommendations for safeguarding information and related technologies. It mainly focuses on giving required leadership along with assurance. In addition, it checks whether processes and company structures are ideal for achieving goals and backend the organization's strategy. Candidates in this domain should have the ability to assess a company's IT grade. Its demonstration includes all the IT processes and directions for maintenance, implementation, strategy development, and approval. You should also know about IT strategy alignment with the organization's objectives and strategies and how to calculate the IT governance structure to know if IT performance, directions, and decisions support its objectives and strategies. More work in this second domain includes verifying the alignment levels with the organization's objectives, strategies, and regulatory requirements. These include the sectors of IT, policies, IT human resources, IT organizational structure, related processes, IT standards and procedures, and IT resources that include allocations, investment, use, and prioritization. This domain also covers the knowledge of complicated management practices to know whether the organization's IT-oriented problems are checked, evaluated, monitored, managed, and reported. Another major concern in this domain is business continuity. It is very important to study about company's BCL (Business continuity plan) along with IT disaster recovery plan alignment to be aware of the company's standards to continue the required strategies of business during the IT disruption time. All the other auditing management and IT governance tasks include checking controls with the organization's procedures, standards, and policies and verifying the IT main performance factors to evaluate if the management gets enough information in time. There are 13 subdomains under this domain. They are: Auditing Business Continuity Procedures and policy Risk Management IS Practices of management (consists again of five sub-areas) Maturity and Process Improvement Models Business Continuity Planning IS Organizational Responsibilities and StructureIT Governance auditing Implementation Corporate Governance IT Governance (ITG) Information Systems Strategy IT Investment and Allocation Practices IT Assurance, Monitoring Practices for Senior and Board Management3. IS Implementation, Development, and Acquisition.Domain 3 IS Acquisition, Development, and Implementation is all about the development, acquisition, and implementation of IT systems to achieve the goals of an organization. In addition, you should be able to write about system development, project governance, testing methodologies, and release management. All the tasks in this domain are practical challenges. So, applicants have to know the calculation of the business case for the investments of information systems, which includes subsequent retirement and acquisition, to know if the business case reaches business goals. It is vital to analyze the IT contract management process and supplier selection and be confident that the company's services are met. Some more major tasks of this domain consist of assessing the company's project control and organizational framework and knowing if the business needs are met cost-effectively or not. This work has to be done parallelly during the organization's risk management and review steps to know if the project is getting done with respect to the plan and if it is sufficiently backed up by reports with accurate status documentation promptly. The candidates should also be able to evaluate system information controls during the development time and the requirements, acquisition, and testing part of the compliance. This has to be done with the company's procedures, standards, policies, and other needs. Candidates should also promptly evaluate the information systems readiness for migration and implementation to know if the project, controls, deliverables, and the organization's needs are achieved. They should also determine the system post-implementation reviews to know if the project submissions, controls, and the organization's needs are met. There are 14 subdomains under this domain that you must know. They are: Auditing Application Controls Auditing Systems Development, Acquisition and Maintenance Systems Information Maintenance Practices Development Techniques of System and Productivity Aids Process Enhancement Practices Application Controls Business Application Development Business Application Systems Alternative Forms of Software Project Organization Business Realization Project Management Structure Project Management Practices Alternative Development Methods Infrastructure Development/ Acquisition Practices4. IS Support, Maintenance, and Operations.This Domain tests the knowledge of business resilience and IS operations, estimating your skills in how IT relates to the business overall. For this fourth section, ISACA has a very straightforward method, requiring auditors to assess the framework of IT service management and internal and third-party practices. It also helps to know if the service and control levels required by the company are being fixed and if the strategic needs are met promptly. It's very vital to study organizing constant information system reviews to know exactly if they proceed to achieve the organization's needs of the enterprise architecture or not. Other important domain works are also oriented in the fourth domain, assuring IT service and IT management effectively to ensure that it constantly supports the company's objectives. It includes assessing operation activities such as job configuration, scheduling, capacity management, work management, the application of timely upgrades and patches, and assessing the management of database practices to know the optimization and integrity of data quality and databases. It also consists of management of the lifecycle to know if they continue to achieve strategic objectives or not. There are a total of 6 subdomains under this domain that you have to know. They are: Disaster Recovery Plan Auditing Operations and Infrastructure Information Systems Operations Information Systems Hardware IS Architecture and Software IS Infrastructure of Network5. Protection of Information AssetsThe Protection of IT assets is the fifth and last domain in the CISA exam, and it is very important. This domain holds 27 percent of the CISA examination paper, with almost 60 questions.There are 8 subdomains under this domain that you have to know. They are: Physical Access Exposures and Controls Mobile Computing Auditing Security of Information Management Framework Auditing Network Infrastructure Security Security Of Network Infrastructure Security Importance of IT Security Management Logical Access Environmental Controls and ExposuresWhich Of The 5 Domains are Vital Compared with Others?Now, that you know about all 5 CISA domains, it is clear that domains four and five cover almost 50 percent. However, it is also essential to get a good score in the other domains to qualify for the exam. CISA certification is fundamental for IT professionals, and it has practically become a required credential in the IT industry. So, reading all the five domains thoroughly and getting the certification is the best and foremost thing you have to concentrate on.ConclusionCISA domains are vital in clearing the certification exam. To become the very best cyber security professional, you should add a "Certified" caption to the title of Auditor of information systems on your resume. In addition, you can sharpen your career by completing KnowledgeHut CISA certification course. Then, your chance of becoming a CISA professional will be very high. Also, keep in mind that ISACA considers only dedicated candidates for this renowned certification, and it needs strict professional and academic criteria for candidates.