ISACA to update CISA exam in 2019

ISACA’s Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) certification is being updated in 2019 to reflect the industry trends impacting the IT audit profession. Updated CISA review materials and training courses will be offered beginning in March 2019 to prepare candidates for the new version of the exam, which will take effect in June 2019.

“Now in its 40th year, the CISA certification is more relevant than ever as effective deployment of technology and information systems is essential for enterprises to thrive in the digital economy,” said Kim Cohen, ISACA’s director of certification. “This content refresh for CISA, based on leading industry experts pinpointing the most beneficial knowledge and experience needed by global practitioners, will ensure CISA continues evolving to best serve certification-holders and their enterprises.”

While the five domains that comprise the CISA exam change will remain similar in 2019, the exam weighting will change, including emphasis on protection of information assets – a growing industry challenge. The breakdown for the five domains will be as follows:

Domain 1: Information system auditing process (21 percent)

Domain 2: Governance and management of IT (17 percent)

Domain 3: Information systems, acquisition, development and implementation (12 percent)

Domain 4: Information systems operations and business resilience (23 percent)

Domain 5: Protection of information assets (27 percent)

ISACA, which regularly updates its certification content to keep pace with industry demands and changes, recently completed a six-month assessment that resulted in the revised content outline. The CISA Practice Analysis Task Force was composed of nine expert members, and the collective expertise of more than 4,000 CISA-certified professionals from around the world also helped to develop the revised content outline.

CISA is ISACA’s longest-standing certification. There have been more than 140,000 CISA-certified professionals globally since the certification debuted in 1978. CISA is ranked among the top-paying certifications for 2018 in Global Knowledge’s IT Skills & Salary Report and was recognized by SC Media in 2017 as the Best Professional Certification Program. Foote Partners LLC’s most recent certifications compensation survey in October found the cash pay premium paid by employers for the CISA—currently averaging the equivalent of 13 percent of base salary—is higher than the 7.6 percent average for all 458 tech certifications they report.

“The CISA certification is regarded as the industry gold standard, in part because of ISACA’s commitment to providing the resources, tools and continuing education to ensure that our certification-holders stay current and relevant in their field long after they have passed their exam,” Cohen said. “No matter when a certification candidate takes the exam and regardless of updates to the exam over time, that commitment to our certified community remains steadfast.”