Find Your Cybersecurity Career Pathway

Turn ISAU learning into career outcomes.

Knights for Life

Once a Knight, Always a Knight.

Graduating from your course is not the end—it’s the beginning of your journey as part of the ISAU community. Your membership continues to support you with resources, mentorship, and a professional network that stays with you throughout your career.

Become a Knight

Why Pathways Matter

ISAUnited Pathways helps you turn effort into outcomes. The School of Engineering Cyber Defense gives you structured training and hands-on evaluation, so you can build real-world evidence of skill, advance faster, and earn your Certified Professional License.

Career Path Options

Security-by-Design (The Implementer)

The Implementer ensures Security by Design is applied consistently in day to day delivery

Career Focus - secure development lead, DevSecOps engineer, or program manager who institutionalizes SbD across teams.
Future Growth - move into governance roles, SbD program management, or CPL stamp CSbDP.

Implement

Cybersecurity Engineering (The Engineer)

The Engineer builds secure systems that work under real operational pressure.

Career Focus - Network, system, and cloud engineers who evolve into defensive engineers.
Future Growth - Progress into senior engineering leadership, system design authority, or CPL stamp CPCE.

Build

Cybersecurity Architecture (The Architect)

The Architect designs the security structure, defining the patterns, boundaries, and decisions that guide the build.

Career Focus - solution/enterprise architects who shape defensible architectures.
Future Growth - advance into principal architect, enterprise security strategist, or CPL stamp CPCA.

Design

Pathway Outcomes

Pathway 1: SECD Coursework + Capstone Evaluation

This is the learning route, and it is built for growth.

Complete SECD self-paced courses mapped to the chosen CPL track
Produce artifacts along the way (design docs, requirements, specifications, evidence)
Finish with a capstone project evaluation, not multiple-choice exams
Capstone is scored using an evaluation rubric aligned to technical outcomes and traceability

Pathway 2: Direct CPL Evaluation for Experienced Practitioners

This is the experience route, built for credibility without re-schooling.

For applicants with 7 to 10 years of relevant technical experience
No courses required
Complete the capstone project evaluation, not multiple-choice exams
Earn the CPL through a structured evaluation

What This Pathway Unlocks

Increase Your Market Value

Stand Out with Proof

Move Up Faster

Build Real Engineering Credibility

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Why Join ISAUnited?

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Become a Member Today

Membership Types

Get Involved

Technical Fellow Society Our Society is a prestigious body of seasoned experts whose leadership and counsel guide the advancement, integrity, and operations of our cybersecurity architecture and engineering mission.

ISAUnited Credentials, Certifications, & Accreditation

Click here for an overview:

Certified Professional Licenses (CPL)

Team Training & CAE Certification

Security by Design Accreditation

The School of Engineering Cyber Defense

Learning Starts Here

Professional Programs

Student Resouces

Find Your Pathway

Join Knights Nation Online school for cyber architecture & engineering—build a portfolio and follow a clear path to CPL.

ISAUnited's Defensible 10 Standards

Visit Defensible10.org Explore the open standards library, download the 2025 Draft Edition, and join the Open Season to contribute Sub-Standards that advance true cybersecurity engineering.

Security Standards

Security Controls

Security Design

Launching Fall 2025. ISAUnited’s Defensible 10 Standards offer a vendor-neutral, engineering-grade blueprint across ten core security domains for provable security by design beyond compliance.

U.S. Cyber Architecture and Engineering Report Card

Coming 2026 — Defensible Grades. Transparent scoring. Repeatable methods. Public accountability.

About

ISAUnited's Core Divisions & Programs

Cybersecurity Architecture

Cybersecurity Engineering

Security by Design

Cyber Sciences

Coming 2026 — Cybercrime Division. A new ISAUnited department that fuses cyber-criminal intelligence, digital forensics, and U.S. cyber-law insight to sharpen every architecture and engineering decision.

Our Practices in Cybersecurity Architecture & Engineering

Overview

Fundamentals

Enterprise Security Architecture Design Frameworks and practices for enterprise-scale, defensible architectures.

NEW Mastering Security by Design Your field guide to turning goals into defensible designs—principles, models, and methods.

Our Story & Mission

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Who We Are

Enterprise Security Architecture Body of Knowledge. The ESABOK from ISAUnited empowers architects and engineers to navigate architecture conformity and standardized processes for secure design confidently.

Find Your Cybersecurity Career Pathway

Turn ISAU learning into career outcomes.

Knights for Life

Once a Knight, Always a Knight.

Why Pathways Matter

Career Path Options

Pathway Outcomes

What This Pathway Unlocks

Guest

Members

Technical Fellow Society

Our Society is a prestigious body of seasoned experts whose leadership and counsel guide the advancement, integrity, and operations of our cybersecurity architecture and engineering mission.

Join Knights Nation

Online school for cyber architecture & engineering—build a portfolio and follow a clear path to CPL.

Visit Defensible10.org

Explore the open standards library, download the 2025 Draft Edition, and join the Open Season to contribute Sub-Standards that advance true cybersecurity engineering.

Launching Fall 2025.

ISAUnited’s Defensible 10 Standards offer a vendor-neutral, engineering-grade blueprint across ten core security domains for provable security by design beyond compliance.

Coming 2026 — Defensible Grades.

Transparent scoring. Repeatable methods. Public accountability.

Coming 2026 — Cybercrime Division.

A new ISAUnited department that fuses cyber-criminal intelligence, digital forensics, and U.S. cyber-law insight to sharpen every architecture and engineering decision.

Enterprise Security Architecture Design

Frameworks and practices for enterprise-scale, defensible architectures.

NEW Mastering Security by Design

Your field guide to turning goals into defensible designs—principles, models, and methods.

Enterprise Security Architecture
Body of Knowledge.

The ESABOK from ISAUnited empowers architects and engineers to navigate architecture conformity and standardized processes for secure design confidently.