This industry-leading certification trains professionals to succeed at the highest executive levels of the security industry.
Course summary
C|CISO will develop and hone your skills to effectively perform as a top-level information security officer. We will equip you with the business and technical expertise to succeed at the highest levels of the cybersecurity industry.
Information security management principles
Business acumen
General technical knowledge
Strategic security portfolio management
Financial management
Course information
The Certified CISO course combines technical knowledge with executive management principles. It covers the five C|CISO domains, ensuring a holistic understanding of information security from a leadership perspective.
Cutting-edge knowledge
Gain insights into the latest trends in the security industry, leadership methodologies, and security technologies.
A focus on risk management
CCISO aligns with all the popular risk management frameworks so you can be fully compliant.
Emphasis on new developments
Such as AI, augmented reality, autonomous security operations centers, and dynamic deception.
Learning through war games
Build skills with interactive sessions that mimic what happens during a security breach.
Financial management proficiency
Gain expertise in budgeting and cost optimization to efficiently align cybersecurity needs with organizational financial goals.
Master the boardroom language
Build confidence in presenting cybersecurity strategies that align with executive priorities, effectively bridging the gap between technical insights and business objectives.
Why C|CISO Certification
Why should you consider the C|CISO program?
EC-Council’s Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO) Program has certified leading information security professionals around the world. A core group of high-level information security executives, the C|CISO Advisory Board, formed the foundation of the program and outlined the content covered by the exam, body of knowledge, and training. Some members of the Board contributed as authors, others as exam writers, others as quality assurance checks, and still others as instructors. Each segment of the program was developed with the aspiring and sitting CISO in mind and looks to transfer the knowledge of seasoned executives to the next generation of leaders in the areas that are most critical in the development and maintenance of a successful information security program.
The Certified CISO certification is ANAB-accredited and designed to meet the rigorous ISO/IEC 17024 standards. It is also an approved baseline certification under DoD Directive 8570/8140, providing an excellent opportunity for advancement in the U.S. military and is recognized by the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
Course Outline
C|CISO are Certified in the Knowledge of and experience in the following C|CISO Domains:
Domain 1: Governance and Risk Management
Governance
Define, implement, manage and maintain an information security governance program that includes leadership, organizational structures, and processes.
Align information security governance framework with organizational goals and governance, i.e., leadership style, philosophy, values, standards, and policies.
Establish information security management structure.
Establish a framework for information security governance monitoring (considering cost/benefits analyses of controls and ROI).
Understand standards, procedures, directives, policies, regulations, and legal issues that affect the information security program.
Understand the enterprise information security compliance prog
Risk Management
Create a risk management program policy and charter
Create a risk assessment methodology and framework
Create and manage risk register
Create risk assessment schedule and checklists
Create risk reporting metrics and processes
Domain 2 : Information Security Controls, Compliance and Audit Management
Information Security Management Controls
Identify the organization’s operational process and objectives
Design information systems controls in alignment with the operational needs and goals and conduct testing prior to implementation to ensure effectiveness
Identify and select the resources required to effectively implement and maintain information systems controls. Such resources can include human capital, information, infrastructure, and architecture (e.g., platforms, operating systems, networks, databases, applications)
Design and implement information systems controls to mitigate risk. Monitor and document the information systems control performance in meeting organizational objectives by identifying and measuring metrics and key performance indicators
Design and conduct testing of information security controls to ensure effectiveness, discover deficiencies, and ensure alignment with the organization’s risk management program
Design and implement processes to appropriately remediate deficiencies and evaluate problem management practices to ensure that errors are recorded, analyzed, and resolved in a timely manner
Assess and implement tools and techniques to automate information systems control processes.
Measure, manage, and report on security control implementation and effectiveness
Compliance
Analyze and understand common external laws, regulations, standards, best practices applicable to the organization, and organizational ethics.
