The number of cyberattacks has reached epidemic proportions.
The total amount of monthly malware releases now exceeds 20 million instances. More than 11.5 billion records have been exposed through data breaches since 2005.
In 2019, four out of every five organizations experienced at least one successful cyberattack. More than one-third suffered six or more successful attacks.
It’s estimated that by 2021, a business will fall victim to a ransomware attack once every 11 seconds.
On a global scale, cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, an increase of 100 percent in just six years, representing the greatest transfer of economic wealth in human history.
Compounding the problem, 85 percent of organizations are experiencing a shortfall of skilled security professionals. The demand for certified professionals in information security has never been higher.
Fighting Cybercrime with Certified Professionals
When filling cybersecurity positions, an overwhelming majority of enterprises use the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) Security+ certification to verify security competency. Of the hundreds of security certifications currently available, Security+ is one of the most widely acclaimed security certifications.
The Security+ certification has become the keystone for today’s IT security professionals. It is internationally recognized as validating foundational-level security skills and knowledge.
The value for an IT professional who holds a CompTIA security certification is significant. On average, an employee with a CompTIA certification commands a salary between 5 and 15 percent higher than their counterparts with similar qualifications but lacking a certification.
Changes to the New Security+ Certification Exam
The new CompTIA Security+ certification exam SY0-601 is scheduled to be released in mid-November 2020. This new exam has many changes from the current SY0-501 exam, reflecting significant changes in cybersecurity.
When the SY0-501 Security+ exam was released in 2017, the emphasis on cybersecurity was reactive: organizations watched network traffic and then reacted when an attack occurred. Today, however, the focus on cybersecurity is not reactive, but proactive. The emphasis is on searching for evidence of an infiltration into an organization before the cyberattack itself begins.
In many instances, actually predicting an attack using artificial intelligence (AI) with machine learning (ML) is now being used. The new Security+ SY0-601 certification reflects these changes in the industry and prepares learners for these new job roles.
The Latest Edition of Security+
The new Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, 7e, will be available for instructors in November 2020. It will include the revised and newly released CompTIA SY0-601 exam, and map completely to the new exam’s objectives.
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