Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – SANS Institute, the global leader in cybersecurity training and certification, is returning to Saudi Arabia with SANS Riyadh May 2025 (May 10 - May 22) at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya. Designed to empower cybersecurity professionals across the Kingdom and beyond, the event will offer eight fundamental and globally recognized courses focused on practical, hands-on skills to counter today’s most pressing threats and organizational needs.

The Kingdom's growing economy and swift adoption of advanced technologies under Vision 2030 have made it a prime target for cyber threats. Sectors such as energy, finance, and healthcare, which heavily depend on data and network systems, have experienced significant breaches, highlighting the critical need for skilled cybersecurity professionals to protect against digital vulnerabilities.

“As Saudi Arabia continues to rise as a regional cybersecurity powerhouse. SANS is proud to play a role in developing the Kingdom’s cyber workforce by equipping professionals with actionable skills and real-world capabilities,” said Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at SANS Institute. “With the right training and strategic focus, the Kingdom can build teams that are technically strong and deeply aligned with its national security objectives.”

The following courses are available at SANS Riyadh May, both virtually and in-person.

  • SEC401: Security Essentials - Network, Endpoint, and Cloud
  • SEC504: Hacker Tools, Techniques, and Incident Handling
  • FOR508: Advanced Incident Response, Threat Hunting, and Digital Forensics
  • FOR578: Cyber Threat Intelligence
  • SEC560: Enterprise Penetration Testing
  • SEC488: Cloud Security Essentials
  • SEC530: Defensible Security Architecture and Engineering: Implementing Zero Trust for the Hybrid Enterprise
  • SEC511: Cybersecurity Engineering: Advanced Threat Detection and Monitoring

To further address the Kingdom’s needs, SANS will host a Cyber-Workforce Masterclass on May 15 from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya. The session, ‘Unlock the Future of Cybersecurity Talent Development’, will guide cybersecurity leaders on building sustainable talent pipelines, enhancing staff retention, and aligning workforce development with global frameworks like SCyWF and the NCA’s Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC-2).

Attendees will gain practical experience through real-world tabletop exercises, strategies to attract, develop, and retain talent, and global insights from the latest SANS GIAC Workforce Report. Participants will receive a certificate of attendance and actionable takeaways for implementing sustainable security frameworks.

Open to all cybersecurity enthusiasts, two SANS Community Night Sessions will also be held. On May 12 - AI & Cybercrime: How Criminals Are Weaponizing AI - this talk will look at how attackers are leveraging artificial intelligence to target organizations through social engineering attacks, and what organizations can do to combat these threats. May 19 - Detection Through Monitoring: Leveraging the Home Field Advantage - will dig into specific tactics that leverage that home field advantage and make it easier for security teams to effectively detect and respond. Both sessions will run from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM AST.

For more information and to register for SANS Riyadh May 2025, visit: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events/riyadh-may-2025/

To register for the SANS Riyadh May 2025 Community Nights, visit: https://www.sans.org/mlp/community-night-riyadh-may-2025/

To register for the Riyadh Edition of the Cyber-Workforce Masterclass, visit: https://www.sans.org/mlp/cyber-workforce-masterclass-riyadh-may-2025/

SANS will be hosting more training events over the summer, including SANS Riyadh June 2025, SANS Riyadh July 2025 and SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders 2025.

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions worldwide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cybersecurity events and OnDemand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cybersecurity. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master’s and bachelor’s degrees, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to manage their “human” cybersecurity risk easily and effectively. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community.