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CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) is an independent information security certification granted by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, also known as ISC2.
As of December 2025, there were 191,036 ISC2 members holding the CISSP certification worldwide.
In June 2004, the CISSP designation was accredited under the ANSI ISO/IEC Standard 17024:2003. In 2024, the CISSP certification and its associated training programs were also formally approved by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under DoDD 8140, which details qualifications for work roles in cybersecurity, cyber enablers and Information Technology (IT). DoDD 8140 replaces DoDD 8570, which also recognized the CISSP in the Information Assurance Technical (IAT), Managerial (IAM), and System Architect and Engineer (IASAE) categories for certification requirement.
In May 2020, The UK National Academic Recognition Information Centre assessed the CISSP qualification as a Level 7 award, the same level as a master's degree. The change enables cyber security professionals to use the CISSP certification towards further higher education course credits and also opens up opportunities for roles that require or recognize other Level 7 qualifications such as postgraduate diplomas and master's degrees.