Security Innovation is partnering with Google to provide training to 200 members of the International Consortium for Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP). More than 400 people applied for the scholarships, which seek to provide skills-based career development for students, unemployed professionals, and those seeking to transition into cybersecurity from underrepresented minorities.
Security Innovation will provide a three-month training program specifically designed for professionals looking to work in offensive, or Red Team, software security roles. Scholarship recipients will start this week to take an extensive series of self-paced online courses, training videos and dozens of hands-on security hacking challenges, including a live instructor-led hacking event featuring Security Innovation’s ShadowBank Cyber Range.
Since 2002, organizations have relied on Security Innovation’s assessment and training solutions to secure software wherever it runs. Recognized 6x on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for computer-based security training, CMD+CTRL Training combines role-based courses with hands-on cyber ranges to build skills that stick. With over 3.5 million users, CMD+CTRL helps all software security stakeholders address the risk of today’s tech stacks – flawed design, defenceless code, expanded attack surface, and misconfigured deployments.
The training program is centered on teaching in-demand security skills in an approachable and consumable way, which research indicates positively impacts professionals’ ability to learn and retain their skills.
“As a long-time member and sponsor of the ICMCP, Security Innovation is deeply committed to achieving consistent representation of women and minorities in cybersecurity,” said Ed Adams, CEO of Security Innovation and Treasurer of the ICMCP.
“We applaud Google for sponsoring this scholarship and urge the broader tech community to make sincere efforts to level what has long been an uneven playing field for underrepresented minorities in software security.”
Recent industry research has found that women represent only 14% of the cybersecurity workforce, while only 7% self-identify as Black. Meanwhile, there are more than 3.2M unfilled roles worldwide in the industry.
Of Google’s Red Team scholarship recipients, 45% self-identify as women; overall it is a geographically diverse group coming from eleven different countries and 30 US states. Sixty-one percent of recipients are currently unemployed.
“Google is committed to supporting and developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals while actively partnering with ICMCP and Security Innovation to ensure this next wave of professionals is truly representative of the overall population,” said Sarah Morales, Outreach Program Manager, Security & Privacy at Google.
The 3-month training program is part of a broader scholarship package from Google and the ICMCP that includes access to assessment, certification and a mentorship program.
