Introduction

The Global ACE Certification is a holistic framework of cybersecurity professional certification that outlines the overall approach, independent assessments, impartiality of examinations, competencies of trainers, identification and classification of cyber security domains and the requirements of professional memberships.

The scheme is a large-scale systematic plan of actions to certify and recognise the cybersecurity workforce. It is industry driven and vendor-neutral, developed in collaboration with government agencies, industry partners and academia.

The establishment of the scheme is in tandem with international standards such as ISO 9001 on processes, ISO/IEC 17024 on certification of persons and ISO/IEC 27001 on security management, which is vital to:

• Assure workforce capability and experience;
• Secure and validate core skills, knowledge, attitude and experience; and
• Assure trustworthiness, ethical conduct, and responsibility

The Global ACE Certification aims to enhance the skill-sets of the cybersecurity workforce congruent with local and international requirements. Global ACE Scheme Recognition Arrangement permits mutual recognition of certified cybersecurity workforce across the country boundaries. It creates value for the cybersecurity industry and elevates the security-facet of participating countries.

Global ACE Certification Recognition Arrangement allows for mutual recognition of certified cybersecurity professionals, which creates value for the cybersecurity industry and participating countries.

Vision & Objectives

The vision is to create a critical mass of qualified and competent workforce with shareable expertise across the country boundaries.

The scheme has the following objectives:

• To establish a professional certification programme that is recognized globally;
• To provide cybersecurity professionals with the right knowledge, skills, attitude (KSA) and experience;
• To promote the development of cybersecurity professional programmes globally; and
• To ensure accredited personnel has been independently assessed and committed to a consistent and high quality service level

The Global ACE Framework

The heart of the Global ACE Certification is the framework that provides a standard base and means of acknowledging the “knowledge, skills and attitudes” for the workforce in the cyber security sector. The framework will be the base for impartial examinations and guideline for certifications. The framework encompasses two broad categories of domains (Figure 1) as below: