Several professional organizations currently have certification programs. Some involve only testing, while others also provide access to courses within a prescribed curriculum. In the academic community, a growing number of universities have undergraduate and graduate programs and research centers in information assurance and security. The federal government makes courses in information assurance and security available to its constituents. What is needed is a comprehensive framework for curriculum and certification in information assurance and security that addresses the management challenges as well as the technical challenges of protecting the nation s critical infrastructures.
Current activity focuses primarily on the technologies of information infrastructures.
However, long-term solutions for the protection of critical information assets will require a more comprehensive approach in which senior executives and managers, as well as technical staffs, develop strong and diverse skills that allow them to advance an organization s mission in a dynamic and increasingly hostile networked environment.