Advancing Our Efforts with the EU Cybersecurity Skills Academy Initiative

As the threat landscape intensifies, organizations everywhere must harden their defenses and adjust their risk management strategies accordingly. Last year, nearly 90% of leaders surveyed said their company experienced one or more breaches. While most cyber incidents cannot be attributed to a single cause, factors such as understaffed security and IT teams and a lack of cybersecurity technologies often contribute to a successful attack. According to the Fortinet 2024 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report, 70% of respondents indicated that the cybersecurity skills shortage creates additional risks for their enterprises.

To guard against threat actors who are constantly advancing their tactics, organizations must take a three-pronged approach to cybersecurity that combines training for security and IT professionals, awareness and education efforts that target all employees, and effective technology. The Fortinet Training Institute is working to make cybersecurity education and training accessible to all individuals around the world through its programs and various public-private partnerships.

Fortinet's Commitment to the European Commission's Cybersecurity Skills Academy Initiative

In May, Fortinet advanced its mission to shrink the cybersecurity skills gap by joining the European Commission's Cybersecurity Skills Academy initiative to provide learning opportunities across the EU. Through the Fortinet Training Institute, Fortinet pledged to offer its cybersecurity training and security awareness curriculum to up to 75,000 individuals for free in Europe over the next three years. In the past six months, Fortinet has made strong progress in meeting this goal.

Helping Cybersecurity Professionals Advance Their Careers

To date, Fortinet has trained nearly 20,000 individuals across 27 EU countries through its Network Security Expert (NSE) certification program. The certification program consists of five levels and 12 certifications from fundamentals in cybersecurity to the top level of Fortinet Certified Expert. The technical training levels offer career paths in network security, security operations, public cloud security, secure access service edge, OT security, and zero trust to provide a deeper understanding of the skills and knowledge required for these roles. The Fortinet Training Institute has received many industry accolades and was recently named as having one of the best professional certification programs by SC Media.

Partnering with Academic Institutions in the EU

Fortinet continues to work with educational institutions in the EU through the company's Academic Partner Program to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cybersecurity workforce. The program bridges the gap between learning and careers by providing students at colleges and universities with access to Fortinet NSE training and certification courses, labs, and exams.

Fortinet's goal is to train 5,000 students using the NSE curriculum, with just under 800 students participating in this effort to date. Fortinet also set out to expand its Academic Partner Program to reach at least 30 schools in the EU and has already achieved this goal with 31 new institutions across the EU joining the Academic Partner Program.

Providing Security Awareness Training for School-Aged Children

In collaboration with educators worldwide, Fortinet aims to equip students ages 5 to 18 with cybersecurity skills applicable to their digital interactions at school, home, and beyond. As part of Fortinet's collaborations in the EU, the team continues to develop and localize security awareness training curriculum, delivering hands-on lesson plans, teacher guides, activity sheets, and multimedia assets for schools across the EU. The curriculum has already been made available to schools in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. Educators around the globe can download the curriculum package at no cost.

Partnerships Are Vital to Driving Broad Cybersecurity Awareness

Fortinet collaborates closely with governments, ministries of education, and organizations like the World Economic Forum to make cybersecurity education and awareness training available to learners of all backgrounds and ages. These efforts-including Fortinet's commitment to the European Commission initiative-contribute toward Fortinet's goal to train 1 million people globally in cybersecurity by 2026 and serve to build a pipeline of future cybersecurity talent. By working across the public and private sectors, the cybersecurity industry can identify creative ways to pique interest in the field to ultimately close the cyber skills gap and better protect our society.