Fortinet training edges toward closing cybersecurity gap
The Fortinet Training Institute has made significant progress in closing the cybersecurity skills gap, on track to train one million people by 2026.
The successful progress comes after the company pledged to train one million people in cybersecurity as part of its commitment to addressing the cyber skills shortage in September 2021.
Fortinet says its Training Institute programs, such as the NSE Certification, Education Outreach and Academic Partner programs, are driving the company's success in nearing its goal.
"Fortinet's vision is to make possible a digital world that organisations can always trust by securing people, devices and data everywhere," Fortinet marketing, threat intelligence and influencer communications senior vice president Sandra Wheatley says.
"To help achieve this, Fortinet is committed to closing the cyber skills gap and raising cyber awareness through our TAA initiative and Training Institute programs.
"Last year we committed to training one million people on cybersecurity by 2026 and so far we're tracking ahead of our goal for the year toward this pledge.
Fortinet's global 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report notes that a lack of cybersecurity skills and awareness accounts for 80% of breaches, and 64% of organisations have experienced a breach that has resulted in a loss of revenue, recovery costs and fines.
Business leaders consider the talent shortage one of their biggest challenges because of its impact on their company's bottom line.
They believe cyber training and awareness are critical in improving their security strategy.
Fortinet's Training Advancement Agenda (TAA) and Training Institute programs focus on providing the company's training curriculum to security professionals.
The programs also expand learning and career opportunities for anyone interested in cybersecurity, including students, even if they have little or no background or life experience.
This undertaking comes as part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, which also include a focus on more diversity in the industry.
Fortinet Training Institute's NSE Certification program promotes continued learning by expanding access to expert technical training with updates to NSE level 8 certification by offering these practical exams online.
Certification for NSE level 8 will also be extended to three years to factor in NSE 8s continuing to collaborate with Fortinet.
Fortinet has created the NSE 8 Charter Member designation for a select group of individuals who have been NSE level 8 certified since 2016, when the first NSE 8 exam was issued.
Charter Members will also continue working closely with Fortinet to evolve the NSE Certification program to meet growing industry needs.
Adding to this, the company has partnered with upskilling platform, Degreed, to become an official content provider through One-Click, and make Fortinet's training available to Degreed's 7 million users.
Fortinet expands Degreed's cybersecurity offerings by providing self-paced access to NSE level 1 through level 7 training.
"Fortinet has partnered with Degreed to offer the NSE training course catalogue to Degreed users. The global integration with Fortinet is the first entirely free self-paced offering of cybersecurity training for Degreed customers," Degreed senior technical partner success manager David Anderson says.
"Since the integration, we are seeing significant interest in the Fortinet training, which speaks to the need for cybersecurity education. We consider Fortinet a valued partner.
