Group declares 2005 the year of the IT security pro

An organization that certifies information security professionals on Wednesday declared 2005 the year of the information security professional, the start of a campaign to lift the profile of information security professionals and attract new talent to the profession.

The initiative is led by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, or (ISC)2. The group won endorsement from 30 organizations, including Microsoft Corp., the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu consulting group, the Information Technology Association of America and the Royal Holloway University of London.

“We need to increase our visibility so that the rest of the people in our organizations can identify and appreciate the value we bring,” said James Wade, director and past president of (ISC)2 and former chief security officer for the U.S. Federal Reserve.

“Through the year of the information security professional we hope to highlight and underscore what the profession is about and what benefits it brings,” he said.

As part of the year of the information security professional, (ISC)2 plans to expand its conferences to also attract people interested in becoming information security professionals. The group plans to offer scholarships to undergraduate students, a spokeswoman said. Today (ISC)2 offers scholarships only to graduate students.

Other activities to generate interest in the field and inform the public about the field will include seminars, mentoring programs and panel discussions, (ISC)2 said.

There are currently about 1.3 million information security professionals worldwide, according to (ISC)2. By 2008, that number is expected to hit 2.1 million, according to a study by market research firm IDC commissioned by (ISC)2.

The IDC survey, released last month, also found that security professionals also have experienced growth in job prospects, career advancement, higher base salaries and salary premiums for certification at faster rates than other areas of information technology.

“Information security professionals haven’t received the recognition they deserved until very recently,” said (ISC)2 spokeswoman Sarah Bohne. “They were seen as an offshoot of IT and few companies, business people and certainly consumers knew that they exist.”