Cyberoam offers a complimentary training programme in network security to South African students

Cyberoam, a leading global network security company, is eyeing an alliance with universities and colleges in South Africa for offering a free training programme that imparts skill sets to help students become network security professionals.

According to a JCSE ICT skill sets report, South Africa's ICT sector suffers from a lack of skilled professionals, including those well-versed in network security. Bridging this gap is imperative, if the country is to optimise the potential of ICT for economic growth. Cyberoam's tie-up with South Africa's learning institutes is an attempt to bridge this skills gap.

The forging of an industry-academia alliance will help Cyberoam Academy offer its advanced and comprehensive network security programme to a wider number of students. The purpose of the courseware is to not only improve knowledge about network security and its implementation but also help students seamlessly join the ICT workforce in South Africa.

The Academy is offering a short complimentary course called Novice to Professional that will deliver high calibre cyber-security training to South African students.

"Cyberoam Academy wants to meet three main objectives while partnering with educators in South Africa. It wants to improve the employability of the youth, bridge skills gap in cyber security and ensure educational institutions in South Africa get the benefit of globally renowned courseware, reputed certifications and state-of-the-art training labs," said Ajay Nawani, chief of Cyberoam Academy.

The short course is industry-focused and offers hands-on training to students for a real world exposure in complex areas like VPN security, malware prevention, application controls, and forensic analysis.

All education institutes, colleges and universities in South Africa teaching computer science or computer technology can collaborate with Cyberoam Academy to offer the Novice to Professional course to their students.

College students in their final year with basic computer skills are eligible to join the 56-hour programme. The course offers step-by-step learning tools to help students manage enterprise network security challenges.

The short programme also grants access to Cyberoam eConnect, an online portal for academy instructors and students that offers a one-stop platform to share learning activities.

Upon course completion, students who have successfully passed the exam will get the Cyberoam Certified Network and Security Professional (CCNSP) certificate.

Cyberoam will also provide training for instructors of the partner universities and give assistance for building a computer lab for the course if needed.

This collaborative initiative aims to provide enterprises, small businesses and government establishments in South Africa with skilled cyber security workforce against the growing menace of cyber attacks and cyber crime.

Having collaborated with leading universities and training institutions across Asia, Middle East, Europe and America, Cyberoam Academy now looks for like-minded academic partners in emerging African markets like South Africa.

"Growing internet and mobile penetration in South Africa and use of disruptive technologies like cloud computing and social media is helping businesses grow and prosper. But, this has made the network infrastructure of these businesses vulnerable to cyber attacks. This essentially underlines the need for highly trained cyber security professionals who can implement solutions that protect South African businesses, government organisations and centres of learning from cyber threats," said Nawani.

Cyberoam Academy aims to partner with educators to create a workforce with advanced cyber-security skills and that can meet any and every challenge," he added.

With experts predicting the South African ICT industry spending will touch a massive $ 707.6 million by 2019, it's important that the industry workforce is composed of individuals with the right skills in network and cyber security who can ensure safe, secure and sustainable ICT growth.

Colleges and universities interested to be a Cyberoam Academy partner can apply through answering the form published in the academy's Web site or sending an e-mail to academy@cyberoam.com.