CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor)

Certified Information Systems Auditor
1. What is the CISA certification?

Certified Information Systems Auditor, CISA is a globally valued certification devised and offered by ISACA that helps IT professionals gain expertise in monitoring, managing, and protecting the IT and business systems in the organizations. Passing the CISA certification helps you achieve globally recognized credentials and get recognized as a proficient IT auditor having competencies to assess the vulnerabilities and security architecture in the enterprise environment.

CISA is an all-inclusive certification that focuses to instill in-depth understanding of the stepsof an IT audit process including planning, studying controls and their evaluation, testing and reevaluation, documenting findings, and following up to ensure the utmost protection.

2. How does CISA help IT auditors?

CISA helps audit managers, IT auditors, consultants and security professionals by explaining crucial audit elements- policy, plan and procedures. CISA enables the certified professionals to gain expertise in IT auditing skills over their peers. A CISA certified professional acquires extensive know-how in assessing vulnerabilities, understanding internal security controls structure and/or reinforce effective controls, and reporting complianceto ensure mitigation of potential cyber threats.

Awarded by ISACA, the CISA credential is the gold standard to authenticate the understanding and competencies of IT audit professionals in the information systems and security domains.

3. What does CISA certification cover?

CISA is a rigorous exam that focuses to assess your technical understanding on various IT audit areas categorized into various domains. The five CISA domain ensure to imbibe in-depth understanding of the IT audit process, tools, technologies, and other related aspects with hands-on exposure.

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

4. Who should take the CISA exam?

According to ISACA, the CISA credential is a trusted and mandatory qualification for the role of IS auditor who is accountable to create a secure environment for the entire workforce and the organization with the support of other IT professionals by identifying potential security threats, patching and securing the organizational infrastructure including desktops,network, and external software systems.

IT aspirants intending to start a career or working IS professionals intending to excel in their chosen roles must take earn the CISA credentials. Besides information system security auditor, CISA helps beginners to get into the roles

IS/IT consultants
IS/IT audit managers
Security professionals
Non-IT auditors

The CISA certification from ISACA is a DoD (Department of Defense) approved certification under DOD 8570 at IAT Level III, that specifically focuses to explain the CND auditing. According to a research, over 31,000CISA certified professionals are employed as managers and consultants and around 2,800+ CISA certified professionals are shouldering the roles of CEO, CFO, CIO or CXO.

5. Do you need any experience to apply for CISA?

ISACA’s globally valued CISA certification puts an eligibility criteria of having an experience of five years of in IS auditing, control or security, up to three years of experience with a college degree or equivalent course. You need to acquire detailed understanding of all five CISA domains to pass the exam for attaining CISA credentials.

The CISA achievers and the members of ISACA required to accord to the Code of Professional Ethics and follow a CPE (continuing professional education) program involving at least 20 CPE contact hours annually to maintain a minimum of 120 CPE contact hours for a fixed periodof threeyears. The compliance with the Information Systems Auditing Standards of ISACA is an additional requirement.

6. When does the exam happen?

The CISA exam has a fixed schedule. This year the exam registration will open between February – May 24, 2018 and June – September 23, 2018 testing windows.

7. How to prepare for CISA Exam?

A CISA review online course is offered by ISACA that serves as a self-paced learning roadmap for the aspiring candidates. A CISA self-assessment exam is also available, comprising of 50 sample questionscovering vital topics on the IT and/or security in addition to the general auditing principles.

It is recommended take a professional CISA preparation training from InfoSec Train, offered as a five-day course schedule that exclusively focuses to explain core CISAexam essentials with hands-on exposure to help you pass the CISA exam with striking scores.

8. How can you maintain your CISA certification?

You have to earn CPE credits to maintain your CISA credentials like other ISACA certifications. This can be effortlessly achieved by attending conferences like the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) conferences or the 2018 General Audit Management Conference to stay updated. Participating in the 2018 North America CACS Conference to be held in Chicago, Illinois aiming to demonstrate the IS audit, control, assurance, and governance,can help you earn up to 39 CPE hours through its hands-on workshopspre- and post-conference.

The IIA’s International Conference, to be held at Dubai WorldTrade Centre Convention Centre, UAE also registers importance as a training and networking event to enable the internal audit professionals worldwide. At this event, there will be 2,500+ audit industry practitioners and providers from 100+ countries present who want to keep up with the trends and emerging issues in the internal audit profession; it is a place to learn of new tools to enhance how auditors function with innovative practices. In addition, the 2018 All Star Conference that was held at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV expertly explained the impact of internal audit environment presently and in future.