Top Tier Academic Institutions Join Forces with Fortinet to Prepare Students for a Career in Cybersecurity
Rob Rashotte, VP of Global Training and Technical Field Enablement at Fortinet
“The cybersecurity skills gap affects businesses and governments across Canada, and ultimately impacts our digital economy. Fortinet is investing heavily in training and education through our NSE Training Institute to create more career pathways in Canada and globally. Fortinet is partnering with Canadian academic institutions and veteran-focused nonprofits to extend our reach and develop a stronger pipeline of security professionals.”
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News Summary
Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, today announced three Canadian academic institutions that have recently joined Fortinet’s Security Academy Program. The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology and Ontario College of Management and Technology join more than 15 Canada-based academic institutions and non-profit organizations that are part of the Security Academy Program. The Security Academy Program boasts more than 300 Authorized Security Academies in over 80 countries.
Closing Canada’s Cybersecurity Skills Gap
In a March 2020 report, 89 percent of Canadian IT managers agreed that the cybersecurity skills shortage has created additional cyber risks for their organizations. Fortinet, a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for Cybersecurity and the Cyber Threat Alliance, is committed to working with global leaders in Canada and around the world to develop impactful solutions to address the talent shortage. Fortinet is also collaborating with IBM, Salesforce and other cross-sector partners to create new opportunities in the digital economy.
The Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Training Institute was established in 2015 to advance cybersecurity education and training, as part of Fortinet’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The NSE Training Institute is made up of several programs, including the Security Academy Program, the NSE Certification Program and Veterans Program. Fortinet continues to grow these programs with recent milestones including:
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- Fortinet’s Veterans Program is helping veterans from Canada’s Armed Forces transition into a career in cybersecurity through training, mentoring and connections to its ecosystem of partner employers. Canadian veteran-focused nonprofit Coding for Veterans joined Fortinet’s Security Academy Program to create avenues for employment and learning for its members.
- The NSE Certification Program has issued more than 16,000 certifications in Canada and more than half a million certifications worldwide. In April 2020, Fortinet opened its entire catalogue of NSE self-paced security training courses, including pre-recorded labs, free of charge to the general public and, during that time, more than 200,000 certifications were achieved underscoring the demand for cybersecurity training.
- Fortinet recently expanded its free training offerings with the introduction of the Information Security Awareness and Training service developed by some of the best cybersecurity training experts in the world, and focused on key attack vectors and best practices. This turnkey service ensures employees are equipped with the knowledge necessary to avoid phishing, baiting, tech support scams and other social engineering attacks that have significantly increased during COVID.
Developing Future Security Professionals in Canada Through Security Academies
Through the Security Academy Program, BCIT, Seneca and Ontario College of Management and Technology are able to better prepare their students for a career in cybersecurity. Below are testimonials on how the Security Academy Program is benefitting these institutions.
“We believe that the Fortinet Security Academy adds value to our students and the CISA program at BCIT. Our CISA program has been in place for the past 24 years and we strive to keep our curriculum current to match industry needs. Being part of the Fortinet Security Academy is an example where our CISA students can graduate from BCIT, not only with a diploma, but with relevant industry skills and certifications as well. Our students also benefit from hands-on learning with Fortinet products, such as learning how to configure FortiGate firewalls.”
– Chi Wong, M.A., Department Head – CISA Program School of Energy at British Columbia Institute of Technology
“BCIT’s Legion Military Skills Conversion Program has proudly partnered with the Veterans Program in Canada to help transition the skillset of Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans in providing exciting second career opportunities in the growing field of cybersecurity.”
– Justine Arsenault, Program Lead, Legion Military Skills Conversion Program at British Columbia Institute of Technology
“As an institution providing skills-based education and practical training in Cybersecurity and Intelligence Engineering, among others, Ontario College of Management and Technology is always looking out for their students’ complete exposure to relevant industry-driven knowledge and the sort of skills employers are looking to hire. Skills in security equipment such as next gen firewalls, gateways, VPN technologies etc., that are critical components of a layered cyber defense program provide additional training to our mainstream curriculum. Fortinet’s Security Academy Program gives our students practical, real-world skills and training they are likely to use in their future workplace. Fortinet has generously made available a subsidy towards certification that is very useful and a lifeline for financially challenged students who would most likely not afford the certification fees.”
– Yomi Olalere, Program Manager at Ontario College of Management and Technology
“We’ve developed a Cyber Security program which empowers our students with a hands-on approach to security awareness. The Fortinet Security Academy Program has been a key part of the hardware knowledge we are teaching our students as Fortinet has a reputation for being on the leading edge of security. We’ve also integrated many of the modules from the Academy within the lab section of our course. This way, students are educated on how to set up and configure cutting-edge hardware that provides robust security. Having the training associated with the Fortinet brand will show employers that they are capable of understanding and deploying security infrastructure.”
– Peter Mascone, Seneca College
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