Preparing for implementation: professional certification under DOD directive 8570.1

This paper focuses on the implementation of the Department of Defense (DOD) directive, 8570.1. This will require DOD information security personnel to attain an information assurance (IA) certification that has been accredited under the new ISO/IEC 17024 standard. The directive applies to all DOD personnel, to include contactors, with responsibility for working with information technology (IT) systems. The linkage to ISO/IEC 17024 is important as this international standard ensures that the certifications approved for DOD personnel adhere to recognized principles and practices for credentialing individuals, in this instance information security professionals. This paper will describe how one leading professional certification organization, the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² plans to meet this challenge and provide DOD personnel with a full range of ISO 17024 conformant certifications available on a global basis