(Customised for Hyderabad for the December 2010
Exam)
Thanks for showing interest in ISACA and CISA.
Here are the most frequently asked questions,
which we hope will clarify most of your doubts. In case you need
further details you can log on to isaca.org/cisa
CISA
stands for Certified Information Systems Auditor.It
is
a globally accepted certification exam
conducted by ISACA twice a year – June and December. The mark of
excellence for
a professional certification program is the value and recognition it
bestows on
the individual who achieves it.Since
1978,
the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) program, sponsored by
ISACA®,
has been the globally accepted standard of achievement among
information
systems (IS) audit, control and security professionals.
With
more than
86,000 constituents in more than 160 countries, ISACA®
(www.isaca.org) is a
leading global provider of knowledge, certifications, community,
advocacy and
education on information systems assurance and security, enterprise
governance
of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance. Founded in 1969, ISACA
sponsors
international conferences, publishes the ISACA® Journal, and
develops
international information systems auditing and control standards. It
also
administers the globally respected Certified Information Systems
Auditor™
(CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®)
and Certified in the
Governance of Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) designations.
ISACA
developed and
continually updates the COBIT®, Val IT™ and Risk IT frameworks,
which help IT
professionals and enterprise leaders fulfill their IT governance
responsibilities and deliver value to the business.
Controls
are an essential feature of any Information System.Studying for CISA will enable one to
understand international best practices in the area of Information
Systems
Controls. It further enables one to understand the need to improve the
security
and efficiency of IT operations.
CISA
is recognized worldwide, by all industries, as the preferred
designation for IS
audit, control and security professionals.More
than 60,000 professionals have earned the
CISA since inception, so
clearly many people agree: earning the CISA is a good career move.
The exam
is open to all. There are no eligibility requirements.Software professionals, Chartered
Accountants, auditors, Banking professionals, executives and government
officials take up this exam for its applicability, international
recognition,
career enhancement options, and for improving their organizational
systems.
Please visit www.isaca.org/cisaexam.In this page, you see links
for Registration as well as other info relating to the exam.There is also a FAQ section. You can download
the Bulletin of Information regarding the CISA Exam from http://www.isaca.org/cisaboi.
CISA
exam is generally held on the second Saturday of June and December each
year.
The next exam is scheduled for Saturday, 11 December 2010. The last
date for
registration with early bird incentive is 5 August, 2010 and the final
registration deadline is 6 October, 2010.
Exam fee is
dependent on whether you are paying online or offline and also when you
are
registering for the examination. Online payments have a $50 rebate in
the exam
fee. In addition, you are also entitled to a $50 early bird incentive
in case
you register before 5 August, 2010.
You can also
explore becoming a member and register for the exam simultaneously. On
becoming
a member online and paying the registration fee simultaneously, you
have to pay
a marginally higher amount, but by paying this higher amount, you
become
entitled to all membership benefits including the ISACA Journal, access
to the
online ISACA Library, concession at the Local Chapter CISA Review Class
and
also attendance at the local chapter events. For more details of
membership
benefits refer to www.isaca.org/benefits.
Details of fee
payable and the comparison are given in the table below.
Particulars
Total cost including Membership Fee
Exam Fee for non-member
New Member
Processing Fee, Annual Fee and Local Chapter Fee
Exam Fee for
member
Total
Online payment before August 5,
2010
95
(membership
period ends Dec 31, 2010)
365
460
495
Online payment between August 6
and August 18, 2010
160
(membership
period ends Dec 31, 2011)
365
525
495
Online payment between August
19 and October 6, 2010
160
(membership
period ends Dec 31, 2011)
415
575
545
Offline payment before August
5, 2010
115
(membership
period ends Dec 31, 2010)
415
530
545
Offline payment between August
6 and August 18, 2010
180
(membership
period ends Dec 31, 2011)
415
595
545
Offline payment between August
19 and October 6, 2010
One can
either withdraw from appearing for the exam or defer taking the exam to
a
future date.There is a scheme for
deferring the exam on payment of a fee.The
exam can then be taken at the next
opportunity.Full details are available at
http://www.isaca.org/examdefer.
One can
either withdraw from appearing for the exam or defer taking the exam to
a
future date.There is a scheme for
deferring the exam on payment of a fee.The
exam
can
then be taken at the next
opportunity.Full details are available at
http://www.isaca.org/examdefer.
The paper consists of 200
multiple-choice questions to be answered in 4 hours,
covering six chapters viz.
(a)IS Audit process
(b)IT Governance
(c)Systems and Infrastructure
Lifecycle Management
(d)IT Service Delivery and
Support
(e)Protection of Information Assets and
(f)Business Continuity and
Disaster Recovery.
A brief
syllabus is contained in the Annexure to this document “CISA – Content Areas”.
Candidate scores are reported as a
scaled score.A scaled score is a
conversion of a candidate’s raw score on an exam to a common scale.ISACA uses and reports scores on a common
scale from 200 to 800.A candidate must
receive a score of 450 or higher to pass the exam.
a)ISACA publishes CISA Review Manual (CRM) every
year and that is the basis for starting studies.It
is
available for purchase from www.isaca.org.The
cost
is
$105
for members, and $135 for non-members.The
textbook
‘IS Audit and Control’ by
Ron Weber is another good resource.
b)The CISA Practice Questions Database V8 English Edition
(CD-ROM)Cost: $160 for members, and $195 for
non-members.It combines
the
700
questions,
answers and explanations included in the CISA Review
Questions, Answers & Explanations 2008.This
helps
you
to
understand how exam questions are framed.Website
download
is
also available.
c)IS Audit guidelines, procedures, Control Objectives in
Information Technology (COBIT version 4.1) – 40
guidelines have been published by ISACA on various aspects such as
General Usage of Internet, VPN, Internet Banking, Privacy, etc.A reading of these will give you what ISACA’s
thinking is on these areas.A
definite
bet
for
choosing correct answers in the exam.The
guidelines,
procedures and control
objectives can be downloaded from www.isaca.org.
