The UK Cyber Security Council and ISACA are announcing a partnership for the Audit and Assurance programme at ISACA´s London Chapter Annual Conference this week, with ISACA serving as the awarding body for Audit and Assurance Professional Titles.

ISACA is a global professional association helping individuals and organisations in their pursuit of digital trust. It has more than 170,000 members worldwide and developed the globally recognised Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) credentials. This partnership crosses the boundaries of the cybersecurity and audit professions combining ISACA’s global knowledge and good practices in those domains and the local expertise, authority and understanding of the UK market of the UK Cyber Security Council, targeting a UK-tailored result that is aligned with global frameworks.

The Audit and Assurance scheme follows the launch of the Council’s inaugural pilots in Cyber Security Governance and Risk Management and Secure System Architecture and Design last year, with Security Testing also launching earlier this year.

The pilot forms part of the Council’s work to introduce a universally recognised professional standard across the cyber industry, which will allow practitioners to be certified at either Associate, Principal or Chartered level across 16 specialisms.

UK Cyber Security Council CEO, Professor Simon Hepburn, says: “We are very proud to be partnering with ISACA on our new Audit and Assurance programme, which is another step towards our goal of helping cyber professionals gain the recognition they deserve and enabling businesses to make informed choices around cyber recruitment.”

“The UK Cyber Security Council and ISACA will also be launching a new podcast series which will explore the Council, partners and cyber professionals’ journey toward standardising the cyber profession. The podcast will draw on the expertise of the sector and explain the various steps taken and challenges faced when standardising Audit and Assurance”.

The podcast is due to launch later in the year, with a full announcement coming from the Council. Each episode will be available on all major streaming platforms and the UK Cyber Security Council website.

Chris Dimitriadis, Chief Global Strategy Officer at ISACA, adds: “ISACA is pleased to work with the UK Cyber Security Council to develop a next-generation Cyber Security Audit Standard for the UK. ISACA provides global good practices in the digital trust domains of cybersecurity, audit, privacy, risk, and governance of digital technology. As part of the Cyber Strategy 2022's emphasis on building a world-class UK cyber ecosystem, ISACA continues to support measures to meet the UK’s technical skills and capability gaps as well as ensuring a diverse cyber profession is enacted across the nation.”

Achieving Associate, Principal or Chartered status against the Council’s professional standard will provide practitioners with an independent seal of approval, with their status recorded on a secure register of practitioners. Information about the project, including updates and registration details, will be made available in 2023. We encourage interested individuals to check the council website for the latest news.