CompTIA unveiled a vendor-neutral certification, CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CSA+), the first of its kind to bring behavioral analytics to the forefront of assessing cyber threats.

The CompTIA CSA+ certification will offer broad-spectrum validation of knowledge and skills required to configure and use cyber-threat detection tools, perform data analysis and interpret the results to identify vulnerabilities, threats and risks to an organization. It certifies knowledge of a data-driven approach to information security.

"The Internet of Things is not only bringing greatly expanded capability to homes and businesses, it's also opening up potentially billons of new points of vulnerability that need to be secured," said CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux. "It's an economic and societal imperative to train and certify hundreds of thousands of IT professionals with the analytical skills they need to address the complexity and diversity of threats as they multiply."

"By placing greater emphasis on data analytics, we get a real-time, holistic view of the behavior of the network, its users and their devices to identify potential vulnerabilities and strengthen them before an intrusion happens," explained CompTIA's Senior Director for Products Dr. James Stanger.

"Armed with this information, cybersecurity professionals can more precisely identify potential risks and vulnerabilities so that resources can be allocated where they're most needed."

The demand for cybersecurity analysts is strong. The Bureau of Labor Statistics project growth of 18 percent from 2014 to 2024, making it the fastest growing job roles in the U.S. workforce -- not just in technology but across all categories.

"Data analytics is key," states Jim Lucari, Senior Manager of Certification at HP Enterprise. "Everybody in technology should have this CSA+. It should be mandatory if you're going to stay in IT over the coming decade."

The new CSA+ certification strengthens CompTIA's portfolio of security credentials. It bridges the skills gap between CompTIA Security+ and the CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) exam to create a vendor-neutral cybersecurity career pathway.

CompTIA Security+ is the benchmark for best practices in IT security, covering essential principles for network security and risk management.

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst+ focuses on skills associated with the use of threat detection tools, data analysis and the interpretation of results to identify vulnerabilities, threats and risks.

CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner certifies critical thinking and judgment across a broad spectrum of security disciplines.

CompTIA certifications validate proficiency in cloud computing, mobility, Linux, networking, security, storage and other mission-critical technologies.

CompTIA CSA+ has received a Certificate of Accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), signifying that it meets ISO/IEC 17024:2012 general requirements for personnel certifications.

www.comptia.org