Intelligent CISO Issue 29 | Page 46

industry unlocked and mentorship they need to be more employable and navigate jobs in the new digital economy.” Fortinet’s Security Academy Programme More than 20 new academic institutions and non-profits worldwide have recently joined Fortinet’s Security Academy Programme to provide students, veterans and veteran families with advanced cybersecurity training and certifications. The expansion builds on the programme’s momentum, which is available in more than 80 countries and is comprised of over 300 Authorised Security Academies. The Fortinet NSE Training Institute is made up of the Security Academy Programme, Certification Programme and Veterans Programme. Fortinet continues to grow the NSE Training Institute’s programmes with recent milestones, including: • The NSE Certification Programme has issued more than 450,000 certifications worldwide, with more than 200,000 of certifications achieved in 2020. • In April 2020, Fortinet opened its entire catalogue of NSE selfpaced security training courses, including pre-recorded labs, free of charge to the general public. The courses cover a range of topics – such as cloud security and secure A recent Fortinet survey found that 68% of organisations struggle to recruit, hire and retain cybersecurity talent. SD-WAN – and total more than 350 hours of free training. • Fortinet was recognised by Military Times in its ‘Best for Vets: Employers’ rankings for 2020 through the Veterans Programme work. The Veterans Programme connects military veterans and their spouses with potential employers. Steve Morrill, Director of Technology and Cyber Science at Loyola Blakefield, said: “We were looking to add to our existing robust cybersecurity training curriculum. We joined the Security Academy Programme right as the world started to shift to online learning due to the pandemic, so access to the NSE training’s established online curriculum that is instructor-led or self-paced was especially beneficial. The path to NSE certifications is also helpful in providing students further validation to employers of their expertise that they can immediately use in the workplace.” u 46 Issue 29 | www.intelligentciso.com