Sans institute launches interactive summer cybersecurity courses for Gulf professionals

Dubai, UAE: SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training and certifications, announced its upcoming live online training program ‘SANS Summer Dunes August 2021 Live Online’, to be held from 14th – 19th August. Designed to offer flexible access to cyber security training taught by real-world practitioners, the event enables Gulf professionals to protect their assets by learning critical skills in a hands-on labs in a virtual setting.

Expert instructors will help participants develop skills in topics such as network penetration testing, advanced incident response and threat hunting to defend their organisations against ever-increasing cyber threats. ‘SANS Summer Dunes August 2021 Live Online’ will feature two new GIAC-certified courses: ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials, aimed at industrial cybersecurity professionals; and MGT551 Managing a Security Operations Centre (SOC), aimed at those looking to build SOCs.

The challenging market conditions of the pandemic forced regional enterprises to re-evaluate their cybersecurity practices as they pivoted from a cloud-last to cloud-only perspective, while unsecure habits of remote workers also exacerbated regional and global data breaches.

According to the Gartner 2020 Board of Directors Survey, cybersecurity-related risk is rated as the second-highest source of risk for the enterprise, following regulatory compliance risk. However, relatively few directors feel confident that their company is properly secured against a cyber attack.

“Through its ambitious vision, the Gulf is on course to become one of the world’s most digitised economies. While a truly networked region will be the catalyst for exponential business and civic progress, these opportunities also mandate the need for vigilant protection of corporate and government networks,” commented Ned Baltagi, Managing Director – Middle East and Africa at SANS Institute.

Against a backdrop of rising nation state attacks and even vaccine IP meddling, cyber threats are on the rise. It is critical that governments and enterprises strengthen their security postures, hire more cyber security practitioners and upskill their existing cybersecurity teams to keep up with the fast-changing technology landscape. Developing regional cybersecurity skills must be a top priority to help prevent future attacks.

‘SANS Summer Dunes August 2021 Live Online’ provides an immersive training experience for Gulf professionals, providing them with industry relevant and innovative content, alongside skills and techniques, equipping them to defend their organizations against security breaches and future attacks amidst the pandemic.

Top experts Stephen Mathezer and Mark Orlando will conduct sessions with comprehensive coverage of tools, techniques and methodologies, and train participants to find vulnerabilities and mitigate their effects. Electronic and printed learning materials are provided, in addition to an archive of course lectures for later viewing for up to four months. Both courses are hosted in SANS’ Live online training modality which has been perfected over the last 18 months to provide an optimal learning environment.

The six-day ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials course provides a foundational set of standardized skills and knowledge for industrial cybersecurity professionals. The program offers insights into industrial control systems, hands-on lab learning experiences to control system attacks, incident response skills, as well governance model outlines.

The five-day MGT551 Managing a Security Operations Centre program looks at guidelines for building a high-performing SOC and the tools needed to manage an effective defence system. Participants will learn how to combine SOC staff, processes, and technology in a way that promotes measurable results.

‘SANS Summer Dunes August 2021 Live Online’ also enables participants the opportunity to connect and network with like-minded security professionals from the region through virtual chat rooms, facing similar career and organizational challenges. 

-Ends-

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 60 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates a practitioner's qualifications via over 30 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, 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 help the entire information security community. (https://www.sans.org)

© Press Release 2021