Registration Now Available for New Cisco Certification Exams
Who among us hasn't driven past a movie theater in the week before the release of a hotly anticipated new film and seen moviegoers, including some with sleeping bags and snacks, patiently assembled in a line outside the theater? Well, now that you mention it, it's not the sort of thing that happens regularly anymore, what with pre-assigned seating and online ticket purchasing. It used to happen, though, and now perhaps the nearest thing to that in the IT certification world has popped up regarding the pending release of Cisco's new certifications. The new credentials won't actually be released until Feb. 24. As reiterated in a post to the Talking Tech with Cisco blog at the end of last week, however, interested parties can now register to take the new certification exams. Cisco exams are administered by Pearson VUE. We haven't heard an actual report of certification candidates camping out at the nearest testing center to await their exam ... but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
Tim Berners-Lee Launches Campaign to Save the Internet
The British computer scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web (and you thought it was Al Gore) is standing up for his creation. Earlier this week Tim Berners-Lee launched an ambitious effort to create a new "Contract for the Web." The new "global plan of action to make our online world safe and empowering for everyone" involves cooperation among governments, companies, and citizens. Broadly speaking, the contract rests on three principles to be enacted by the members of each group. Governments would be responsible to ensure access, stability, and freedoms of expression and privacy. Companies would make the web affordable, respect the privacy of individuals, and develop technologies to "support the best" and "challenge the worst" of human impulses. Citizens would create and collaborate, build strong communities founded on respect, and "fight for the web." As noted at the Contract for Web site, "It took all of us to build the web that we have. It will take all of us to secure its future."
ISACA Cautions Internet Users to Beware the Dark Web
Speaking of the internet, among the bugaboos that people like Tim Berners-Lee would probably like to see cleaned up is the digital subdivision known as the dark web. There is a benign aspect of the dark web that caters to individuals for whom privacy is paramount. The anonymity that makes the dark web a haven for privacy protectionists, however, also makes it a magnet for criminal activity. A new post this week to the ISACA Now Blog of cybersecurity and governance association ISASA says that illicit activity on the dark web is a threat to both individuals and organizations that should not be overlooked. If you've never given much thought to the dark web, it's worth clicking over to the blog to have a look.
Salary Survey: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
The annual Salary Survey conducted by Certification Magazine is about to transition from its data gathering stage to the data analysis stage. Each year the CertMag team reaches out to individuals around the globe who have IT certifications and invites them to share information about their salary and other related items. Among its more popular outputs is a list of 75 tech certifications and the average annual salary of survey respondents who hold those credentials. There's still time to make your voice heard, but the countdown clock is definitely ticking: The survey is scheduled to end on Friday. There is a "what's in it for me" component. Everyone who participates can choose to receive a free one-year subscription to the digital edition of Certification Magazine. And there is also a smattering of $50 Amazon gifts (15 of them, to be exact) that will be distributed at random among all of those individuals who complete the survey.
That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to the GoCertify News Editor.
Privacy Policy Update
We have updated our Privacy Policy to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)