RE: "Professional", RE: RE: CISSP Question

["David Harley" <david.a.harley () gmail com>]

>   The CISSP code of ethics explicitly recognizes all of the 
> qualities of a "profession", as described, except the 
> official government licensing stamp.  I believe there are 
> those whose ambition is for CISSP, or something like it, to 
> achieve that legal status.

Indeed. http://www.instisp.org/IISPINTRO.pdf for instance. (This kind of
relates to initiatives in other specific IT areas such as medical
informatics, as well as generally.) 

Legal recognition, or even recognition by other professions, isn't
altogether the point: perhaps the fact that a formidable number of
practitioners are bound by professional (or quasi-professional, if you
prefer) imperatives is more important. Implicitly or explicitly, working
responsibly and ethically is part of what holders of the better certs sign
up for. 

No doubt some fail to meet those standards: I've heard that the same is true
of some of the formally recognized professions... 

That doesn't mean, of course, that you can't work responsibly and ethically
if you don't have something like CISSP or GSEC. I just find it odd when
people assume that cert holders are usually at least incompetent and
probably dishonest...

-- 
David Harley CISSP
Security Author/Editor/Consultant/Researcher
Small Blue-Green World
AVIEN Guide to Malware:
http://www.smallblue-greenworld.co.uk/pages/avienguide.html
Security Bibliography:
http://www.smallblue-greenworld.co.uk/pages/bibliography.html