News
SANS Dubai 2019 Helping to Develop Strong Talent to Address Region’s Cyber Security Skills Shortage
January 2019 by Marc Jacob
SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training, has announced that it is holding its next renowned immersion-style Cyber Security Training program in Dubai to address the region’s growing cyber security skills shortage. SANS Dubai 2019, which will be held at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach from January 26-30, 2019, will feature three of SANS’ best-performing cyber security classes to help participants develop the required skills to defend their organisations against security breaches and prevent future attacks.
As the pace of digital transformation accelerates in the Middle East, business leaders have stressed that digitising is the only way to remain competitive in the new marketplace. According to Gartner, skills challenges continue to plague organisations that undergo digitisation, with digital security staffing shortages considered a top inhibitor to innovation. Reports state that the worldwide workforce is heading for a shortfall of 1.8m cybersecurity workers by 2022 and the industry is not attracting newcomers to fill the gap. This is exacerbated in the Middle East, where organisations typically have smaller IT teams and therefore struggle to keep on top of new threats and technologies.
With cyber criminals adopting new methods to leverage big data and web-scale techniques to stage attacks and steal data, it has now become imperative for organisations, government and individuals alike, to develop the skills and capabilities required to manage cyber security risks. The UAE government has already doubled down on its efforts to ensure cyber safety and digital security. H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai launched the Dubai Cyber Security Strategy to further the country’s objectives to create a cyber-smart nation.
SANS Dubai 2019 will offer participants the opportunity to learn directly from the world’s top cyber security practitioners. Attendees will have a chance to choose from three of SANS’ best performing cyber security classes and accelerate their career with hands-on, immersion-style training. Cyber security experts, Tim Medin, Dave Shackleford and Erik Van Buggenhout will conduct training sessions on SEC460: Enterprise Threat and Vulnerability Assessment, SEC545: Cloud Security Architecture and Operations and SEC599: Defeating Advanced Adversaries - Purple Team Tactics & Kill Chain Defenses respectively.
New to Dubai, in SEC599, Erik van Buggenhout shows delegates how to bring together red and blue teams for maximum effect. Recognising that a prevent-only strategy is not sufficient, the course focuses on current attack strategies and how they can be effectively mitigated and detected using a Kill Chain structure.
