C|CISO Domain Experience

Use the examples below each Domain to determine if your experience and expertise qualifies
you to take the C|CISO exam or the E|ISM exam. Here are the requirements:

• C|CISO Exam with Accredited Training – 5 years of experience in at least 3 of the 5

Domains
• C|CISO Exam without Accredited Training - 5 years of experience in each of the 5
Domains
• E|ISM Exam – Less than 5 years of experience or 5 years of experience in less than 3 of the 5
Domains

Domain 1: Governance (Policy, Legal & Compliance)

Qualifying areas under Domain 1 include (but are not limited to) the following:
§ Define, implement, manage and maintain an information security governance program that
includes leadership, organizational structures and processes.
§ Align information security governance framework with organizational goals and governance,
i.e., leadership style, philosophy, values, standards and policies.
§ Establish information security management structure.
§ Establish a framework for information security governance monitoring (considering
cost/benefits analyses of controls and ROI).
§ Understand standards, procedures, directives, policies, regulations, and legal issues that affect
the information security program.
§ Understand the enterprise information security compliance program and manage the
compliance team.
§ Analyze all the external laws, regulations, standards, and best practices applicable to the
organization.
§ Understand the various provisions of the laws that affect the organizational security such as
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA], Federal Information Security
§ Management Act [FISMA], Clinger-Cohen Act, Privacy Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.
§ Be familiar with the different standards such as ISO 27000 series, Federal Information
Processing Standards [FIPS].
§ Understand the federal and organization specific published documents to manage operations
in a computing environment.
§ Assess the major enterprise risk factors for compliance.
§ Coordinate the application of information security strategies, plans, policies, and procedures
to reduce regulatory risk.
§ Understand the importance of regulatory information security organizations and appropriate
industry groups, forums, and stakeholders.
§ Understand the information security changes, trends, and best practices.
§ Manage enterprise compliance program controls.
§ Understand the information security compliance process and procedures.
§ Compile, analyze, and report compliance programs.
 § Understand the compliance auditing and certification programs.
§ Follow organizational ethics.

Domain 2: IS Management Controls and Auditing Management

Qualifying areas under Domain 2 include (but are not limited to) the following:
o Information Security Management Controls:
§ Identify the organization’s operational process and objectives as well as risk tolerance level.
§ Design information systems controls in alignment with the operational needs and goals and
conduct testing prior to implementation to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
§ Identify and select the resources required to effectively implement and maintain information
systems controls. Such resources can include human capital, information, infrastructure, and
architecture (e.g., platforms, operating systems, networks, databases, applications).
§ Supervise the information systems control process to ensure timely implementation in
accordance with the outlined budget and scope, and communicate progress to stakeholders.
§ Design and implement information systems controls to mitigate risk. Monitor and document
the information systems control performance in meeting organizational objectives by
identifying and measuring metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
§ Design and conduct testing of information security controls to ensure effectiveness, discover
deficiencies and ensure alignment with organization’s policies, standards and procedures.
§ Design and implement processes to appropriately remediate deficiencies and evaluate problem
management practices to ensure that errors are recorded, analyzed and resolved in a timely
manner.
§ Assess and implement tools and techniques to automate information systems control
processes.
§ Produce information systems control status reports to ensure that the processes for
information systems operations, maintenance and support meet the organization’s strategies
and objectives, and share with relevant stakeholders to support executive decision-making.
o Auditing Management
§ Understand the IT audit process and be familiar with IT audit standards.
§ Apply information systems audit principles, skills and techniques in reviewing and testing
information systems technology and applications to design and implement a thorough risk-
based IT audit strategy.
§ Execute the audit process in accordance with established standards and interpret results
against defined criteria to ensure that the information systems are protected, controlled and
effective in supporting organization’s objectives.
§ Effectively evaluate audit results, weighing the relevancy, accuracy, and perspective of
conclusions against the accumulated audit evidence.
§ Assess the exposures resulting from ineffective or missing control practices and formulate a
practical and cost-effective plan to improve those areas.
§ Develop an IT audit documentation process and share reports with relevant stakeholders as the
basis for decision-making.
§ Ensure that the necessary changes based on the audit findings are effectively implemented in a
timely manner.
 Domain 3: Management – Projects and Operations (Projects,
Technology & Operations)
Qualifying areas under Domain 3 include (but are not limited to) the following:
o For each information systems project develop a clear project scope statement in alignment with
organizational objectives.
o Define activities needed to successfully execute the information systems program, estimate activity
duration, and develop a schedule and staffing plan.
o Develop, manage and monitor the information systems program budget, estimate and control costs
of individual projects.
o Identify, negotiate, acquire and manage the resources needed for successful design and
implementation of the information systems program (e.g., people, infrastructure, and architecture).
o Acquire, develop and manage information security project team.
o Assign clear information security personnel job functions and provide continuous training to ensure
effective performance and accountability.
o Direct information security personnel and establish communications, and team activities, between
the information systems team and other security-related personnel (e.g., technical support, incident
management, security engineering).
o Resolve personnel and teamwork issues within time, cost, and quality constraints.
o Identify, negotiate and manage vendor agreement and communication.
o Participate with vendors and stakeholders to review/assess recommended solutions; identify
incompatibilities, challenges, or issues with proposed solutions.
o Evaluate the project management practices and controls to determine whether business requirements
are achieved in a cost-effective manner while managing risks to the organization.
o Develop a plan to continuously measure the effectiveness of the information systems projects to
ensure optimal system performance.
o Identify stakeholders, manage stakeholders’ expectations and communicate effectively to report
progress and performance.
o Ensure that necessary changes and improvements to the information systems processes are
implemented as required.

