Class Overview & Benefits
Overview
SecureNinja's 5 Day Authorized FITSP-Designer training and certification boot camp in Washington, DC is designed to demonstrate that federal workforce personnel, both federal employees and contractors, possess the knowledge of federal IT security require-ments necessary to successfully design and de-velop the management, operational, and techni-cal IT security controls for systems owned by, or operated on behalf of, the federal govern-ment. This role deals with high-level, cost-effective, risk-based IT security design func-tions that assure program value is achieved within the ever-changing risk and evolving threat environments.
The FITSP-Designer certification is intended for federal workforce personnel, both federal employees and contractors, whose role is pri-marily focused on the design and development of systems owned by, or operated on behalf of, the federal government of the United States.
Requirements
Candidates are tested on a comprehensive Federal Body of Knowledge (FBK), which consists of a library of federal statutes, regu-lations, standards, and guidelines. The FBK is broken down into six domains and 21 IT security topic areas.
The exam is three hours in length and con-sists of 150 multiple choice questions focus-ing on the knowledge, skills and abilities that federal auditors must know.
Additionally, a minimum of five years of generic information systems security experi-ence is required. This experience can be in-side or outside the federal government.
Intended Audience
The following list highlights, but may not comprehensively capture, the commonly articulated roles characterized within federal statutory, regulatory, standards, and/or guidance docu-ments that relate to the FITSP-Designer certification:
- IT Security Engineer
- Programmer
- Security Engineer
- System Designer
- System Developer
Course Length
5 Days
Understanding the Federal IT Security Professional
FITSP Overview
There are a number of IT security certifications on the market today. However, most of these are generalist certifications that promote “international best practices” and methodologies common to all types of organizations. The FITSP certification program is different in that it helps validate the skills and knowledge of Federal employees and contractors against Federal standards and practices.
The FITSP certification addresses an important and needed role in validating the skills of IT security professionals against NIST standards and documentation. It is really the intersection of IT security skills, the NIST framework, and an independent third party certification validation of candidates to help increase the knowledge pool of Federal workers and contractors. The FITSP certification is positioned to help protect the nation’s critical infrastructure and by default the information that its people and citizens expect to have protected.
Certification Roles
When a candidate pursues the FITSP certification he or she selects from four roles. This means there are four different exams and a candidate can pursue one or all four roles to demonstrate competency in any of these areas. While the exams deal with the same domains, each role is tested on a different set of publications, themes, and topical areas that are relevant to each respective job role. These roles are:
Manager - The Manager role is designed for candidates who act in an oversight capacity with regard to IT security. Candidates for this are usually CISOs, ISMs, IAMs, etc. A candidate would earn a FITSP-Manager (FITSP-M) credential in this area.
Designer- The Designer role is designed for candidates who are tasked with designing and developing a system within an organization. These are usually system designers and developers, ISSEs, and other engineers. A candidate would earn a FITSP-Designer (FITSP-D) credential in this area.
Operator- The Operator role is designed for candidates who implement and operate an information system within an organization. These are usually the system and application administrators, system owners, ISSOs, DBAs and other personnel who manage and maintain the system. A candidate would earn a FITSP-Operator (FITSP-O) credential in this area.
Auditor- The auditor role is designed for candidates who review and audit the IT system. These are usually IT auditors that are found within the Inspector General community as well as public accounting companies. A candidate would earn a FITSP-Auditor (FITSP-A) credential in this area.
These functional roles are complimentary and consistent to those identified in NIST SP 800-16 Draft 1 (from March 2009) - Information Security Training Requirements: A Role and Performance Based Model.
FITSI is also pursuing ISO/IEC 17024 for the FITSP program. SecureNinja is an Authorized FITSI is the Federal IT Security InstituteTraining Center
Why FITSP?
Due to ongoing security threats to United States government information systems, the need for highly trained information security professionals within the Federal space has never been higher. Network and cyber attacks continue to become more sophisticated forcing the United States government to qualify the skills of professionals that work on Federal systems. Attempts have been made in the recent past to create a baseline of skills but none has mapped directly to the needs of the Federal government.
As an example, in 2005, the United States Department of Defense mandated a baseline of IT security skills through a directive known as DoD 8570.1. The knowledge verified by the certifications on the 8570.1 directive attempts to validate that IA personnel working on DoD systems possess an appropriate understanding of the concepts, principles, and applications to enhance the confidentiality, integrity and availability of DoD information, information systems, and networks. While these certifications measure IT security skills of professionals by validating them against industry best practices, they tend to neglect the direct needs of the federal government.
For many years NIST® (National Institute of Standards and Technologies) has developed standards, guidance, processes and practices for the Federal space regarding IT security and information assurance. There has yet to be a way to validate the skills of IT security and information assurance workers against this mandated framework. Until now. The FITSP certification synergizes the general knowledge of other security certifications, with the standards and practices that are being used by the United States Federal government.
For the past seven years (since 2002) the United States Congress has been tracking the security posture of Federal agencies with FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act). Yearly audits are conducted on each agency as to their compliance with NIST standards and a report card is submitted to Congress via OMB (the Office of Management and Budget). In 2007 the collective grading of the entire Federal government was only a C. The end objective of all agencies is to have a security program in place that protects the assets, operations, and people of the government by receiving an "A." While yearly progress has been made in the past six years by most agencies, there is still much work to be done.
The FITSP certification program will help by building awareness of appropriate NIST and other federal standards throughout the workforce and thus help increase the security posture of all Federal agencies.
About SecureNinja
SecureNinja Training is the DC’s Area’s #1 Expert IT Training Center . We are conveniently located in beautiful Historic Old Town Alexandria, VA enhancing your training experience and featuring:
- Metro Accessibility - Short walk from Metro Blue/Yellow Line (leave the car behind)
- 4 minute Drive to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
- Available Parking
- World class restaurants and shops at your footsteps
- Closest Expert IT & IT Security Training Center to Fort Belvoir, Boiling AFB, Fort Myer, Department of Homeland Security, US Department of Navy, US Coast Guard, Fort McNair, Washington Navy Yard and the Pentagon
Why Choose SecureNinja for your Washington DC Expert IT Training?
- Expert Instructors
- Highest Pass Rates
- Choose from Day, Evening & Weekend Classes to meet your busy schedule
- Accelerated Boot Camps Save You Time And Money
- Personal 1-1 Mentoring
- Paid Internships & Job Referrals!
- Meet Your DoD 8570-1 Certification Needs. Get Compliant!
- SecureNinja is the ONLY Testing Center that offers ALL 5 industry standard test vendors in the DC / Baltimore Metropolitan Area. ( VUE, Kryterion-Online, Certiport and Impact-Testing)
- Lowest Prices! We are locally based keeping our overhead low so we can pass the savings along to you
- Washington, DC is our Home. Most training centers set up shop in hotels or rented centers. When you have a need, request or encounter a problem they are not there to answer. Our physical location in Alexandria is open 7 days a week and our staff always there to help.
These training courses are only delivered as an onsite format for groups of 5 or more. Our world-class instructors will bring our on-demand turn-key solution directly to you. Contact us now for more details and pricing