RE: CISSP Question

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

> Sometimes, and I don't know why, I see that when people have 
> a certain degree or certification or job, they don't want to 
> see other people do the same.  I am not sure why -- I don't 
> think I would be any kind of threat hear in little Eastern 
> North Carolina to anyone overseas, etc.

I can't say that never happens, but I can't say I've seen much of it in the
security field. As far as CISSP specifically is concerned, recommendation by
a member in good standing is often part of the certification process. There
does have to be pre-existing trust between the parties, of course, and
that's part of the package: the recommender has to be responsible and
professional (in a fairly general sense) about agreeing to recommend. But
"spreading the word" and encouraging others to sign up is part of the
package for most (ISC)2 members, IMHO. I don't think discouraging others
from aspiring to the same level of qualification from fear of competition is
very professional, but I haven't noticed any evidence of it in this thread.

The more candidates for quality certs the better, as long as the standard
required for attaining them remains high: raising the general level of
awareness and competence benefits us all in some way. More quality certs in
the marketplace might make competition for a given job stiffer, but a cert
is still only an indicator. It's rarely the deciding factor - interviewers
take (or should take) many other factors into consideration. As James
Simmons suggests, someone with a cert has, in some ways, more to prove and
more to live up to. 

-- 
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