Nasscom partners with Symantec to build skilled cyber security professionals in India

NASSCOM and Symantec have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for ‘Building Cyber Security Skills’ – an initiative to develop skilled and certified professionals. The MoU was signed in the presence of R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM andMichael A. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Symantec.

Sector Skill Council (SSC) NASSCOM and Data Security Council of India (DSCI) along with Symantec will focus on developing five prioritised job roles in cyber security along with a master training programme.

Additionally, the programme also intends to fund the scholarship for 1000 women undertaking the cyber security certification by NASSCOM.

This initiative also aims to facilitate internships and placement of the certified candidates.

R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “This is a positive step towards our objective to address the cyber security issue at large. This partnership will enable the industry to map existing and future skills requirements and plug its demand-supply gap. The programme will also focus on developing pioneering models for scaling capacity and enhancing employability through assessments and certifications.”

Talking about Symantec’s association with NASSCOM, Michael A. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Symantec said “With the rise in targeted attacks aimed at Indian enterprises and consumers, cyber security has become more important than ever before. With the partnership with NASSCOM, we are taking the first big step towards building cyber security skills in India. The initiative will also facilitate internships and placement of certified candidates, and is an extension in India of the Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3), a programme launched last year to attract and train young adults and women in the field of cyber security.”

The global IT Security market estimated to be $77 billion in 2015 and grow at over 8% annually. The demand for cyber security workforce is expected to rise to 6 million (globally) by 2019, with projected shortfall of 1.5 million.

Recently, NASSCOM and DSCI launched the NASSCOM Cyber Security Task Force to help build India as a global hub for providing cyber security solutions, developing cyber security R&D plan and developing a skilled workforce of cyber security experts.