Closing the cybersecurity skills gap through education and opportunity

Phishy Business

In this episode of Phishy Business, we take a look at the skills shortage being faced by IT departments when it comes to hiring cybersecurity experts and how the Absa Cybersecurity Academy is working with its partner, the Maharishi Institute, to assist in helping marginalized South African youth to become certified cybersecurity experts. Together, Absa and the Maharishi Institute are consistently working to develop a sustainable means to give youth the training they need to maintain careers and break the cycle of poverty they have been born into. Our special guests are Shenaaz Abrahams, who has made it her mission to ensure the Absa Academy is giving the most marginalized in her community access to cybersecurity training, and one of the Absa Academy’s success stories, student Kerwin Jacobs.

In ‘Closing the cybersecurity skills gap through education and opportunity’ we discuss:

• What the Absa Cybersecurity Academy is, and its aim
• The holistic learning experience at the Maharishi Institute, which includes a lot of self-development and getting to learn things like transcendental meditation
• Absa’s latest partnership with the Hein Wagner Academy and teaching cybersecurity skills to the visually impaired
• The opportunities for Africa to be a cybersecurity hub and how the continent can help plug the global skills gap while offering employment opportunities in a market with a high unemployment rate
• Why individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds – like those enrolled at the academy – make good cybersecurity professionals
• How the academy has impacted Kerwin’s life
• Some inspiring stories about other students enrolled in the academy

About Phishy Business

Fed up with the same old cybersecurity stories? Come with us on a journey that explores the lesser-known side. Whether it’s social engineering, taking criminals to court or the journalists hunting down hackers — our new podcast series, Phishy Business, looks for new ways to think about cybersecurity. Mimecast’s very own Brian Pinnock and Alice Jeffery are joined by guests from a range of unique security specialisms. Each episode explores tales of risk, reward and just a dash of ridiculousness to learn how we can all improve in the fight to stay safe. For more tales of risk, reward and ridiculousness, subscribe to Phishy Business on iTunes, Spotify, Anchor or wherever you get your podcasts.

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