September 2006
August 2006
May 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
Applications for Certification
Since the release of the June 2006 exam results, a large number of applications have been received at
International Headquarters. Exam passers are reminded that they are not certified until they have
submitted their application and received approval from the board.
The CISA/CISM designation may not be used until that approval has been received. There are hundreds
of exam passers from the 2001-2005 exams who have not submitted their applications.
If you now meet all of the requirements, you should submit your application. If
you do not apply within five years of your exam date, your score is invalidated. Further application
details are available at www.isaca.org/cisaapp or www.isaca.org/cismapp.
2005 Audit
The deadline to return 2005 CISA audit support documentation was 31 July 2006. The deadline to
return 2005 CISM audit support documentation is 31 August 2006. Certificate holders who do not
respond will be subject to revocation. For questions, please contact the
certification department at certification@isaca.org.
CISA and CISM Among DoD approved Certifications
The US Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 8570.1, officially approved in December 2005,
requires DoD information assurance (IA) workers to obtain a commercial certification accredited
under ISO/IEC standard 17024. ISACA’s CISA and CISM certifications, accredited by the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI), are among only 13 certifications approved by the
DoD.
The DoD’s IA professionals are classified into two broad categories—information assurance
technical (IAT) and information assurance managerial (IAM)—that are each divided into three levels.
CISA is among the four approved baseline certifications for professionals in IAT level III, and
CISM is among the three approved certifications for professionals in IAM levels II and III.
US Federal Reserve System Requires CISA
To complete the training program for IT examiners at the US Federal Reserve System, candidates must
earn a passing score on ISACA’s CISA exam. The CISA designation is required before an
assistant IT examiner can be eligible for commissioning.
“As a bank regulator and a former member of a Governmental and Regulatory Agency (GRA) Board
task force, I am very pleased to see that the US Federal Reserve Banks are requiring the CISA
certification as part of the mandatory training for their auditors,” said Marcelo Héctor
González, CISA, general inspector of the Central Bank of Argentina. “CISA is a very important
certification for regulators, especially those in charge of controlling and supervising
different organizations with headquarters in different countries. With the globalization of
businesses, it is so important to have unified points of view, and CISA provides that.”
According to the Federal Reserve System, “The CISA program provides and measures the
achievement of fundamental audit, security and control skills. It is a globally accepted standard of
achievement among information system professionals.”
The Federal Reserve System also advises the assistant IT examiner to attend ISACA’s North America
Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) conference and complete the conference’s core
competencies track within 18 months of being hired.
CISA and CISM Continue to Gain Worldwide Recognition
The list of recognitions and rewards for the CISA and CISM certifications
continues to grow. For example, The National Stock Exchange (NSE) of
India has recognized the CISA designation as an integral facet of its system
auditing guidelines.
Has a major enterprise or governmental agency in your state, province or
country adopted a similar requirement? ISACA would like to hear from you.
Please send an e-mail detailing recognition of the CISA and/or CISM credential in
your country, province or state to lcongdon@isaca.org.
Microsoft Partner Program Includes ISACA Certifications
To create a skilled and innovative security partner ecosystem for its Security
Solutions Competency’s Partner Program, Microsoft announced in late
November 2005 a partnership with long-established certification programs
from ISACA and the International Information Systems Security
Certification Consortium (ISC)2.
The result is the first Microsoft Partner Program competency to include the
rigorous and sought-after third-party validations from ISACA and (ISC)2, as
well as the relevant Microsoft certifications, as core elements.
Kent Anderson, CISM, managing director of Network Risk Management
LLC and a member of ISACA’s CISM Certification Board, says it is vital
for information security managers to have expertise in business management
issues as well as to have services professionals with certifications working
with them. According to Anderson, the business world is beginning to
understand the importance of this and, as a result, ISACA’s CISA and CISM
designations have experienced unprecedented growth.