ShieldX Networks Teams with Iowa State University to Address the Human Capital Crisis in Cybersecurity

Joint collaboration teaches next generation of cybersecurity professionals how to defend against real time attacks using the industry’s most advanced multi-cloud security tools

Students test their skills in ISEAGE competition against real cyber security professionals using ShieldX real time detection solutions (Photo: Business Wire)

SAN JOSE, Calif.--()--ShieldX Networks (ShieldX), Gartner “Cool Vendor” for Cloud Security, today announced the company will be collaborating with Iowa State University (ISU) to help solve the cybersecurity human capital crisis by providing students with real life experience using the industry’s most advanced threat detection and security automation tools. ISU’s Information Assurance Center, which offers interactive educational programs and hosts cyber defense competitions, will use ShieldX APEIRO™ cloud security platform to teach students how to effectively identify and automatically respond to suspicious activities within multi-cloud environments.

“Enterprises are struggling to find the talent and security solutions needed to defend against the growing sophistication and number of cyberattacks. Security innovations and more rigorous training programs are needed to solve the cybersecurity human capital crisis,” said Dr. Ratinder Ahuja, founder and CEO of ShieldX. “ShieldX is proud to be working with ISU to ensure that the next generation of cybersecurity professionals are ready to make an immediate, positive impact upon entering the workforce.”

Currently, the cybersecurity unemployment rate is zero, with over 1 million jobs unfilled. This number is expected to climb to 3.5 million by 2021. The cyber skills gap coincides with a dramatic and ongoing escalation in the frequency, intensity and cost of cyberattacks. Thirty-two percent of organizations reported being victims of cybercrime in 2016, and 72% of CISOs predicted that their companies would be attacked within the next year.

To solve the human capital crisis, many companies are looking to use artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to make up for a lack of security personnel. And while significant achievements have been made in these areas, even the best technologies are only as good as the humans who are deploying it. To outpace the Black Hats, our future cyber experts must be given the knowledge and skills necessary to have an immediate impact against the cybercrime epidemic.

Real World Training, Next Generation Technology

Iowa State University is one of the most prestigious destinations for aspiring cybersecurity researchers and professionals in the country. The university’s innovative educational programs provide students the opportunity to hone their skills on simulated corporate networks that closely match real world environments. ShieldX APEIRO is the only solution on the market that met the university’s unique budget and footprint needs, as well as their needs for an elastically scaling solution. APEIRO can be deployed in 15 minutes, removed automatically and is capable of detecting external and lateral threats in more than a terabit of traffic, automatically spinning services up and down as needed.

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month kicks-off, ISU Information Assurance Center students will be testing their cybersecurity skills at the university’s annual ISEAGE (Internet-Scale Event and Attack Generation Environment) cyber defense competition on October 6-7, 2017. The competition pits the industry’s most experienced security professionals and graduate students against some of the most talented college students in the country.

The university started the ISEAGE cyber defense competition in 2005 to help prepare students for careers is cyber security. Through the joint collaboration between ISU and ShieldX, this year’s students will be armed with the modern cloud security capabilities of APEIRO including advanced security controls and micro-segmentation on demand. Unlike years past, students will now be able to use the automation features of APEIRO as a teaching tool. Students are required to conduct manual defenses during the competition, but afterwards students will use APEIRO to learn how advanced threat detection and security automation tools can help improve their defenses. In addition, APEIRO will provide students with insights into the types of attacks they saw during the competition and the best way to mitigate them.

“Students love to test their skills against real cyber security professionals, but for it to be a fair fight they need access to the industry’s best security tools,” said Dr. Doug Jacobson, director of the Iowa State University Information Assurance Center and University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We were pleased to find a cloud security solution that met our center’s budget and footprint requirements. ShieldX APEIRO offers our students the opportunity to use the latest security threat intelligence and automation innovations so that they enter the workforce, ready to solve the cybersecurity and human capital challenges of their generation.”

To learn more about the ISEAGE competition, please visit: https://cdc.iseage.org/. To learn more about ShieldX’s advanced multi-cloud security tools please visit: https://www.shieldx.com/product/.

About ShieldX

ShieldX is redefining cloud security to better protect organizations against cyber threats - regardless of where sensitive data resides or how it moves across public, private or multi-cloud environments. Organizations are using APEIRO to scale security and micro-segmentation on demand, support business innovation, meet compliance requirements and protect against the latest cyberattacks. Based in San Jose, CA, ShieldX was founded in 2015 and is privately funded. Contact us at ShieldX.com.

Contacts

for ShieldX
Lorraine Kauffman-Hall, 980-237-7081
lhall@attainmarketing.com

Release Summary

ShieldX is collaborating with Iowa State University to help solve the cybersecurity human capital crisis by providing students with real-time training

Contacts

for ShieldX
Lorraine Kauffman-Hall, 980-237-7081
lhall@attainmarketing.com