Tampa, Fla., Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OPSWAT, a leading provider of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) cybersecurity solutions, announced today that its training and certification program, OPSWAT Academy, is now endorsed by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) for its year-long training program, which facilitates skills development in the state and matches employees’ skills with employers’ requirements.
“The rapid growth in the number of OPSWAT Academy enrollments and collaboration with public and private organizations, such as DEW, validates our mission of protecting the world’s critical infrastructure and the strides we’re making to close the cybersecurity skills gap,” said Irfan Shakeel, VP of Training and Certification Services at OPSWAT. “We know the critical impact that cybersecurity jobs have within organizations, and we’re pleased to help both DEW program and industry professionals upskill and build on their experience through OPSWAT Academy’s accessible training and certification program to fill those roles.”
Recent research from Cyberseek shows there are over 700,000 open positions within cybersecurity in the U.S. alone. This talent shortage, combined with the Great Resignation, is leaving organizations with numerous vacant security positions and ultimately an increased threat surface. In an effort to combat these challenges, OPSWAT Academy builds upon students’ base knowledge and trains them on the types of cybersecurity risks, threats, network protection and solutions found in common business processes and use cases. Once certified, students are better skilled and equipped to work in not just any business setting but the most critical infrastructure environments.
"As part of DEW’s efforts to promote and support an effective, customer-driven workforce for employers, endorsing OPSWAT Academy means we trust its certification program to both upskill our state workers on complex cybersecurity challenges they are facing and to provide innovative solutions to overcome them,” said Shane Simmons, Chief Information Officer at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.”
To solve the cybersecurity skills shortage, DEW runs a nine-month apprenticeship program in which they recruit trainees from the state and give them opportunities to learn cybersecurity from scratch. These trainees will be exposed to real-world onsite training and education, and they also participate in several certification programs that DEW endorses, which now includes the OPSWAT Academy certification program. All nine OPSWAT Academy Associate courses are offered through this collaboration, such as OPSWAT Legacy System Associate (OLSA) and OPSWAT Network Security Associate (ONSA).
OPSWAT Academy currently has more than 50,000 enrolled users and was also named “Professional Certification Program of the Year” in the 6th annual CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards Program last month.
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About OPSWAT
OPSWAT is a global leader in IT, OT and ICS critical infrastructure cybersecurity solutions and Deep Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR), protecting the world’s mission-critical organizations from malware and zero-day attacks. To minimize the risk of compromise, OPSWAT Critical Infrastructure Protection solutions safeguard both public and private sector organizations with the latest technology, processes, and hardware scanning to secure the transfer of data, files, and device access across critical networks. More than 1,500 organizations worldwide spanning Financial Services, Defense, Manufacturing, Energy, Aerospace, and Transportation Systems trust OPSWAT to secure their files and devices; ensure compliance with industry and government-driven policies and regulations, and protect their reputation, finances, employees, and customers from cyber-driven disruption. For more information on OPSWAT, visit www.opswat.com.
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Kat Lewis OPSWAT kat.lewis@opswat.com
