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Can someone provide me with Validity of CISSP and CCNA certifications in networking field? #July20

Pursuing my masters in information security and also i am the current vice president external for Concordia GSA #cybersecurity

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Patrick’s Answer

Naga: As the previous commenters have mentioned, both the CCNA and CISSP are fantastic certifications that each have different areas of focus. I've seen plenty of security practitioners who hold both. With that being said, I'm going to throw another certification in the mix that you may or may not be considering, the CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional). With the prevalence of public cloud computing (AWS, GCP, Azure) the CCSP is becoming more sought after in the filed of cyber security and I would highly recommend putting that certification on your radar.

Cheers

Patrick

Patrick recommends the following next steps:

Research the CCSP, https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/CCSP
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Liam’s Answer

Generally, CCNA is more important in the networking field. CISSP is broad in nature and focuses more on policy. Both will require you to know ports, but CCNA will get you knee deep in sub-netting. There is a CCNA-Security cert that gets into specific techniques in securing networks.

Which one you pursue first depends on the career field that you go into. Knowing your desired career path will help better answer this question.

Good Luck!
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Jackson’s Answer

Naga: CISSP is one of the most sought after cybersecurity certificates. According to cyberseek.org, in the US, there are more job openings requesting CISSP certification than CISSP certification holders. A CISSP certification holder signals to potential employer that she/he has the understanding of broad cybersecurity topics covered by the exam. There are only 130,000 CISSP holders worldwide according to ISC2 (International Information System Security Certification Consortium).
However, cybersecurity certificate is only 1 part of the 3 legged stool. Employers are still valued practical experience. Having a degree in cybersecurity will help you get an internship in cybersecurity. You also need 5 years of experience in cybersecurity in order to qualify as a CISSP holder (you also need to pass the exam).

Jackson recommends the following next steps:

Check out cyberseek.org to learn more about the various cybersecurity certifications and security roles
Get practical experience / internship in cybersecurity role.
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Matthew’s Answer

I can speak most to CISSP. I have previously held this certification and have since intentionally let it lapse (not continued paying related fees). As others have stated, the CISSP is certainly a mile wide and an inch deep. You will be required to answer questions from fire suppression systems to encryption standards. While I am required to know encryption standards as the lead of a global incident response function, nobody should be looking to me to put out a fire in a data center. There was a time in my career when the industry had few academic degree programs. Then, certifications were one of the few ways to demonstrate knowledge without on job experience. I undoubtedly received value from holding the certificate earlier in my career as I'm sure it got my resume past certain HR gate checks and into a verbal interview where I could really advertise my value add. Currently, I don't miss having it and don't specifically look for it when hiring for my team.
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Kevin’s Answer

A CISSP is a fantastic certification to hold to demonstrate your broader knowledge of the security profession. From memory, a good portion of the test covers networking protocols and encryption so it is a good means to showcase your competency in this area. I can't speak to the CCNA but I anticipate it is still foundational to have from a security operations and architecture perspective.
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Brian’s Answer

Hi Naga,

I am currently a GRC manager that has transitioned from a networking role. Because of that I have both my CCNA and CISSP. I think as far as validity with respect to the networking role, CCNA is definitely a must. CISSP is a nice to have but only demonstrates that they have a basic understanding of all governance, risk, and compliance elements of security. There is some networking involved but I don't think CISSP will enable a network engineer to perform their job any better.
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