RMIT Online addresses cybersecurity talent gap through new course to strengthen Australia’s preparedness
The course addresses the need for managerial professionals and others across Australia's workforce to develop cybersecurity skills.
RMIT Online has announced the launch of a new cybersecurity short course as part of its Future Skills portfolio. The course, Cyber Security Risk and Strategy, is aimed at upskilling participants to understand the fundamentals of cybersecurity and how to formulate a preventative strategy of good cyber governance within a business.
As technology continues to transform businesses digitally, the threat of cyber attacks becomes more imminent and the need to arm people with the skills required to protect digital assets from malicious activity becomes greater.
According to a report from AustCyber, Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan, Australia’s cybersecurity sector is facing a severe skills shortage costing the nation more than $400 million in lost revenue and wages, with almost 17,600 additional cybersecurity professionals likely to be needed by 2026.
“We are pleased to create this course with industry, to strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity preparedness by training Australians to fill a diverse range of technical and non-technical roles,” said Helen Souness, CEO of RMIT Online. “The rate at which technologies are advancing and turning industries and departments upside down is not slowing down, and neither should our commitment to lifelong learning”.
The course will cover a variety of topics within the cybersecurity ecosystem. Apart from understanding the fundamentals of cybersecurity risk and its commercial impact, course participants will learn how to apply a cybersecurity risk mitigation strategy to their organisation. Students will also learn how topics like asset security, identity and access management and cloud security impact an enterprise’s cybersecurity.
“Having the right tools and platforms in place to protect an organisation from security breaches is crucial. However, the most important thing organisations can do to protect themselves is to ensure every staff member is educated about cybersecurity risks, the threat landscape and their own role in protecting the organisation. We all share a responsibility for identifying and managing our cybersecurity risks,” said Sean Duca, Vice President and Chief Security Officer, Asia-Pacific and Japan at Palo Alto Networks.
Also commenting on the partnership, Harvey Deak, Head of Security Strategy and Architecture at NAB, said, “We’re pleased to be involved in this course, which we see playing an important role in helping to teach new and emerging skills and supporting a sustained skills pipeline for generations to come. As the Australian economy becomes more and more digitised, it is critical for Australia’s future economic prosperity that we build a highly skilled and educated cybersecurity workforce to help raise Australia’s cyber defence profile.”
The course will begin on 3 June 2019 and will run for six weeks at a cost of AU$1,600.
