RecordMove

Ethical hacker to director of compliance and information security

An ethical hacker already meets 58% of what the director of compliance and information security role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From ethical hacker

Partial match

To director of compliance and information security

7 You already bring

5 Still to learn

12 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

35.1/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what a director of compliance and information security is expected to do is already part of an ethical hacker’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the director of compliance and information security role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A director of compliance and information security role treats 7 of its required skills as things an ethical hacker already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

ICT security legislation
ICT security standards
cyber security
implement ICT risk management
implement ICT security policies
information security strategy

What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A director of compliance and information security role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ethical hacker background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held manage IT security compliances working with computers
already held implement ICT risk management information skills
already held ICT security standards information and communication technologies (icts)
already held information security strategy information and communication technologies (icts)
already held cyber security services
already held ICT security legislation business, administration and law

All 7 carried skills, including the 7 the director of compliance and information security role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 5 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 management skills 2 required

still to learn ensure compliance with policies required
still to learn lead a team required

02 assisting and caring 1 required

still to learn ensure compliance with legal requirements required

03 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required

still to learn cooperate with colleagues required

04 information skills 1 required

still to learn keep up-to-date with regulations required

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a director of compliance and information security role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 7 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held ICT security legislation knowledge
already held ICT security standards knowledge
already held cyber security knowledge
already held implement ICT risk management skill
already held implement ICT security policies skill
already held information security strategy knowledge
already held manage IT security compliances skill

0 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

67 held skills the director of compliance and information security role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role Aircrack (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role Backbox (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role BlackArch knowledge
not needed by the target role Cain and Abel (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT encryption knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT network security risks knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT safety skill
not needed by the target role ICT system integration knowledge
not needed by the target role Internet of Things knowledge
not needed by the target role John The Ripper (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role Kali Linux knowledge
not needed by the target role Maltego knowledge
not needed by the target role Metasploit knowledge
not needed by the target role Nessus knowledge
not needed by the target role Nexpose knowledge
not needed by the target role OWASP ZAP knowledge
not needed by the target role Open source model knowledge
not needed by the target role Outsourcing model knowledge
not needed by the target role Parrot Security OS knowledge
not needed by the target role Samurai Web Testing Framework knowledge
not needed by the target role WhiteHat Sentinel knowledge
not needed by the target role Wireshark knowledge
not needed by the target role address problems critically skill
not needed by the target role analyse the context of an organisation skill
not needed by the target role attack vectors knowledge
not needed by the target role building systems monitoring technology knowledge
not needed by the target role communicate with stakeholders skill
not needed by the target role computer forensics knowledge
not needed by the target role computer programming knowledge
not needed by the target role conduct ICT code review skill
not needed by the target role cyber attack counter-measures knowledge
not needed by the target role define security policies skill
not needed by the target role develop code exploits skill
not needed by the target role engage with stakeholders skill
not needed by the target role ethical hacking principles knowledge
not needed by the target role ethics knowledge
not needed by the target role execute ICT audits skill
not needed by the target role execute social engineering tests skill
not needed by the target role execute software tests skill

27 further entries not listed here

Index

Other moves recorded from ethical hacker

Full index of moves from ethical hacker

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ethical hacker become a director of compliance and information security?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. An ethical hacker already covers 58% of what a director of compliance and information security is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 7 of which the director of compliance and information security role treats as required.

What skills does an ethical hacker need to become a director of compliance and information security?

5 required skills are missing, plus 0 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is cooperate with colleagues.

How hard is the move from ethical hacker to director of compliance and information security?

Its learning distance is 35.1 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.