Around The Railroad

UP Auditor Is World Class

February 27, 2009 | 09:05 a.m. CST

Zack Wavra is a smart guy, but when he took the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam in June 2008, his only goal was to pass.

That was confirmed two months later, when Wavra, manager-information systems (IS) auditing, received a letter advising him that he'd passed. However, a second letter sent in January from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) was far more exciting. He had tied for the highest test score in the world – no small feat considering 12,000 auditors took the exam.

"When I first read the January letter, I laughed out loud," said Wavra. "I work with a pretty crafty group of people and thought it might be some elaborate scheme they concocted."

The exam is THE internationally recognized professional certification for IS auditing, focused specifically on security and IT-based audits.

He prepared by studying a 600-page study guide and reviewing 700 sample test questions. The exam consisted of several hundred multiple-choice questions – tricky ones. Each had multiple correct answers. The challenge was to choose the best one. He had four hours to complete the exam and used every minute.

To recognize his accomplishment, ISACA is treating him to an all-expense paid trip to the North American Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) conference in Orlando, Fla., in May. There, he will be honored and presented with an award.

"The CISA certification program has become the worldwide standard for excellence among data security professionals," said Michael Bernard, assistant general auditor. "We are very proud of Zack for his exceptional achievement and are grateful that he chose to begin his professional career with Union Pacific's corporate audit group."

Wavra was hired by Union Pacific in May 2005 after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) with a Computer Science degree, and is currently working on his masters.

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