Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions,today introduced its new free Information Security Awareness and Training service for organizations looking to educate employees about the increasing risks of cyber attacks. The Information Security Awareness and Training service –the latest initiative as part of the Network Security Expert (NSE) Training Institute – is for any organization looking to implement or replace their information security awareness program and was designed to align to NIST guidelines for NIST 800-50  and NIST 800-16. Additionally, NSE Certifications – which are comprised of 8 levels – have qualified for (ISC)² credit for individuals looking to maintain their CISSP credentials. This credit furthers the value NSE Certifications provide current and future security professionals.

Rob Rashotte, VP of Global Training and Technical Field Enablement at Fortinet

“Organizations need to ensure their employees know how to identify and protect against all types of cybersecurity threats. From 2018 to 2020 the number of insider threats increased 47% according to a Ponemon Institute Report, making these threats a top concern. At the same time, IT professionals are constantly on the quest for continued learning opportunities to refresh their security skillsets. To address both these needs, Fortinet is rolling out a free Information Security Awareness and Training service for organizations, as well as additional continued learning incentives for IT and security professionals. These latest efforts build on Fortinet’s ongoing commitment to closing the cybersecurity skills gap and our Corporate Social Responsibility work.”

AdvancingCyber Awareness and Skills Through the NSE Training Institute

Today, Fortinet is expanding its NSE Training Institute’s free training offerings with the introduction of the Information Security Awareness and Training service. More about this new service and other recent initiatives to address the industry’s skills gap below:

• Free Information Security Awareness and Training service for organizations: With social engineering attacks continuing to plague organizations, CISOs realize the importance of prioritizing employee training as part of their cybersecurity strategies to help address insider threats. A recent study found that 68% of organizations feel moderately to extremely vulnerable to insider attacks. In addition to designing a security architecture that protects against these insider attackers, CISOs and executives also need to increase their employees’ cyber awareness to ensure employees can identify threats and not fall victim to attackers. To help organizations address this, Fortinet offers a free Information Security Awareness and Training service that has been developed by some of the best cybersecurity training experts in the world. The training component of the service consists of five self-paced mandatory modules that are focused on key attack vectors and best practices. Each of the modules end with a quiz to test mastery of content. A library of awareness resources including posters, email templates, checklists and others, helps to ensure that cybersecurity best practices are always top of mind. The administrator dashboard allows the organization to keep track of employee completion progress, ensuring compliance with company policies. This turnkey service ensures employees are equipped with the knowledge necessary to avoid phishing, baiting, tech support scams and other social engineering attacks that commonly jeopardize organizations’ security posture.
• NSE training courses qualify for(ISC)²creditsfor continued learning: Courses in Fortinet’s eight-level certification program, as well as additional training courses, will now count toward credits for individuals looking to maintain their Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or other accreditations with (ISC)². This collaboration will further propel security professionals seeking continued learning opportunities to keep their skills relevant and up-to-date in the face of a rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape. Fortinet has an agreement with (ISC)²to offer CPE credits for NSE training courses, Fast Tracks which are available to customers and partners, webinars and other online or in-person educational sessions for the next three years.(ISC)²will consider submissions based on one hour of Fortinet’s training and education initiatives equaling 1 CPE credit, with a maximum of 8 per day.
• Closing the skills gap with NSE Certifications: The NSE Training Institute’s flagship NSE Certification Program recently reached a significant milestone, issuing more than half a million certifications worldwide. With its eight levels of certifications, the NSE Certification Program bridges the cybersecurity skills gap, from cybersecurity fundamental education courses (NSE 1-3), technical product training (NSE 4-6), advanced solution-based training (NSE 7) and the elite cybersecurity expert recognition (NSE 8). NSE level 8 is the highest certification designation with 381 individuals having earned NSE 8 to date, demonstrating mastery in extremely complex network security concepts by leveraging multiple solutions from Fortinet’s Security Fabric portfolio.

Fortinet’s Free NSE Training Creates Additional Cybersecurity Career Pathways

In the wake of the health pandemic, Fortinet made all its self-paced advanced NSE security courses available for free enabling anyone to learn new skills or augment existing skills – from IT professionals to students to veterans and job seekers. As organizations rapidly transitioned to a remote workforce, which requires specialized skills to properly secure remote access and new environments being spun up, Fortinet saw a significant uptick in demand for its NSE training and certifications.

By extending access to its NSE training with free courses, Fortinet sought to create more career pathways for those wanting to further advance their security knowledge or start a career in cybersecurity. These free training courses also prepare learners toward a path to receive Fortinet’s award-winning NSE Certifications to further help them stand out to employers and spur career growth. A recent Fortinet skills gap survey found that 82% of organizations prefer to hire candidates with certifications and 94% of respondents believe their certifications have better prepared them for their current security role.

Supporting Quotes

“Having achieved Fortinet’s NSE level 8 certification has provided me comprehensive and expert knowledge of network security design, configuration, and troubleshooting for complex networks. As a result, when I’m talking about certain architectures or implementing certain specific features, customers and prospects have increased confidence in my capabilities and knowledge that has been assessed by Fortinet, further demonstrating my competency. Ultimately, Fortinet’s training and certification program is successfully helping develop more security professionals as the demand for security has outpaced the number of people entering the market.”

–Matthew Watkinson, chief security architect at Secure Sense