(ISC)² establishes advisory boards for greater member engagement in fight against cyber crime

Advisory boards was established by (ISC)² to behave as a resource for industry, government and special interest groups.

The information security professional body is spearheading the volunteer-led effort to deal with what it feels is a consultation gap in public policy development, and to boost IS professionals' impact on broad efforts to give protection to society.

The European Advisory Board (EAB) will co-ordinate cyber security consultation and volunteer support from around the professional community for initiatives aimed toward protecting against cyber crime; improving the public's ability to defend itself against cyber risks; and addressing the lack of skilled professionals available to satisfy business and society's current and future IS requirements.

Talking to SC Magazine, John Colley, managing director EMEA at (ISC)² and co-chair of the EAB, said these initiatives are designed to enable members to get entangled beyond their organisation and to observe the larger academic picture.

He said: “In computer science degrees there is no such thing as a modules in security, so these boards can champion find out how to get entangled with academia.

“The structure can be projects on the bottom with specialist areas and an advisory board member answerable for reporting back. The Cyber Security Challenge is calling on the skills gap and resources, but we want more security in universities and more mentoring.

“This is giving us the talents and capability to interact our 12,000 members in EMEA to become involved with what's important.”

Karen Price OBE, chief executive of e-skills UK, said: “Ensuring that the united kingdom has a workforce, from entry level right as much as the board, that's conversant in cyber security threats and ready to tackle them is a genuine priority. We're committed to improving expertise across industry and participating with employers, training providers and organisations corresponding to (ISC)² to attain this.”