I guess it all goes back to the killing of the forum. The original forum, even if it was on Yahoo. It still had 6,000 mostly pretty vocal members, mostly pretty passionate about infosec. Also pretty passionate about ISC2, especially when ISC2 made a mistake.
So, ISC2 killed it.
And, in it's place they gave us the "community," this grand playpen, open for all the world to see, and open for anyone with the slightest interest in getting a CISSP or related certificate to post endless repeats of "how do I pass the exam?" I'm not really keen on the social media aspects of it, but I do try to help newcomers to our profession.
(Meanwhile, we few, we unhappy few, we band of brothers and sisters, started a replacement forum, which we have been unable to get more than 250 people to join. [Sigh.])
But I probably would have been happy giving increasingly snarky suggestions to read "Security Engineering" and get some experience had it not been for the AMF debacle. Every year, of course, I have been asking myself why I'm paying U$85 to ISC2, particularly since, other than the teaching I did for ISC2, I've never actually needed a CISSP for any of the work I've done or jobs I've held. And then suddenly, with no increase in any tangible benefits, I had to justify U$125, and, on top of that, because of the switch from arrears to advance billing, pay twice over.
(No, I don't consider giving PDI ten million bucks for those "courses" a tangible benefit.)
(Just as I'm seeing my way clear to retiring, too.)
At the same time, the revamping of all ISC2 systems seems to have come to completion. Like the killing of the forum and it's replacement with the "community," this seems an endless procession of taking something that worked, and replacing it with something that doesn't.
(In a moment of rather heavy irony, this week it is the AMF system's turn. Apparently it is going to take four whole days to get it replaced and up and running again.) (If it ever does ...)
Also, the past fifteen years have seen a steady slide from the volunteer organization that, even if it had bugs in it, I loved, to a full on corporate enterprise that not even a mother could love.
I could, of course, pay the new AMFs for another year, and then pay a one-time fee of U$100 to become a "Retired CISSP." What for? What earthly benefit does that give me? (What heavenly benefit, come to that?)
OK, I can't vote for the Board. Well, over 20 years, it's become clear that ISC2 has a heavy commitment to recycling in terms of Board members, so that doesn't sound like too much of a loss.
This weekend is the deadline to pay my AMFs. I'm not going to. There simply isn't any point: there doesn't even seem to be an organization left to support. Just a company, going after every cash grab it can.
Now, as soon as I go into default, I'm sure the new membership system will flag everything associated (through the new federated sign-on system), and my access to the "community" will end. (Well, fairly sure. At least, that's what I assume it is intended should happen. Whether it actually works might be open to question ...) (ISC2 certainly seems to think this will happen, since they sent me a fairly ominous letter stating "If you do not align your account with the new AMF policy by June 30, 2019, your certification or associate status will be suspended. If suspended, you will not be able to claim that your (ISC)² certification or associate status is valid, and access to your (ISC)² account, member benefits and digital badge will be restricted.") Of course, since access is almost completely open, I'll still be able to read everything that goes on in the "community." But I might not be able to post. (I'm not sure how that might be justified, since you don't actually have to have any certifications at all to have an account on the community, so ...)
In any case, for any of you who care, if I suddenly disappear, this is goodbye from me ...
............
Other posts: https://community.isc2.org/t5/forums/recentpostspage/user-id/1324864413
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