All About the CISA vs CISM Certification

With several Information Security certification courses cropping up every other day in the market, it is tricky for IT professionals and aspirants to decide which one to go for as per the needs, the popularity and demands of the same.
 

Aspirants those who manage to attain the certification are at a better position to attain better jobs and get high remuneration. The certification holders are awarded better jobs, trusted for their abilities and considered updated and futuristic.
 

Both CISA and CISM imply that the certifications qualify you to get a better job and achieve your dream career. You get an edge over others in information security related jobs, while CISA mainly meant for information security professionals with auditing interest, the CISM professionals demonstrate skills of information security and business management in an organization. During a recruitment process, you as a certification holder will be given preference over other non-certified candidates.
 

Your earning potential increases after getting a good and rewarding job with CISM or CISA certification. Certification assists you to reap better financial benefits in your career. While in the journey of attaining this certification, you go for preparatory training to pass the exam which will equip you with fundamental knowledge of protocols and modern networking structures used in the industry and attain real-world skills in the way with the help of interactive lecture sessions, engaging reference material, labs and mock test and more. You need to have a vast knowledge and skills and needs to be able to demonstrate practical skills and understanding of the systems that you have learned.

These are certifications from ISACA, while one is about information Security and Auditing skills other one is about maintaining managerial tactics along with Infosec skills.

These two certifications are clearly the most popular credentials and market leaders in the cybersecurity domain. And both require aspirants to have at least 5 years of professional work experience firstly, and secondly needs to maintain the credentials. Both of these credentials get similar respect and salaries.
 

Now, let’s take a closer look to figure out which one will have most value for you out of the two.
 

ISACA Certifications – An Overview
 

Quick Facts
 

• ISACA is founded in 1969 at the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) is a globally recognized and reputed organization with more than 140,000 members across 180 countries.
• Various certifications aimed at various professionals: CISA for Auditors & CISM for Security Managers.
• All candidates who are aspired to earn this credential must meet a strict experience requirement.
• To earn the credential, you must pass the associated exam (ISACA members $575 & Non-members $760).
• You must adhere to the Code of Professional Ethics and Continuing Professional Education Program.
• ISACA credentials are typically valid for 3 years period and an annual maintenance fee of $45 for ISACA members and $85 for non-members are to be paid.
• For the renewal, you must earn 120 CPE credits with at least 20 CPEs annually that is earned.

Let us look deeper into CISM: 

An interesting angle to understand CISM is to compare it with CISA. Although both are Information Security skills one has to do with Auditing concepts (CISA), while the other with managerial aspects (CISM). CISM is designed particularly around the strategic side of security and its relations to business goals.
 

CISM is developed for Infosec managers and targets an individual who assess, design, manage and oversee information security environments on an organizational level.
 

As per ISACA there are more than 32,000 CISM credential holders worldwide. Among which more than 7,500 working as security directors or managers and other 3,500 working as IT directors or managers.

Some of the common roles that you may choose from or get employed in are IS/IT consultants, CIO, risk management professionals, and enterprise leadership.

Aspirants must possess a thorough understanding of available technologies and implementation of those technologies in the enterprise working for.
 

The CISM validates an aspirant’s skill level and knowledge across these domains:
 

• Domain 1: Information Security Governance
• Domain 2: Information Risk Management
• Domain 3: Information Security Program Development and Management
• Domain 4: Information Security Incident Management

Pre-requisites:

You require a minimum of 5 years of experience working in information security domains three of which must be among the above-mentioned ones.
All the experience must be within the 10-year period to quality.
 

Let us look deeper into CISA:

CISA credentials target mainly the It professionals working in governance and audit roles. These professionals typically get roles such as - IS or IT auditor or audit manager, non-IT auditor, and consultant, etc.
Being a CISA professionals you will be engaged in assurance, security, governance, audit control and enterprise security leadership etc.
The CISA certification validates a candidate’s knowledge and ability to assess, control, audit, and perform ongoing monitoring of an enterprises IT business systems.
 

Required skills are reflected in the five CISA job practice domains:

• Domain 1: The Process of Auditing Information Systems
• Domain 2: Governance and Management of IT
• Domain 3: Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation
• Domain 4: Information Systems Operations, Maintenance and Service Management
• Domain 5: Protection and Information Assets

Pre-requisites:

You need to posses at least 5 years of professional work experience in auditing, controlling or InfoSec system and pass the exam.
The study process must include attending training, classes, mock tests, online courses, review manuals, and study guides and more.
After passing the exam, candidates must also comply with the Information Systems Auditing Standards.
For both the credentials, strategic preparation is a must. Enroll today in the short-term, results-oriented, flexible training program with all the supreme features that you have ever wanted.

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