News
SANS’ Largest Information Security Training Event in the Middle East ‘SANS Gulf Region 2017’ Opens for Registration
October 2017 by Marc Jacob
SANS has further expanded its annual Gulf Region event with a total of eight hands-on immersion-style training courses taught by top cyber security experts
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 11 October 2017: SANS Institute today announced its largest ever cyber security training event in the Middle East, taking place in Dubai from the 4th to the 16th of November. SANS Gulf Region 2017 will feature eight classroom style instructor-led courses covering key security topics including ethical hacking, penetration testing, digital forensics and incident response, smartphone security and threat intelligence.
The duration of each course is either five or six days and SANS will conduct four within the first week and the remaining four the following week. “We are providing Middle East businesses with the rare opportunity to get their security professionals expertly trained in region by internationally qualified instructors, all of whom are active industry practitioners. In under a week, each comprehensive training will dive deep into the subject matter and enable attendees to cement the skill sets they have learned through extensive practical hands-on sessions,” explained Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa at SANS. Depending on the course attended, participants will also be prepared to undertake the GSEC, GCIH, GPEN, GCCC, GCFA, GASF and GRID Certifications.
Among the courses that have been specifically included to address the prime cyber security concerns that Middle East enterprises face are FOR578: Cyber Threat Intelligence, SEC566: Implementing and Auditing the Critical Security Controls - In-Depth, and SEC560: Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking. “These courses shift cyber defences from a reactive to a proactive standpoint and help strengthen the organization’s security posture during the critical initial stages of the attack chain. Recent high-profile attacks such as WannaCry and Petya highlight how attackers continue to go after the lowest hanging fruit with devastating success. We are however ready to arm attendees with the knowledge and skills they need to stay a step ahead,” said Baltagi.
Kai Thomsen, instructor of the ICS Active Defence and Incident Response course said, “Active defence plays a key role in the protection of ICS networks. The SANS ICS Active Defence and Incident Response class teaches the principles of defending an ICS environment against targeted threats, showing delegates how the modern approach of intelligence driven incident response can be applied to ICS and helping them start their journey of making their environment a much harder target to crack.”
Previous attendees of the SANS courses commented “This course is the missing piece to get companies to take threats seriously, pursue the truth, and share their findings.” And “The tools provided in SEC504 are ready-to-use in the ’real-world,’ and I can already see how I’ll be using and applying this course to my job.”
SANS Gulf Region 2017 features courses for all levels of security professional ranging from the introductory SEC401: Security Essentials Bootcamp Style, to the advanced SEC504: Hacker Tools, Techniques, Exploits, and Incident Handling. “The common feature of all these trainings is that attendees will learn something new and they will be ready to apply their new cyber security skills as soon as they return to work,” said Baltagi.