Be familiar with international security and risk standards such as ISO 27000 and 31000 series
Implement and manage information security strategies, plans, policies, and procedures to reduce regulatory risk
Understand the importance of regulatory information security organizations and appropriate industry groups and stakeholders
Understand information security changes, trends, and best practices
Understand and manage enterprise compliance program controls, information security compliance process and procedures, compliance auditing, and certification programs
Understand the information security compliance process and procedures
Compile, analyze, and report compliance programs
Understand the compliance auditing and cortication programs
Follow organizational ethics
Audit Management
Understand the IT audit process and be familiar with IT audit standards
Apply information systems audit principles, skills and techniques in reviewing and testing information systems technology and applications to design and implement a thorough risk-based IT audit strategy
Execute the audit process in accordance with established standards and interpret results against defined criteria to ensure that the information systems are protected, controlled and effective in supporting organization’s objectives
Evaluate audit results, weighing the relevancy, accuracy, and perspective of conclusions against the accumulated audit evidence
Assess the exposures resulting from ineffective or missing control practices and formulate a practical and cost-effective plan to improve those areas
Develop an IT audit documentation process and share reports with relevant stakeholders as the basis for decisionmaking
Ensure that the necessary changes based on the audit findings are effectively implemented in a timely manner
Domain 3 : Security Program Management & Operations
Security Program Management
For each information systems project develop a clear project scope statement in alignment with organizational objectives
Define activities needed to successfully execute the information systems program, estimate activity duration, and develop a schedule and staffing plan
Develop, manage and monitor the information systems program budget, estimate and control costs of individual projects
Identify, negotiate, acquire and manage the resources needed for successful design and implementation of the information systems program (e.g., people, infrastructure, and architecture)
Acquire, develop and manage information security project team
Assign clear information security personnel job functions and provide continuous training to ensure effective performance and accountability
Direct information security personnel and establish communications, and team activities, between the information systems team and other security-related personnel (e.g., technical support, incident management, security engineering)
Security Program Operations
Resolve personnel and teamwork issues within time, cost, and quality constraints
Identify, negotiate and manage vendor agreement and community
Participate with vendors and stakeholders to review/assess recommended solutions; identify incompatibilities, challenges, or issues with proposed solutions
Evaluate the project management practices and controls to determine whether business requirements are achieved in a cost-effective manner while managing risks to the organization
Develop a plan to continuously measure the effectiveness of the information systems projects to ensure optimal system performance
Identify stakeholders, manage stakeholders’ expectations, and communicate effectively to report progress and performance
Ensure that necessary changes and improvements to the information systems processes are implemented as required
Domain 4 : Information Security Core Competencies
Access Control
Identify the criteria for mandatory and discretionary access control, understand the different factors that help in implementation of access controls and design an access control plan
Implement and manage an access control plan in alignment with the basic principles that govern the access control systems such as need-to-know
Identify different access control systems such as ID cards and biometrics
Understand the importance of warning banners for implementing access rules
Develop procedures to ensure system users are aware of their IA responsibilities before granting access to the information systems
Social Engineering, Phishing Attacks, Identity Theft
Understand various social engineering concepts and their role in insider attacks and develop best practices to counter social engineering attacks
Design a response plan to identity theft incidences
Identify and design a plan to overcome phishing attacks
Physical Security
Identify standards, procedures, directives, policies, regulations, and laws for physical security
Determine the value of physical assets and the impact if unavailable
Design, implement and manage a comprehensive, coordinated, and holistic physical security plan to ensure overall organizational security including an audit schedule and performance metrics
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
Develop, implement, and monitor business continuity, business recovery, contingency planning, and disaster recovery plans in case of disruptive events and ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives
Direct contingency planning, operations, and programs to manage risk
Design documentation process as part of the continuity of operations program
Design and execute a testing and updating plan for the continuity of operations program
Understand the importance of integration of IA requirements into the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).
Firewall, IDS/IPS and Network Defense Systems
Understand and manage network cloud security
Identify the appropriate intrusion detection and prevention systems for organizational information security
Design and develop a program to monitor firewalls and identify firewall configuration issues
Understand perimeter defense systems such as grid sensors and access control lists on routers, firewalls, and other network devices
Identify the basic network architecture, models, protocols and components such as routers and hubs that play a role in network security
Understand the concept of network segmentation
Manage DMZs, VPN and telecommunication technologies such as PBX and VoIP
Identify network vulnerabilities and explore network security controls such as use of SSL and TLS for transmission security
Support, monitor, test, and troubleshoot issues with hardware and software
Manage accounts, network rights, and access to systems and equipment
Wireless Security
Identify vulnerability and attacks associated with wireless networks and manage different wireless network security tools
Virus, Trojans and Malware, and other Malicious Code Threats
Assess the threat of virus, Trojan and malware to organizational security and identify sources and mediums of malware infection
Deploy and manage anti-virus systems
Develop process to counter virus, Trojan, and malware threats including training both security teams and non-security teams on secure development processes
Secure Coding Best Practices and Securing Web Applications
Develop and maintain software assurance programs in alignment with the secure coding principles and each phase of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Understand various system-engineering practices
Configure and run tools that help in developing secure programs
Understand software vulnerability analysis techniques including static code, dynamic code, and software composition analysis.