Domain 4: Information Security Core Competencies

Qualifying areas under Domain 4 include (but are not limited to) the following:
o Access Control
§ Identify the criteria for mandatory and discretionary access control, understand the different
factors that help in implementation of access controls and design an access control plan.
§ Implement and manage an access control plan in alignment with the basic principles that
govern the access control systems such as need-to-know.
§ Identify different access control systems such as ID cards and biometrics.
§ Understand the importance of warning banners for implementing access rules.
§ Develop procedures to ensure system users are aware of their IA responsibilities before
granting access to the information systems.
o Social Engineering, Phishing Attacks, Identity Theft
§ Understand various social engineering concepts and their role in insider attacks and develop
best practices to counter social engineering attacks.
§ Design a response plan to identity theft incidences.
 § Identify and design a plan to overcome phishing attacks.
o Physical Security
§ Identify standards, procedures, directives, policies, regulations and laws for physical security.
§ Determine the value of physical assets and the impact if unavailable.
§ Identify resources needed to effectively implement a physical security plan.
§ Design, implement and manage a coherent, coordinated, and holistic physical security plan to
ensure overall organizational security.
§ Establish objectives for personnel security to ensure alignment with overall security goals for
the enterprise.
§ Design and manage the physical security audit and update issues.
§ Establish a physical security performance measurement system.
o Risk Management
§ Identify the risk mitigation and risk treatment processes and understand the concept of
acceptable risk.
§ Identify resource requirements for risk management plan implementation.
§ Design a systematic and structured risk assessment process and establish, in coordination with
stakeholders, an IT security risk management program based on standards and procedures and
ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.
§ Develop, coordinate and manage risk management teams.
§ Establish relationships between the incident response team and other groups, both internal
(e.g., legal department) and external (e.g., law enforcement agencies, vendors, and public
relations professionals)
§ Develop an incident management measurement program and manage the risk management
tools and techniques.
§ Understand the residual risk in the information infrastructure.
§ Assess threats and vulnerabilities to identify security risks, and regularly update applicable
security controls.
§ Identify changes to risk management policies and processes and ensure the risk management
program remains current with the emerging risk and threat environment and in alignment with
the organizational goals and objectives.
§ Determine if security controls and processes are adequately integrated into the investment
planning process based on IT portfolio and security reporting.
o Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
§ Develop, implement and monitor business continuity plans in case of disruptive events and
ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.
§ Define the scope of the enterprise continuity of operations program to address business
continuity, business recovery, contingency planning, and disaster recovery/related activities.
§ Identify the resources and roles of different stakeholders in business continuity programs.
§ Identify and prioritize critical business functions and consequently design emergency
delegations of authority, orders of succession for key positions, the enterprise continuity of
operations organizational structure and staffing model.
§ Direct contingency planning, operations, and programs to manage risk.
§ Understand the importance of lessons learned from test, training and exercise, and crisis
events.
§ Design documentation process as part of the continuity of operations program.
§ Design and execute a testing and updating plan for the continuity of operations program.
 § Understand the importance of integration of IA requirements into the Continuity of
Operations Plan (COOP).
§ Identify the measures to increase the level of emergency preparedness such as backup and
recovery solutions and design standard operating procedures for implementation during
disasters.
o Firewall, IDS/IPS and Network Defense Systems
§ Identify the appropriate intrusion detection and prevention systems for organizational
information security.
§ Design and develop a program to monitor firewalls and identify firewall configuration issues.
§ Understand perimeter defense systems such as grid sensors and access control lists on routers,
firewalls, and other network devices.
§ Identify the basic network architecture, models, protocols and components such as routers and
hubs that play a role in network security.
§ Understand the concept of network segmentation.
§ Manage DMZs, VPN and telecommunication technologies such as PBX and VoIP.
§ Identify network vulnerabilities and explore network security controls such as use of SSL and
TLS for transmission security.
§ Support, monitor, test, and troubleshoot issues with hardware and software.
§ Manage accounts, network rights, and access to systems and equipment.
o Wireless Security
§ Identify vulnerability and attacks associated with wireless networks and manage different
wireless network security tools.
o Virus, Trojans and Malware Threats
§ Assess the threat of virus, Trojan and malware to organizational security and identify sources
and mediums of malware infection.
§ Deploy and manage anti-virus systems.
§ Develop process to counter virus, Trojan, and malware threats.
o Secure Coding Best Practices and Securing Web Applications
§ Develop and maintain software assurance programs in alignment with the secure coding
principles and each phase of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
§ Understand various system-engineering practices.
§ Configure and run tools that help in developing secure programs.
§ Understand the software vulnerability analysis techniques.
§ Install and operate the IT systems in a test configuration manner that does not alter the
program code or compromise security safeguards.
§ Identify web application vulnerabilities and attacks and web application security tools to
counter attacks.
o Hardening OS
§ Identify various OS vulnerabilities and attacks and develop a plan for hardening OS systems.
§ Understand system logs, patch management process and configuration management for
information system security.
o Encryption Technologies
§ Understand the concept of encryption and decryption, digital certificates, public key
infrastructure and the key differences between cryptography and steganography.
§ Identify the different components of a cryptosystem.
§ Develop a plan for information security encryption techniques.
o Vulnerability Assessment And Penetration Testing
§ Design, develop and implement a penetration testing program based on penetration testing
methodology to ensure organizational security.
§ Identify different vulnerabilities associated with information systems and legal issues
involved in penetration testing.
§ Develop pre and post testing procedures.
§ Develop a plan for pen test reporting and implementation of technical vulnerability
corrections.
§ Develop vulnerability management systems.
o Computer Forensics And Incident Response
§ Develop a plan to identify a potential security violation and take appropriate action to report
the incident.
§ Comply with system termination procedures and incident reporting requirements related to
potential security incidents or actual breaches.
§ Assess potential security violations to determine if the network security policies have been
breached, assess the impact, and preserve evidence.
§ Diagnose and resolve IA problems in response to reported incidents.
§ Design incident response procedures.
§ Develop guidelines to determine whether a security incident is indicative of a violation of law
that requires specific legal action.
§ Identify the volatile and persistent system information.
§ Set up and manage forensic labs and programs.
§ Understand various digital media devices, e-discovery principles and practices and different
file systems.
§ Develop and manage an organizational digital forensic program.
§ Establish, develop and manage forensic investigation teams.
§ Design investigation processes such as evidence collection, imaging, data acquisition, and
analysis.
§ Identify the best practices to acquire, store and process digital evidence.
§ Configure and use various forensic investigation tools.
§ Design anti-forensic techniques.

