Earning CPE credits in a down economy for you Information Security certifications.
As we enter 2011 the financial talking heads say that our economy is recovering. While this can be debated as vigorously as Vi vs. Emacs you sit in your office with the knowledge that your company’s training budget is still next to nothing. Trips to information security conferences in Las Vegas, Miami, and Orlando are all out of the question. With all of the information security certifications that you have obtained to keep competitive in this tough economy you are required to earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits. Below I will list some simple steps you can take to still keep current on the latest security trends while earning those valuable CPE credits to maintain your certification(s).
- It’s a virtual world! Virtual worlds like World of Warcraft and Second Life aren’t just for people who waste thousands of hours of their life hiding from the real world. Virtual Conferences exist that allow you to attend presentations, interact with speakers, collaborate with attendees, and visit virtual vendors. ISACA offers opportunities to attend Virtual Conferences throughout the year. Look for other organizations to follow this new trend. This can equate to 8-12 CPEs a year depending on the number of conferences offered by ISACA. You will receive an email confirming your attendance.
- eSymposia (not an electronic Greek drinking party) offer the ability to listen live and interact with speakers on a variety of information security and compliance topics. If you cannot listen live they are all archived to listen at your convenience. However, you don’t have the opportunity to ask your own questions. ISACA eSymposia and (ISC)2 eSymposia offer new topics each month worth 3 CPE credits each. That is 72 CPE credits a year! You have the ability to take a quiz at the end of the eSymposium to obtain a certificate validating your attendance. NOTE: it is good to start the quiz up while you listen to the speakers. The quiz questions can be tricky and in one instance I had to actually ask the speaker for the answer to the question because they really didn’t touch on it during the presentation.
- Reading is fundamental! Reading an information security book can earn you 5 CPE credits for the year. I suggest picking up a book on Cloud Computing. It’s all the rage! Subscribing to The (ISC)² Journal, Information Security Magazine, or InfoSecurityToday Magazine can earn you 5 CPE credits for the year. In addition you can earn CPE credits for the magazines published by ISACA and (ISC)2. ISACA publishes the ISACA Journal bi-monthly. Reading this publication and passing the CPE quiz can earn you 1 CPE credit for a total of 6 for the year. (ISC)2 publishes the Infosecurity Professionals Magazine monthly. Reading this publication and passing the CPE quiz will earn you 2 CPE credits for a total of 24 for the year! If you complete all reading you can earn up to 40 CPE credits a year!
Hopefully this information can alleviate any concerns you have with earning enough CPE credits to maintain your information security certification(s). Just don’t let your manager know or you will never get that networking opportunity in Miami 🙂