Install and operate the IT systems in a test configuration manner that does not alter the program code or compromise security safeguards
Identify web application vulnerabilities and attacks and web application security tools to counter attacks
OS Hardening
Identify various OS vulnerabilities and attacks and develop a plan for hardening OS systems
Understand system logs, patch management process and configuration management for information system security
Encryption Technologies
Understand the concept of encryption and decryption, digital certificates, public key infrastructure and the key differences between cryptography and steganography
Identify the different components of a cryptosystem
Develop a plan for information security encryption techniques
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing
Design, develop and implement a penetration testing program based on penetration testing methodology to ensure organizational security
Identify different vulnerabilities associated with information systems and legal issues involved in penetration testing
Develop pre and post testing procedures
Develop a plan for pen test reporting and implementation of technical vulnerability corrections
Develop vulnerability management systems
Threat Management
Create and manage a threat management program including threat intelligence, thirdparty threats, and security bulletins regarding hardware and software, particularly open-source software
Incident Response and Computer Forensics
Develop a plan to identify a potential security violation and take appropriate action to report the incident
Comply with system termination procedures and incident reporting requirements related to potential security incidents or actual breaches
Assess potential security violations to determine if the network security policies have been breached, assess the impact, and preserve evidence
Diagnose and resolve IA problems in response to reported incidents
Design incident response procedures including testing, table top exercises, and playbooks
Develop guidelines to determine whether a security incident is indicative of a violation of law that requires special legal action
Identify the volatile and persistent system information
Set up and manage forensic labs and programs
Understand various digital media devices, e-discovery principles and practices and different file systems
Develop and manage an organizational digital forensic program
Establish, develop and manage forensic investigation teams
Design investigation processes such as evidence collection, imaging, data acquisition, and analysis
Identify the best practices to acquire, store and process digital evidence
Configure and use various forensic investigation tools
Design anti-forensic techniques
Application Security
6.1 Secure SDLC Model
6.2 Separation of Development, Test, and Production Environments
6.3 Application Security Testing Approaches
6.4 DevSecOps
6.5 Waterfall Methodology and Security
6.6 Agile Methodology and Security
6.7 Other Application Development Approaches
6.8 Application Hardening
6.9 Application Security Technologies
6.10 Version Control and Patch Management
6.11 Database Security
6.12 Database Hardening
6.13 Secure Coding Practices
Virtualization Security
8.1 Virtualization Overview
8.2 Virtualization Risks
8.3 Virtualization Security Concerns
8.4 Virtualization Security Controls
8.5 Virtualization Security Reference Model
Cloud Computing Security
9.1 Overview of Cloud Computing
9.2 Security and Resiliency Cloud Services
9.3 Cloud Security Concerns
9.4 Cloud Security Controls
9.5 Cloud Computing Protection Considerations
Transformative Technologies
10.1 Artificial Intelligence
10.2 Augmented Reality
10.3 Autonomous SOC
10.4 Dynamic Deception
10.5 Software-Defined Cybersecurity
Domain 5 : Strategic Planning, Finance, Procurement, and Third-Party Management
Strategic Planning
Design, develop and maintain enterprise information security architecture (EISA) by aligning business processes, IT software and hardware, local and wide area networks, people, operations, and projects with the organization’s overall security strategy
Perform external analysis of the organization (e.g., analysis of customers, competitors, markets and industry environment) and internal analysis (risk management, organizational capabilities, performance measurement etc.) and utilize them to align information security program with organization’s objectives
Identify and consult with key stakeholders to ensure understanding of organization’s objectives
Define a forward-looking, visionary and innovative strategic plan for the role of the information security program with clear goals, objectives and targets that support the operational needs of the organization
Define key performance indicators and measure effectiveness on continuous basis
Assess and adjust security resources to ensure they support the organization’s strategic objectives
Monitor and update activities to ensure accountability and progress
Finance
Analyze, forecast and develop the operational budget of the security department
Acquire and manage the necessary resources for implementation and management of information security plan
Allocate financial resources to projects, processes and units within information security program
Monitor and oversee cost management of information security projects, return on investment (ROI) of key purchases related to IT infrastructure and security and ensure alignment with the strategic plan
