I am sure that many of you have already seen the wonderful news that CIISec has become part of the Engineering Council’s community as a professional body.
The award of a licence from the Engineering Council is such an important milestone for CIISec. It reflects the continued development and wider recognition of the cyber security profession and the value of the work that we do. As a profession we are still young and constantly evolving. For many years, discussions around cyber skills have focused on the need to attract new talent and address skills shortages. While those challenges remain, there is another equally important question: how do we recognise expertise and develop and retain experienced professionals as cyber careers mature, and as cyber security becomes increasingly critical across industries and society in general? Many of our community are responsible for managing cyber risk across entire organisations and protecting our CNI.
We all know that Cyber security is a diverse profession
Some practitioners build deep expertise in specialist disciplines such as security testing or incident response. Some remain deeply technical, whereas others progress into leadership and other more outward facing strategic roles. We need to recognise the expertise that each individual brings and the diversity of skills needed. We must also recognise that the future of cyber security does not depend solely on developing new specialists. Many of the capabilities our profession draw on more generalist skills, from leadership, governance, communication, risk management, problem management to understanding organisational resilience. These can be highly transferable from other sectors. We need to harness and build these skills within the community, creating clear pathways into cyber for experienced professionals from outside the industry. It is critical if we are to build the diverse and capable workforce the future demands.
All these skills are vital to the success of the profession, and deserve appropriate recognition
The profession already benefits from pathways that recognise specialist cyber expertise areas. What the Engineering Council licence enables CIISec to do is complement those routes by providing professional registration for the wider community of cyber professionals, including experienced leaders, managers and senior practitioners whose contributions often extend across multiple domains.
This distinction is important because many cyber careers do not follow a single specialist path. As professionals gain experience, they increasingly find themselves away from the coal face of operations and instead leading teams, influencing business strategy, overseeing resilience programmes and helping organisations respond to complex and evolving threats. Their success depends not only on technical knowledge, but also on professional judgement, leadership, communication and accountability.
These are the attributes that help organisations build trust, resilience and long-term security
For CIISec, securing this licence is a natural extension of our mission to advance professionalism across the expanding cyber security sector. Since our formation, we have worked to establish standards of competence, support professional development and create clear pathways for career progression. The licence from the UK’s regulatory body for the engineering profession recognises the strength of those foundations and provides another way for members to gain independent recognition of their achievements.
The benefits for members are significant
Professional registration provides assurance that an individual’s knowledge, experience and professional practice have been assessed against recognised standards. It demonstrates a commitment to professionalism and continuing development, while giving employers greater confidence in the capability and judgement of the people they employ.
At a time when cyber security is increasingly central to business resilience and organisational success, this kind of recognition has real value.
A key part of this journey has been the CIISec Skills Framework
For nearly two decades now, the framework has evolved to help employers, practitioners and educators understand what good cyber capability looks like across different roles and career stages. It provides a common language for skills, competencies and professional development, helping individuals plan their careers and organisations build stronger cyber teams.
The Skills Framework reflects a principle that has guided CIISec from the beginning: cyber security is a broad profession with many different routes to success. There is no single model of a cyber professional, and effective professional recognition must reflect that reality.
Professional registration builds on that foundation. It provides a pathway for individuals who have demonstrated not only expertise, but also the leadership, responsibility and professional commitment expected of experienced practitioners. It is about recognising the full breadth of the cyber security profession and ensuring that professionals at every stage of their careers have access to meaningful and respected forms of recognition. Technical specialists will always be essential, but so too are the professionals responsible for shaping strategy, building resilience, leading teams and helping organisations navigate an increasingly complex risk environment.
The Engineering Council licence strengthens CIISec’s ability to support both. It reinforces our commitment to professionalism, provides new opportunities for our members and marks another important step in the continued development of cyber security as a trusted and respected profession.
This profession has been very kind to me and given me a much-valued community. I am so pleased and grateful to everyone that has contributed to the journey so far.