Michael Esola

Certifications

More than sixty industry certifications, fifty-three of them independently verifiable through Credly. Every credential below with a link opens its verification page — the badge images alone prove nothing, so the links are the point.

Artificial intelligence

Five AI-specific credentials from four certifying bodies, covering the security, audit, governance, and management-system sides of the same problem the book addresses.

AAISM Advanced in AI Security Management ISACA AAIA Advanced in AI Audit ISACA SecAI+ Security and AI CompTIA

Alongside AIGP — Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional from the IAPP, and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Lead Implementer, the management-system standard for AI.

Security leadership and architecture

• CISSP — Certified Information Systems Security Professional
• C|CISO — Certified Chief Information Security Officer
• ISSEP — Information Systems Security Engineering Professional
• ISSMP — Information Systems Security Management Professional
• CISM — Certified Information Security Manager
• CGEIT — Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT
• SecurityX — CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner, formerly CASP+
• Cybersecurity Architect Expert — Microsoft Certified
• SSCP — Systems Security Certified Practitioner
• CC — Certified in Cybersecurity

The CISSP with all three concentrations — engineering, management, and architecture-adjacent — is held by a small fraction of CISSP holders.

Identity and access management

All three issued by the Identity Management Institute. Identity is where the Responsibility pillar of the CORE framework lives — an autonomous agent is a non-human identity operating under a delegation of authority from a named person.

• CIGE — Certified Identity Governance Expert
• CIMP — Certified Identity Management Professional
• CIAM — Certified Identity and Access Manager

Audit, risk, and standards

• ISO/IEC 42001:2023 — Lead Implementer, AI management systems
• CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor
• CRISC — Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control
• ISO/IEC 27001 — Lead Implementer
• ISO/IEC 27001 — Lead Auditor
• ISO/IEC 27001 — Internal Auditor
• CCAK — Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge
• LCSPC — Lead Cybersecurity Professional, NIST CSF

Privacy and information governance

• FIP — Fellow of Information Privacy
• CDPSE — Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer
• IGP — Information Governance Professional
• CIPM — Certified Information Privacy Manager
• CIPT — Certified Information Privacy Technologist
• CIPP/US — Information Privacy Professional, United States
• CIPP/E — Information Privacy Professional, Europe
• CIP — Certified Information Professional, AIIM
• CDMP — Certified Data Management Professional, DAMA
• CIGO — Certified Information Governance Officer

Cloud and zero trust

• CCSP — Certified Cloud Security Professional
• AWS Certified Security — Specialty
• CCSK v.4 — Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge
• CCZT — Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust
• ZTCA — Zscaler Zero Trust Cyber Associate
• Azure Security Engineer Associate — Microsoft Certified
• Cloud+ — CompTIA

Operations, detection, and offensive testing

• CRTO — Red Team Operator, Zero Point Security
• CPPT — Certified Penetration Testing Professional, INE
• eJPT — Junior Penetration Tester, INE
• CCOA — Certified Cybersecurity Operations Analyst
• CySA+ — Cybersecurity Analyst
• PenTest+ — Penetration Testing
• CEHPC — Ethical Hacking Professional
• CEH — Certified Ethical Hacker
• ECSA — EC-Council Certified Security Analyst
• CNDA — Certified Network Defense Architect
• CHFI — Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator

Infrastructure and networking

• CCNA — Cisco Certified Network Associate
• Security+ — CompTIA
• Network+ — CompTIA
• Linux+ — CompTIA
• Server+ — CompTIA
• A+ — CompTIA

Teaching, delivery, and process

• CTT+ — CompTIA Virtual Classroom Trainer
• MCT — Microsoft Certified Trainer, 2026
• PMP — Project Management Professional
• Project+ — CompTIA
• CSM — Certified ScrumMaster, Scrum Alliance
• SMPC — Scrum Master Professional
• KEPC — Kanban Essentials Professional
• ITIL Foundation — Version 5, PeopleCert
• ITIL 4 Foundation — IT service management, PeopleCert
• CQT — Certified Quality Technician, ASQ
• LSSBB — Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Council for Six Sigma Certification

CompTIA stackable certifications

Awarded by CompTIA for combinations of the certifications above rather than as separate examinations.

• CSIE — Secure Infrastructure Expert
• CSAE — Security Analytics Expert
• CSAP — Security Analytics Professional
• CNSP — Network Security Professional
• CNVP — Network Vulnerability Assessment Professional
• CSCP — Secure Cloud Professional
• CLNP — Linux Network Professional
• CNIP — Network Infrastructure Professional
• CCAP — Cloud Admin Professional
• CIOS — IT Operations Specialist
• CSIS — Secure Infrastructure Specialist

Issued by ISC2, ISACA, CompTIA, IAPP, Cloud Security Alliance, Certiprof, AWS, Microsoft, Cisco, EC-Council, Zscaler, PMI, Scrum Alliance, ARMA International, AIIM, DAMA, ASQ, Identity Management Institute, and PeopleCert. Several are accredited under ISO/IEC 17024 and approved under U.S. Department of Defense Directive 8140. The complete wallet is on Credly.

Toolkit

A selection of the physical and electronic penetration testing equipment used in assessments. Select any image for the full-size version.

Hacker film watchlist

Ranked, with apologies to anyone who thinks the 1995 special effects have aged badly.

1. Hackers 1995

   Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller. Young hackers are framed for a virus set to capsize five oil tankers.

   Hack the planet.
2. Sneakers 1992

   Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, David Strathairn. A security tester's past resurfaces when his team is hired to retrieve a very unusual box.

   Setec Astronomy.
3. Blackhat 2015

   Chris Hemsworth. A furloughed convict and his American and Chinese counterparts chase a cybercrime network from Chicago to Jakarta.

4. Swordfish 2001

   Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, John Travolta, Don Cheadle. A covert unit recruits a convicted hacker to unlock the money funding its private war.

5. The Net 1995

   Sandra Bullock. A programmer stumbles onto a conspiracy and watches her identity get erased.

6. The Girl in the Spider's Web 2018

   Claire Foy, directed by Fede Álvarez. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist land between spies, cybercriminals, and corrupt officials.

7. I.T. 2016

   Pierce Brosnan. A millionaire discovers what happens when you fire the person who set up your smart home.

Honourable mentions: WarGames (1983), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), and Snowden (2016).