Identify and report financial metrics to stakeholders
Balance the IT security investment portfolio based on EISA considerations and enterprise security priorities
Understand the acquisition life cycle and determine the importance of procurement by performing Business Impact Analysis
Identify different procurement strategies and understand the importance of costbenefit analysis during procurement of an information system
Understand the basic procurement concepts such as Statement of Objectives (SOO), Statement of Work (SOW), and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Collaborate with various stakeholders (which may include internal client, lawyers, IT security professionals, privacy professionals, security engineers, suppliers, and others) on the procurement of IT security products and services
Include risk-based security requirements in acquisition plans, cost estimates, statements of work, contracts, and evaluation factors for award, service level agreements, and other pertinent procurement documents
Design vendor selection process and management policy
Develop contract administration policies that direct the evaluation and acceptance of delivered IT security products and services under a contract, as well as the security evaluation of IT and software being procured
Develop measures and reporting standards to measure and report on key objectives in procurements aligned with IT security policies and procedures
Understand the IA security requirements to be included in statements of work and other appropriate procurement documents
Third Party Management
Design third party selection process
Design third party management policy, metrics, and processes
Design and manage the third party assessment process including ongoing compliance management
Develop measures and reporting standards to measure and report on key objectives in procurements aligned with IT security policies and procedures
Include risk-based security requirements in acquisition plans, cost estimates, statements of work, contracts, and evaluation factors for award, service level agreements, and other pertinent procurement documents
Understand the security, privacy, and compliance requirements to be included in Statements of Work (SOW), Master Service Agreements (MSA), and other appropriate procurement documents
Eligibility
To take the C|CISO exam without participating in the training course, candidates must provide proof that they have 5 years of experience in each of the C|CISO domains. Candidates who do participate in the C|CISO training program must show 5 years of experience in three of the C|CISO domains to take the exam.
Candidates who do not have 5 years of experience in three of the C|CISO domains for the C|CISO training but have 2 years of experience in at least 1 domain (or who currently hold either the CISSP, CISM or CISA certifications) are qualified for the Associate C|CISO program.
Or
Be an academic student enrolled within an EC-Council Academia Partner, having completed a minimum of 30 post-secondary credit hours taken a course using the official C|CISO Academia Series courseware are qualified for the Associate C|CISO program.
Exam details
To earn the C|CISO, every applicant must pass the exam covering all 5 C|CISO domains, regardless of experience in each domain. The exam consists of 150 multiple-choice questions administered over a two-and-a-half-hour period. The questions on the exam require extensive thought and evaluation.
There are three cognitive levels tested on the C|CISO exam:
Level 1
Knowledge: This cognitive level of questions is used to recall memorized facts. This is the most basic cognitive level rarely accepted on certifications as it merely recognizes the candidate’s ability to memorize information. It can be effectively used when asking for basic definitions, standards or any concrete fact.
Level 2
Application: This cognitive level of questions is used to identify the candidate’s ability to understand the application of a given concept. It differs from Knowledge based questions in the sense that it requires the understanding and correct applicability of a given concept – not just the concept itself. This type of question often quires additional context before the actual question is provided in the stem.
Level 3
Analysis: This cognitive level of questions is used to identify the candidate’s ability to identify and resolve a problem given a series of variables and context. Analysis questions differ greatly from Application based questions in the sense that they require not only the applicability of a concept but also how a concept, given certain constraints, can be used to solve a problem.
Please see the exam blueprint.
Note: Students opting for the Associate C|CISO exam must get tested on only two cognitive levels of the above viz.
Level 1: Knowledge & Level 2: Application. To learn more about the Associate C|CISO program
Who is Certified CISO for?
Cybersecurity professionals
Drive your cybersecurity career forward with a top-tier credential providing specialized skills
Teams and organizations
Turbocharge your team’s cybersecurity knowledge and protect your business
Government and military
We’re highly trusted globally by government departments and defense bodies
Educators and trainers
Create and grow your own cybersecurity courses and programs
