Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has today announced that its Check Point SecureAcademy™ education initiative has partnered with Strathmore University in Kenya to provide a comprehensive cyber security curriculum to students, bridging the cyber security skills gap and also creating a safer local cyber landscape.
According to research, the number of unfilled cyber security roles now stands at 4.07 million professionals globally. What causes alarm for those within the security market across Africa is that the ICT courses across a range of disciplines are still underdeveloped, as well as the skills required to operate, support and understand the complexities of next-generation technologies and threats.
Check Point SecureAcademy™ promoting skills in Africa
To keep up with the current threat landscape, cyber security professionals require a deeper set of skills and insight into cybersecurity. Therefore, students need to be given access to broader cybersecurity knowledge. To address this skills gap, Check Point SecureAcademy™ aims to give students the ability to recognise and resolve IT security threats, develop hands-on experience with leading security solutions and acquire employable real-world skills to protect networks through the programme’s courses.
The @iLabAfrica Centre of Excellence in ICT Innovation and Development at Strathmore University will work closely with Check Point SecureAcademy™ to expose students to Check Point security solutions as an additional part of their curriculum.
“This partnership with Check Point has come at an opportune time to assist in training our students and equipping them with the right cyber security skills. We look forward to having 50 plus students benefit annually from this training programme and join the workforce in empowering the cyber security space in Kenya,” says Dr. Joseph Sevilla, Director @iLabAfrica-Strathmore University.
SecureAcademy™ courses are available at 100 universities in 40 countries, helping to shape the cyber-experts of the future. The academy’s network in Africa now consists of six universities, across five countries, including Liberia, Morocco, South Africa, Nigeria and with the addition of Strathmore University, Kenya.
“Through partnerships like this, SecureAcademy™ hopes to provide access to world-class education resources and skill academies. It makes sense to use these resources to develop the skills of our youth to become the cybersecurity resource pool of choice, reducing unemployment, filling the skills gap and also making for a safer local cyber landscape all at once,” says Pankaj Bhula, Check Point’s EMEA Regional Director: Africa.
Driving diversity in cyber security
Through key SecureAcademy™ partnerships across the continent the opportunities available for women to enter the cyber security field increases significantly, driving gender diversity and inclusivity.
“While we have seen a large uptake of women studying ICT, it is still a male-dominated subject. We are promoting programmes and events to encourage women to join the ICT field. We look forward to working more with the Check Point team locally to promote ICT and cyber security within Kenya,” says Richard Otolo, IT Security Center Manager @iLabAfrica.
About Check Point SecureAcademy™
Check Point SecureAcademy™ is a comprehensive Cyber Security academic programme for institutions of higher learning. Institutions offer Check Point security solutions as an integrated part of their existing curriculum to increase students’ knowledge in cyber security. These partnerships share a common goal, to promote and enhance educational and career opportunities for students around the world, with courses available at 100 universities in 40 countries.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leading provider of cyber security solutions to governments and corporate enterprises globally. Its solutions protect customers from cyber-attacks with an industry-leading catch rate of malware, ransomware and other types of attacks. Check Point offers a multilevel security architecture that defends enterprises’ cloud, network and mobile device held information, plus the most comprehensive and intuitive one point of control security management system. Check Point protects over 100,000 organisations of all sizes.
