Fortinet Announces Progress Toward its Mission to Tackle the Cybersecurity Skills Shortage

Deepak Ravi
October 1, 2024 3:56 pm
John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at Fortinet 

Fortinet has made significant strides in tackling the cybersecurity skills shortage through its Training Institute programs. Committed to training 1 million people by 2026, the company has already trained over half a million individuals since announcing its five-year pledge, keeping it on track to meet its goal.

John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at Fortinet said, “Through our longstanding investments to address the cyber talent shortage, Fortinet continues to grow and expand our programs and strategic partnerships by delivering an award-winning cybersecurity training and certification program. Addressing the cyber skills gap is vital to enhancing our society’s collective cyber resiliency and we are committed to developing the current and future cyber workforce through the Fortinet Training Institute. As part of this effort, we remain focused on our pledge to train 1 million individuals in cyber by 2026.”

As the cybersecurity landscape grows increasingly complex, the demand for skilled professionals continues to grow with an estimated 4.8 million cybersecurity professionals required to address the industry’s workforce gap. At the same time, Fortinet’s 2024 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report reveals that 70% of organizations believe the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals is increasing risks to their security.

Fortinet is at the forefront of working to address the skills gap by providing award-winning training and certification curriculum designed to equip individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge to better mitigate cyber risks. Additional recent key initiatives and achievements include:

  • Award-Winning Cybersecurity Curriculum: Fortinet’s most recent industry acknowledgement includes winning the 2024 SC Awards for Best Professional Certification Program. In the fall of 2023, Fortinet introduced enhancements to the Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification program, providing multiple certification options focused on role-based training – such as administrator, analyst, architect – as well as a foundational certification level. Fortinet has also been honored with Gold for best cybersecurity training and Gold for best security awareness program from the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards; Gold for cyber and education and training and security awareness and training from the Globee 2024 Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards; and Most Innovative in cybersecurity training and certification, and security awareness and training service from the Global Infosec Awards, among others.

 

  • European Commission’s Cybersecurity Skills Academy Initiative Pledge: Earlier this year, Fortinet pledged to offer its award-winning cybersecurity training and security awareness curriculum to up to 75,000 individuals for free in Europe over the next three years. Since joining this initiative, Fortinet is offering its Certification programcurriculum through the Cybersecurity Skills Academy and expanding learning opportunities for individuals across all 27 countries of the European Union, helping develop critical cyber skills in the region.

 

  • All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and EduSkills Foundation Partnership: Fortinet is partnering with the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and EduSkills Foundation to offer 100,000 virtual internships in the field of cybersecurity across India, as well as providing our Certification program free of cost.

 

  • Fortinet Cyber Bootcamps Help Develop the Future Cyber Workforce: Fortinet is partnering with organizations across the world to host cybersecurity and networking bootcamps to further increase access to its training curriculum. Earlier this year, Fortinet hosted a threat hunting workshop for participants of the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (eCTF) competition, which included students from around the world. Attendees of the Fortinet workshop gained hands-on cybersecurity experience, assuming the role of a security analyst to identify adversarial behaviors using renowned frameworks and procedures.

 

  • Continuing to Drive a Diverse Cyber Workforce through Partnerships: Through the Education Outreach program and Veterans program, Fortinet cultivates partnerships to drive a skilled, inclusive and diverse cyber workforce. More recently, Fortinet partnered with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Cyber Catalyst Talent Solutions, and Tech Vets Canada, among others, on an in-person bootcamp specifically for veterans interested in gaining technical and hands-on expertise in cyber. Fortinet also collaborated with several Fortinet Veteran program and Education Outreach program partners earlier this year – including Cerco, Helping Heroes, Hire Heroes USA, Onward 2 Opportunity, TechVets, and VetSec – to offer a nine-week Networking Fundamentals Bootcamp this year to further upskill and reskill veterans. Additionally, Fortinet is continuing to partner with Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) to offer members a Networking Fundamentals Bootcamp designed as an entry point for those wanting to pursue a career in cybersecurity.

 

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