NIIT and EC-Council enter into a strategic partnership to empower Digital India with a pool of Cyber Guardians
Unveil cutting-edge training program in Ethical Hacking to help combat rising cyber crime
New Delhi, September 17, 2014: NIIT, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and EC-Council (International Council of E-Commerce Consultants), one of the world's largest certification bodies for Information Security professionals, today entered into a strategic partnership to jointly address the cyber security concerns of a fast digitalising India. To this end, NIIT and EC-Council aim to introduce first-of-its-kind training program in ethical hacking to create a manpower pool of trained InfoSec professionals in the country. This was announced at a press conference held in the city today.
According to the recent McKinsey Digital Consumer survey, India's internet users are expected to go up to 370M in 2015. Seeking a deeper engagement in the 'Digital India' initiative, the Union Government of India has also approved the ambitious 'Digital India' programme, which aims to connect all gram panchayats through broadband Internet, promote e-governance and transform India into a connected knowledge economy. As consumption of IT grows in the space of e-governance and related areas, there is bound to be a corresponding increase in challenges to secure confidential data from hacks. Taking into account the requirement emerging for protection of information technology infrastructure in the country as well as to serve the export market, a demand for 4.7 lakh cyber security professionals has been estimated by the year 2015 by the Ministry of Communications and IT in the year 2012. This strategic partnership between NIIT and EC-Council aims to address this need.
According to a report India lost $8 bn in 2011 due to cybercrime and is ranked 5th in e-commerce breaches. The Govt of India has also recognized the need for building capability to fight against hackers and as a result also rolled out India's first cyber security policy in 2013. According to a Nasscom report, there are only 22,000 experts in India compared to 2.5 million in China. Forbes ranks Ethical Hacking as no 2 in highest paying jobs of the future.
Speaking on this significant partnership, Shivan Bhargava, Group President-Skills & Careers Group, NIIT Ltd. said, "While India has grown rapidly to deliver IT Services globally, skills in the area of Information Security have lagged behind. With IT services consumption growing in the domestic market, there is an urgent need to address this gap. NIIT's partnership with EC Council will give a much needed impetus to information security training and certification in India."
Jay Bavisi, President and co-Founder, EC-Council said, "EC Council is dedicated to strengthening cyber security in India, and to tackle the issue of the lack of skilled professionals on a backdrop of a growing nuisance of cyber crimes across industries in India. To combat this menace, EC -Council has partnered with NIIT, a renowned name in I.T. education. NIIT has proven to be a leading organization in global talent development and we are glad to come together with NIIT to train individuals in cyber security so that they can skilfully protect India effectively from this epidemic."
Sean Lim, Global Vice President, EC-Council said, "With the amount of talent available, India is naturally a key market for EC - Council, which will provide a high number of quality, English speaking, multi talented cyber-security professionals to the world. This partnership between EC-Council and NIIT is a giant step towards the creation of global cyber security citizens."
With rapid increase in cybercrime, organizations are grappling with the challenge of embracing disruptive technologies and trends like cloud, mobile and social computing that significantly improve productivity, while at the same ensuring security for businesses conducted in the cyber space.
With the overall objective of the partnership to create a pool of cyber security professionals in India, NIIT and EC-Council will develop skilled manpower for the rapidly growing InfoSec industry. On offer is a cutting-edge program in Ethical Hacking to help combat rising cyber crime in India to address the growing demand of cyber security professionals by corporate and Govt. organizations in the country.
About EC Council
EC-Council (International Council of E-Commerce Consultants) is one of the world's largest certification bodies for Information Security professionals. EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in various information security and e-business skills. It has been certified by American National Standards Institute to meet its ANSI 17024 standard. It is the owner and creator of the world famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT) programs, and as well as many others programs. These programs are offered in over 92 countries and over have trained over 120,000 & certified more than 60,000 security professionals through a training network of over 500 training partners globally.
Individuals who have achieved EC-Council certifications include those from some of the finest organizations around the world such as the US Army, the FBI, Microsoft, IBM and the United Nations.