The UK Government recently announced plans to develop a Cyber Security Profession in the UK. The initiative, which was announced in December last year, will include different specialisms and Chartered status for cyber security professionals. The announcement laid out the following timeline:

By March 2020:

  • The early development and alignment of a coherent set of career specialism pathways, both into and through the cyber security profession, clearly identifiable and widely agreed across the cyber security sector and with government. This should include the alignment and coordination of the vast range of valuable professional qualifications and certifications which span both vocational and academic certification already available. It should also allow for inclusion of future qualifications that may be introduced to support legislation and technological advancement.
  • A draft Code of Ethics, agreed voluntarily between participating cyber security professional organisations, which is applicable across the whole of the cyber security sector.

By the end of 2020:

  • Fully developed proposals for, and early implementation of, a common Royal Chartered Status for individuals to aspire to across the range of cyber security specialisms. This should represent the gold standard of expertise, excellence and professional conduct in the profession, and be integrated into the framework of existing qualifications and certifications. Cyber security professionals should have a clear and consistent view about how they progress towards obtaining the status.
  • Clear proposals for how the Code of Ethics would be applied and enforced fairly, robustly and consistently across signatory organisations.

By March 2021:

  • A framework, agreed across the profession, setting out the comprehensive alignment of career pathways through the profession, leading towards a nationally recognised career structure adopted by the whole UK cyber security sector. The framework will include full implementation of routes to Chartered Status for cyber security professionals across all specialisms in cyber security.
  • Also planned is full implementation and application of the Code of Ethics with signatory organisations.

For more information, see the full report here.