Microsoft to introduce security certifications

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,81715,00.html

[From The Unknown Security Person...  
don't people who certify ..  need to be experts themselves?]


By CAROL SLIWA 
JUNE 02, 2003
Computerworld 

Microsoft Corp. tomorrow will announce its first set of certification
credentials for IT administrators and engineers who specialize in
security in a Windows environment.

Dan Truax, director of business and product strategy for training and
certification at Microsoft, noted that the company has offered
security courses for years. But he said Microsoft decided to take the
extra step of creating a formal credential in recognition of the
number of customers that now specialize in that type of job.

The announcement of the new certifications is scheduled to be made
during a keynote address by Scott Charney, Microsoft's chief security
strategist, at the company's TechEd 2003 conference in Dallas.

The more rigorous of the two certifications being introduced is the
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE): Security on Microsoft
Windows 2000. To achieve that status, an engineer must pass six core
exams and demonstrate a "security specialty" by taking a test on
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000 or an
exam administered by the Computing Technology Industry Association,
better known as CompTIA.

The requirements are essentially the same as for an ordinary MCSE
certification, except the security candidate has to take the core
security design exam and a security implementation exam that Microsoft
introduced in January, along with the ISA Server or CompTIA exam.

The other new certification - Microsoft Certified Systems
Administrator (MCSA): Security on Microsoft Windows 2000 - requires
the four exams needed for a typical MCSA certification, plus one
additional exam. One core exam on the client operating system and two
on networking systems are mandated along with the security
implementation exam and either the ISA Server or CompTIA exam.

Certifications aren't yet available for Windows Server 2003, but
they're expected to become available later this year, according to
Truax.

Truax said Microsoft was first approached last summer about creating a
special security credential. Customers and partners subsequently
advised the company not to create credentials similar to any that
already exist in the industry, but rather to focus on offering a
certification specific to the Microsoft software environment, he said.  
"Our goal was to complement what exists in the industry, not to
compete with it," Truax said.

How important the new certifications will be to IT shops is unclear.  
Charles Emery, senior vice president and CIO at Horizon Blue Cross
Blue Shield of New Jersey in Newark, said he views the new Microsoft
programs as positive for the industry. But he also noted that Horizon
Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn't use certifications as hiring criteria,
because it has often found that certification holders have no
practical experience.

Mike Lines, an Indianapolis-based manager of technical integration at
Bell Industries Tech.logix Group, said that as a provider of
outsourced IT services, his company requires all of its engineers to
carry the MCSE credential. Lines said he definitely will have a couple
of engineers take the new security certification exams.

But one certified Microsoft trainer, who asked not to be identified,
said it's difficult for any vendor to develop a security curriculum
for its own products. He said third parties, such as the SANS
Institute, tend to take a more critical and thorough approach.



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