Department of Defense Directive 8570, or DoDD 8570 provides the framework and guidance for the training and certification of government employees and the defense industrial base (defense contractors) specifically engaged in Information Assurance Management (IAM) or Information Assurance Technical (IAT) roles.

Within the government and defense industrial base, ensuring cyber workforce employees have and maintain the proper training and certifications to combat the ever-expanding threat cyber criminals pose is a massive undertaking, which is why DoDD 8570 was written in 2005.

DoDD’s primary objectives are to:

1. Address training, certification, and management of government employees who perform information assurance (IA) or cybersecurity functions in their official assigned duties.
2. Authorize the creation (and publication) of the DoD 8570.01 manual. This manual included baseline certification requirements for those individuals working in (what is now) the cybersecurity space.

The DoD 8570 directive applied to the military, defense agencies, and government contractors working for the DoD. It was necessary, and a great step forward in not only addressing and improving the cybersecurity posture at the time but also learning and understanding what proficiencies and subsequent training requirements would be necessary for the cyber workforce, eventually leading to the next generation directive – DoDD 8140.

Below is a list of all DoDD 8570 approved Information Assurance (IA) baseline certifications for the Information Assurance Cyber Workforce. Any cyber personnel performing information assurance functions as part of their assigned job or role will be required to obtain the proper certification for their position, specialty, or level.