Cyber Security Competency Centre

Do you want to ensure that your team are engaging with best practise for protecting sensitive information?

Do you want to help contribute to keeping your work and your colleagues safe? Do you want to improve your skills and gain formal training and certification in modern cyber security?

The Cyber Security Competency Centre can help. We can offer free consultation, staff training, and technical support to help protect your department, centre or project. 

What is the Cyber Security Competency Centre?

Using various professional development paths to allow existing IT staff in departments, divisions, faculties, and colleges to become part of a distributed Competency Centre led by the Interim Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Tony Brett.

The Cyber Security Competency Centre was started in February 2023 and its first cohort received their formal accreditation from the British Computer Society in April 2023.

Training and certification in cyber security

The Cyber Security Competency Centre offer Certificate in Information Security Management Principles (CISMP) training. This free, in-person 4-day training course is externally accredited, certified course and open to colleagues from across the collegiate University.

Over 100 staff across all Divisions and 11 colleges have already received this training to boost their learning and support increased compliance within their department.

Departments, colleges and faculties trained include:

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News and Information about Training

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When will be the next session be?

The next dates have been confirmed. These are:

10 - 13 March 2025 at Linacre College

02 - 05 June 2025 at John Radcliffe

I’m not an IT professional, can I still sign-up?

Yes, you can. However, we will be rolling out a couple of courses that are appropriate for non-IT professionals. These will be announced in the coming months.

How do I sign-up?

Complete the form here to show your interest. We will add you to our waiting list and contact you directly when we have confirmed training dates.

How is the course structured?

The course is in-person and over four full days with an external trainer. The online exam can then be taken up to six months after you have done the training. Once passed you will be given a formal accreditation.

What happens after I complete the course?

Once you have passed the exam, you will receive the CISMP qualification.

Will I receive CIPD points when I complete the course?

Unfortunately you will not receive CIPD points, however, you will receive a professional qualification from the British Computer Society and a year's free membership.

  1. Ahead of time install Zoom and QuestionMark Secure.
  2. Also register on the BCS candidate portal. All those links are sent to you once you schedule your exam.
  3. Arrive 10 minutes before exam time and click on the Zoom link that's been emailed to you 24-hours before the exam (it's a one-way Zoom video / 2-way audio call with a screenshare for the duration of the exam).
  4. The invigilator checks your ID - ID held up to camera.
  5. You need to login to the BCS candidate portal while on that screenshare and the invigilator gives you an unlock code which you type into the portal.
  6. This unlocks a start button, which when clicked launches the QuestionMark Secure browser / the overview page of the exam.
  7. From this point on the invigilator can’t see your screen, but you're on camera and locked out of everything but the secure browser.
  8. You click to start the exam and off you go. There's a countdown of time remaining, top right.
  9. You verbally tell the invigilator when you are done, and then click End Exam.
  10. You get a provisional result immediately on screen.
  11. You will be asked to take a photo of the screen.
  12. The secure session will end.
  13. Zoom call ends.

Contact us 

cybersecurity-cc@it.ox.ac.uk 

Expression of interest

Sign up to express your interest in Certificate in Information Security Management Principles (CISMP) Training

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