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Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, has partnered with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Complete Enterprise Solutions (CES), and Salt Essential IT to help tackle the cybersecurity skills shortage in Namibia. This partnership between Check Point SecureAcademy and NUST will see the university’s faculty members complete the Check Point Certified Security Administrator training, enabling them to teach a range of cybersecurity courses to NUST’s students, starting this year.
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For their part, CES, which is one of Check Point Software Technologies’ 4 Star partners, and Salt, a 2 Star Partner, will be helping to develop and promote the Check Point SecureAcademy training alongside NUST. Added to this, CES and Salt, working through NUST’s Cooperative Education Unit, will help facilitate industry-relevant internship placement and secure workplace sites enabling Work Integrated Learning for students who have graduated from the partnership’s training programme.
To date, three of the university’s lecturers have successfully completed the training, with more staff signed up to take the course. “Through this partnership, we are strengthening Africa’s cybersecurity landscape, as our lecturers will be passing the crucial cyber skills they have learned onto the next generation of professionals,” says Dr. Mercy Chitauro, Cyber Security Program Coordinator at NUST.
“Achieving Check Point SecureAcademy status within Namibia is an important step forward in developing a new talent pool of qualified security professionals and a sustainable breeding ground for this talent pool in the country,” says PJ Kotze, General Manager of CES. Sonja Coetzer, Managing Director at Salt adds: “education initiatives like this are helping build stronger, more secure environments for businesses to compete in a sustainable digital economy, which is so important in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
This partnership will deepen the reach of cybersecurity education already being provided by the Check Point Cyber Security Jump Start programme. Through this programme, learners can access free online courses from anywhere in the world, gaining recognised certification upon completion. Currently, over 20 000 students and security professionals across Africa have completed these courses, increasing Africa’s overall cyber safety through industry leading skills.
Check Point SecureAcademy aims to give students the ability to recognise and resolve IT security threats, develop hands-on experience with leading security solutions, and acquire employable real-world skills to protect networks through the programme’s courses. Upon completion of the programme, students will earn a globally recognised credential in cybersecurity. “This new partnership further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to make cybersecurity education accessible to all,” says Pankaj Bhula, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software Technologies. “With the current shortage of cyber skills, it is essential that we attract more professionals to the field who we can then prepare to take on future cyber threats across Africa.”
Clearly, closing the cybersecurity skills gap – not only in Namibia but across the continent – is essential for protecting Africa’s businesses and boosting these nations’ economies; especially considering that cybercrime is at an all-time high. In Namibia alone, Check Point Research noted that an organisation experienced an average of 1 382 attacks each week last year. Globally, this figure is 930, meaning Namibian businesses are dealing with nearly 49% more cyberthreats.
For Check Point, driving education around digital technology at all levels is a social responsibility they take seriously. This is why Check Point SecureAcademy was created, with partnerships focused on accelerating this learning to enhance capabilities across the continent.