Domain 5: Strategic Planning & Finance.

Qualifying areas under Domain 1 include (but are not limited to) the following:
• Strategic Planning
§ Design, develop and maintain enterprise information security architecture (EISA) by aligning
business processes, IT software and hardware, local and wide area networks, people,
operations, and projects with the organization’s overall security strategy.
§ Perform external analysis of the organization (e.g., analysis of customers, competitors,
markets and industry environment) and internal analysis (risk management, organizational
capabilities, performance measurement etc.) and utilize them to align information security
program with organization’s objectives.
§ Identify and consult with key stakeholders to ensure understanding of organization’s
objectives.
 § Define a forward-looking, visionary and innovative strategic plan for the role of the
information security program with clear goals, objectives and targets that support the
operational needs of the organization.
§ Define key performance indicators and measure effectiveness on continuous basis.
§ Assess and adjust IT investments to ensure they are on track to support organization’s
strategic objectives.
§ Monitor and update activities to ensure accountability and progress.
• Finance
§ Analyze, forecast and develop the operational budget of the IT department.
§ Acquire and manage the necessary resources for implementation and management of
information security plan.
§ Allocate financial resources to projects, processes and units within information security
program.
§ Monitor and oversee cost management of information security projects, return on investment
(ROI) of key purchases related to IT infrastructure and security and ensure alignment with the
strategic plan.
§ Identify and report financial metrics to stakeholders.
§ Balance the IT security investment portfolio based on EISA considerations and enterprise
security priorities.
§ Understand the acquisition life cycle and determine the importance of procurement by
performing Business Impact Analysis.
§ Identify different procurement strategies and understand the importance of cost-benefit
analysis during procurement of an information system.
§ Understand the basic procurement concepts such as Statement of Objectives (SOO),
Statement of Work (SOW), and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
§ Collaborate with various stakeholders (which may include internal client, lawyers, IT security
professionals, privacy professionals, security engineers, suppliers, and others) on the
procurement of IT security products and services.
§ Ensure the inclusion of risk-based IT security requirements in acquisition plans, cost
estimates, statements of work, contracts, and evaluation factors for award, service level
agreements, and other pertinent procurement documents.
§ Design vendor selection process and management policy.
§ Develop contract administration policies that direct the evaluation and acceptance of delivered
IT security products and services under a contract, as well as the security evaluation of IT and
software being procured.
§ Develop measures and reporting standards to measure and report on key objectives in
procurements aligned with IT security policies and procedures.
§ Understand the IA security requirements to be included in statements of work and other
appropriate procurement documents.