Real world hands-on experience |
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| 08 Sep 2005 | Information Shield |
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A successful information security manager is not going
to use your organization as the proving ground for
untested theories or ideas. This manager needs to be
immediately credible -- your organization can't afford to
take the risks that are involved in developing credibility over time. He or she must have relevant prior experience
in the real world of information security, and ideally this
would be both as an external consultant and also as an
internal information security manager. This will give
the manager a taste for what it's like to work in the
information security field and will allow the manager to
bring that prior experience to bear on the problems your
organization is facing. Hands-on experience not only
helps prevent the manager from making stupid mistakes
or taking positions that are clearly inconsistent with
standard industry practices, it also most importantly
buys the information security manager a lot of
additional credibility. This credibility will be very
important when selling information security to various
constituencies such as top management and internal
technical staff. One additional benefit to having an
information security manager with prior hands-on
experience is that he or she knows what they are getting
into when they take a job and will therefore be less likely
to quit after several months because the job didn't turn
out to be what the manager hoped it would be.
INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGER QUALIFICATIONS
 Introduction
Excellent communication skills
Good relationship management skills
Ability to manage many important projects simultaneously
Ability to resolve conflicts between security and business objectives
Ability to see the big picture
Basic familiarity with information security technology
Real world hands-on experience
Commitment to staying on top of the technology
Honesty and high-integrity character
Familiarity with information security management
Tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty
Demonstrated good judgement
Ability to work independently
A certain amount of polish
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Information Security Roles and Responsibilities Made Easy, Version 2
By Charles Cresson Wood
278 pages; $495
Published by Information Shield
Download Appendix B, Personal Qualifications
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