With one of the most commonly cited threats to an enterprise being the human element, the Australian arm of Cisco is investing in cyber-focused courses to bring people up to date with the role they can play in preventing an attack.
Speaking with ZDNet, Anthony Stitt, GM of Security for Cisco in Australia and New Zealand, explained that Cisco’s Introduction to Cybersecurity course focuses on how to protect personal data and privacy online and in social media, and explores why more jobs are requiring cybersecurity awareness and understanding.
Given the Cisco business has been successful in the Australian market to date, Stitt said such training is a way of “giving back”. In addition, it is also an investment the company is making to help manage not only cybersecurity, but IT in general.
“There’s a payback for us I guess in future years in terms of bringing people into the space,” he added. “If we don’t have the right level of skills, companies can’t and won’t invest — they might potentially go offshore and not only is the Australian economy the benefactor of keeping those skills here, but organisations like Cisco are also benefiting.”
Edith Cowan University in Western Australia has seen over 1,000 graduates leave the university with a degree relating to cybersecurity since 2011, but it estimates there will be a shortfall of more than 1.5 million cybersecurity professionals around the world by 2020.
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Source: ZD Net.