I have been in the infosec sector for over three decades and have seen the rise and fall of demand for IT and security professionals on a number of occasions. Y2K, the dot com bust and the GFC did not help our industry. Currently, we are on an upward trend, delivering training across Australia, NZ, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai. I have seen year-on-year growth as people take up the call to either upskill, try to get a foot in the door or just learn about on-trend topics, such as cyber security, architecture, cloud, big data, artificial intelligence, digital forensics or incident response.
ALC recently added privacy to our portfolio by partnering with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and we’re making great inroads due to the pent-up demand in Australia and New Zealand. At the recent IAPP conference, the key message emerging from presenters, is one of accountability – having a key individual within an organisation drive the privacy agenda forward; it is all about privacy by design. And no wonder, every week, there is an article on a new privacy breach, quite often coupled with staff dismissals and a hefty fine.
Our cloud portfolio is also strengthening. ALC made a strategic decision to add Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) to the portfolio in 2017, along with other cloud courses, and Australia now has more certified CCSPs compared to Germany! Running the numbers, we can proudly say we have trained two thirds of those certified in Australia alone. For those who hold a CISSP or have anything to do with cloud, I highly recommend the (ISC)2 CCSP® certification.
So is it all hype, or is there a genuine need for training? In reality, it’s a little hype, but also a genuine need to fill a gap. Increasingly, we have delegates cite several reasons for becoming certified: personal challenge, company requirement, or simply to learn. Many delegates are from organisations that are typically under-resourced when it comes to security and privacy, expecting miracles with existing staff numbers.
Remember, security and privacy are solved by people, process and technology. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility. We need effective awareness training and to skill those people on technologies, to look after security in their own domains – rather than expecting a security professional to become a master of all trades. There is a plethora of courses out there to do precisely that.
ALC’s focus is to deliver industry recognised training and certifications that are needed now and into the future. ALC has always been at the forefront of Information Security education since our very first course on Information and System Security in 1995. Our flagship set of courses on SABSA® security architecture and industry standard certifications such as CISSP® and CISM® are designed to meet the needs of the security professional. (FACT: Did you know ALC is an ISACA Training Partner!) Also, in the past three years we’ve placed a very strong focus on addressing the needs of newcomers to Cyber Security to help enable the industry to broaden its skills base with our Cyber Security Foundation+Practitioner Certification.
Cyber Security is a prominent, highly-regarded profession offering many varied career paths. The ALC Cyber Security Portfolio offers a formal route to becoming a recognised and respected cyber security professional through a modular program of certificate and non-certificate courses. Whatever stage you are at in your career, or if you are an Executive in need of improving capabilities within your organisation, we are here to help you, your team or your company, locally and worldwide.
Get in touch with our team to see how we can assist to deliver optimal training suited to your needs.
Peter Nikitser, Director of Cyber Security – ALC