SSCP degree requirement

uchihadave

Hi,

I have a B.Sc in Computer Science from 13 years ago. It was a 3-year degree major in computer science back then. Just a plain old major in Computer science degree from the old days without any cybersec materials in it. 

Am I eligible for SSCP cert?

Below is the quote I taken from their SSCP Website:

"One Year Prerequisite Pathway

Candidates may satisfy the one year work experience requirement if they earn a degree from an accredited college or university or regionally equivalent education program. For purposes of certification, (ISC)² looks for the following characteristics of an approved cybersecurity degree:

1)  The degree originates from a cybersecurity program which addresses cyber, information, software and infrastructure security topics within its requirements;

or

2)   Is one of the following preapproved degree programs:

• Computer Science
• Computer Engineering
• Computer Systems Engineering
• Management Information Systems (MIS)
• Information Technology [IT]

The list of preapproved degree programs will be updated periodically.

Verification of Work and Education Experience

Activities that do not relate to the domains of the (ISC)² SSCP CBK cannot be included in the reported number of years of experience. If non-qualifying activities are included, that experience will be deducted. Examples of proof of employment include employment contracts, letters, and other documents on company letterhead showing the dates you worked at the company/organization.

Experience and education is subject to random audit. Erroneous information will be referred to the ethics committee and could jeopardize your endorsement and certification."

Please advise.
Thanks

yoba222

Looks like a yes to me.

Over the years and from the dozen or so certs that I've both earned and for which I've submitted continuing education points, I've drawn a conclusion: Many of these cert companies barely even glance at what you submit to them.

They mainly rely on sternly worded prerequisites that someone once wrote and published and then for us to worry and self-police based on those prereqs. For enforcement, they pretty much all take the lazy approach of "as long as it looks decent at a glance, not going to even look at it."

As long as you're not blatantly cheatіng and your work/education evidence argument is reasonable and not obviously fake (e.g. puppy mill degree and completely fabricated work exp), you'll be fine.

SteveLavoie

In case of SSCP, if during the last few years, you were into a sysadmin position. you must likely qualify for the experience requirement. Don't forget SSCP is a technical exam and not a management exam, so their domain are much more technically aligned. Read the Exam outline and most task are somewhat sysadmin related. 

JDMurray

You have a "3-year degree" in CS? Was this from a university outside of the USA? If so, you should contact the (ISC)2 and confirm that they will accept your CS degree as fulfilling the requirement for the SSCP certification. At one time, the (ISC)2 only accepted degrees from 4-year universities. I'm not sure if that's still true. Only the (ISC)2 can give you an official answer.

UnixGuy

In UK, Australia, NZ, CS degrees are 3 years as far as I know

uchihadave

Actually my degree is from one of the top University in Canada. But it was a long long time ago and I grad the last year they issue the 3-year degree.  After that they are all now 4-year degree.  So think about it like one of those old-timer 3-year B.Sc degree...

SteveLavoie said:

In case of SSCP, if during the last few years, you were into a sysadmin position. you must likely qualify for the experience requirement. Don't forget SSCP is a technical exam and not a management exam, so their domain are much more technically aligned. Read the Exam outline and most task are somewhat sysadmin related. 

No system admin experience, but I have over 5 years of software QA manual testing experience(Nothing cybersecurity related unfortunatelyl).  So i have to rely on my degree to satisfy that one year of SSCP experience.

SteveLavoie

uchihadave said:

Actually my degree is from one of the top University in Canada. But it was a long long time ago and I grad the last year they issue the 3-year degree.  After that they are all now 4-year degree.  So think about it like one of those old-timer 3-year B.Sc degree...

SteveLavoie said:

In case of SSCP, if during the last few years, you were into a sysadmin position. you must likely qualify for the experience requirement. Don't forget SSCP is a technical exam and not a management exam, so their domain are much more technically aligned. Read the Exam outline and most task are somewhat sysadmin related. 

No system admin experience, but I have over 5 years of software QA manual testing experience(Nothing cybersecurity related unfortunatelyl).  So i have to rely on my degree to satisfy that one year of SSCP experience.

Sorry.. too often I assume that people come from a sysadmin/networking background to IT Security.