CISSP Fix

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announces the official approval of the EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification program as a new baseline skills requirement for U.S.cyber defenders. Specifically, the new Certified Ethical Hacker program is required for the DoD’s computer network defenders (CND’s), a specialized personnel classification within the DoD’s information assurance workforce.

The Certified Ethical Hacker requirement falls under the auspices of DoD Directive 8570 Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program. The current version (incorporating Change 2) was signed by Assistant Secretary of Defense, John G. Grimes and was officially instated on February 25, 2010. Directive 8570 provides clear guidance to information assurance training, certification and workforce management across all components of the DoD.

The CND groups protect, monitor, analyze, detect, and respond to unauthorized activity within DoD information systems and computer networks.

With this directive, military service, contractors, and foreign employees across all job descriptions must show 100-percent compliance with the new Certified Ethical Hacker training requirement by 2011. This shows the DoD’s focus on better training and preparation of the U.S. military workforce in this area.

The Certified Ethical Hacker qualification tests the certification holder’s knowledge in the mindset, tools and techniques of a hacker, fortifying it’s certification tag line: “To beat a hacker, you must think like one.”

“It is one of the most technically advanced certifications on the directive for CND professionals. In fact, it is the only certification approved across four out of the five categories to prepare the CND teams. While other policy-based programs add value, CEH prepares the U.S. CNDs to combat hackers in real time, defending U.S. interests globally.”