DoD 8570.1 and Security+

I've occassionally heard people ask about the popularity of CompTIA Security+ certification in the past few years. What is driving so many people to seek this certification?


One of the big driving factors is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) directive named DoD 8570.1. This directive mandates many IT professionals employed in the government to have specific certifications. Some of the common certifications are CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ and the people required to have the different certifications are military personnel, civilian employees and civilian contractors.

While civilian companies aren't mandated to have employees with these certifications, they are much more competitive when they compete for IT service contracts if some of their employees have the certifications.

Darril Gibson