Risk management. Audit & compliance. Fraud, investigations and forensics.

What do these three topics have in common? They're the information security areas with the greatest potential for job growth, according to our new Information Security Today Career Trends Survey.

If you've not yet taken this survey, please do so now. It's free, anonymous, won't require more than a few minutes of your time ... and in return you'll gain access to some truly unique insights

If you've not yet taken this survey, please do so now. It's free, anonymous, won't require more than a few minutes of your time ... and in return you'll gain access to some truly unique insights on what your peers are saying about information security education, certification and job trends.

Our latest in a series of home-grown research projects, the Information Security Today Career Trends survey promises to be an annual study of the information security profession, examining:

• The academic, security and business background of today's information security professionals;
• The roles these professionals are filling today - and will be asked to fill tomorrow;
• What they need - advanced degrees, industry certifications, business experience - and where they turn to get ahead;
• Employment trends for security professionals;
• Leadership requirements for security leaders seeking advancement.

The survey has been open for about a week, and it'll remain open for two weeks more. I took a sneak peek at the early results yesterday, and they revealed what I said up top. Risk management, audit/compliance and fraud/forensics are the hot topics going into 2010.

But which do information security professionals prefer - academic training or professional? In-person education or online? To attend conferences or webinars? To answer these questions and more, please take a few minutes to fill out the survey form.

When you're done your work on the survey, I'll start mine - crunching the numbers, analyzing the results, seeking some outside perspective ... and then I'll come back to you with a report that gives you a brand new look at career and training prospects in 2010.

For the past year, we've struggled through a recession. Times have been tough, career opportunities scarce.

But as we look toward 2010 and recovery, there's cause for optimism - not just in the economy, but in employment opportunities.

Take part in our Careers survey; you'll see.