Check Point Software celebrates World Youth Skills Day by highlighting the cybersecurity workforce shortage
- At present, the global shortage of cybersecurity workers is estimated at 2.7 million people.
- Girls, young people with disabilities, young people from the poorest households, rural communities, indigenous peoples, and minority groups, as well as those living in unstable countries, continue to be excluded due to a combination of factors.
Today marks World Youth Skills Day which, since its declaration by the UN in 2014, has served as a reminder of the importance of equipping young people with the skills they need to find a good career or to become an entrepreneur. Since that time, World Youth Skills Day has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, enterprises, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy makers and development partners.
That is why Check Point Software, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, wants to highlight the current shortage of cybersecurity staff (around 2.7 million workers globally, according to a study by the Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC).) Check Point also wants to emphasize the need to give young people the tools to enter the industry, regardless of their situation.
As a result of the COVID -19 pandemic most of the world had to go through a rapid shift to digital for which both infrastructure and institutions were not fully prepared, or at least not prepared to allow this to be done at pace. Many people had to adapt to working from home with all the dangers that this entails. The situation was made worse by the fact that there is a distinct shortage of cyber security experts around the world to keep cyber criminals at bay.
Collaboration between Check Point SecureAcademy and institutions around the world
To prepare students with the vital technology skills they need to secure the future, Check Point SecureAcademy was created to provide cybersecurity education worldwide through partnerships with third-party institutions under Check Point’s cybersecurity training umbrella known as: Check Point MIND, offering educators and students vital cybersecurity skills, learning resources and certifications through a “revenue-free” education programme.
Some 45,000 students at over 120 higher education institutions in 53 countries are currently using Check Point SecureAcademy’s free learning content, including the Cyber Range and HackerPoint simulation courses, to improve their knowledge of cybersecurity. Another offering is the Check Point SmartAwareness solution, which delivers cyber security awareness training for businesses that aims to prepare every employee with industry-leading training so that they are ready to deal with a real attack when it happens.
“This is a very important day to assert the rights of students around the world to have chance to pursue a career in the field they are most interested in, even if they are in environments where there is a lack of opportunity,” said Ian Porteous, Regional Director, Security Engineering, UK&I at Check Point Software.“For our part, we are alarmed by the lack of available talent in a field like cybersecurity which offers so many quality career opportunities. We hope that with our efforts and those of the rest of the international community, we will be able to turn the situation round in the coming years.”
