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The goal of the academy is to use education as an equaliser, enabling anyone, regardless of background, to develop expertise in the digital skills necessary for the future workforce.
It does so through collaboration with an ecosystem of partners including the United Nations and the White House’s National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, and through the delivery of industry leading cybersecurity courses and other programmes.
Recognising the increasing importance of cybersecurity skills for protecting future businesses, the academy has set the goal of closing the US cybersecurity skills gap by training 200,000 students in the subject.
Developing cybersecurity skills
Businesses globally face a critical cybersecurity skills shortage that, if not solved, leaves them exposed to an increasingly hostile and complex digital landscape.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the global cybersecurity talent shortage could reach 85 million workers by 2030, causing approximately US$8.5tn in unrealised annual revenue.
The WEF’s ‘Strategic Cybersecurity Talent Framework’ white paper finds that the global cybersecurity workforce grew by 12.6% between 2022 and 2023.
However, more than four million workers in the cybersecurity industry are needed worldwide, the paper highlights. It adds that two-thirds of organisations face additional risks because of cybersecurity skills shortages, yet only 15% of firms expect cyber skills to significantly ramp up in 2026.
The Cisco Networking Academy plays a crucial role in filling this gap. It offers several dedicated cybersecurity courses covering themes including:
- Attacks, concepts and techniques
- Protecting data and privacy
- Protecting the organisation
- Threat intelligence
- Network Security
- Risk management
- Ethical hacking
- Penetration testing
- Social engineering attacks
- Cloud, mobile and IoT security
- Exploitation techniques
- CyberOps