The state of the digital security threat landscape is only getting worse as more criminal organizations and government-sponsored cyber soldiers continue their relentless attacks on public and private organizations around the world. This security risk comes at a time when the number of security professionals capable of combating this threat is not keeping up with what is taking place. In addressing the shortage, Cisco (News - Alert) has established a $10 million scholarship fund to fast-track its security certification for qualified individuals wanting to take the three months of training.
Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager of Cisco Services, explained the biggest reason why the company created the scholarship in this way, "Many CEOs across the globe tell us their ability to innovate is hampered by their security concerns in the digital world. This creates a big future demand for skill sets that don’t exist at scale today. We developed this scholarship program to help jump-start the development of new talent."
Although the primary goal of the scholarship is to increase security specialists, it also has a secondary purpose to diversify the IT security industry by giving individuals around the world the opportunity to become certified professionals. This includes women, veterans, and others.
In order to qualify for the scholarship each candidate has to be certified in at least one of several expertise, including but not limited to: A Cisco certification (CCENT or higher); an industry certification (such as ISC2 (News - Alert), CompTIA Security+, EC-Council, GIAC, ISACA; a Cisco Networking Academy letter of completion (CCNA 1 and CCNA 2) ; Windows Expertise: ( Microsoft Specialist, MCSA, MCSE, CompTIA (News - Alert) A+, Network+, Server+; and others.
The training will be delivered over the next two years with two courses and two assessments at select Cisco Authorized Learning Partners, which will also include mentoring and coaching to ensure the success of the applicants. They will be learning the new Cisco Certified Network Associate Cyber Ops Certification, which upon completion will give them the necessary skills to provide the security services to organizations that are currently looking for qualified professionals.
The scholarship awards will be available to applicants beginning on August 1, 2016, until the end of July 2017. Candidates that receive a scholarship have to commit to completing the certification within three months. And as part of this arrangement, individuals that have completed the course may be used as part of a Cisco marketing campaign.
The value of a standard instructor-led course offering from an Authorized Cisco Learning Partner is equivalent to several thousand U.S. dollars. The scholarship will also include the cost of all exam fees.
Edited by Maurice Nagle