SANS Gulf Region 2013, one of the region’s largest InfoSec training events, will play host to a quartet of courses aimed at providing InfoSec professionals with the core set of skills to meet growing demand from across the region.
The annual event returns to the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah from October 26 to November 7, with a roster of courses offering skills across incident handling, security testing, digital forensics and development best practice to help create secure applications.
“There have been a number of high-profile IT security breaches over the last year and it’s clear that the strong growth and economic vitality of the region is attracting cyber-criminals and other organised groups that are targeting both state and commercial interest,” said James Lyne, a Certified Instructor at SANS and Global Head of Security Research at security firm Sophos.
Even though organisations across the Gulf are spending more on IT security than at any other point, there is still a shortage of InfoSec professionals and high demand across governmental, military and enterprise for staff with up to date penetration testing, forensics and secure development skills, Lyne added.
“Gulf Region 2013 offers four of our most popular courses that each teach a core skill needed for the four main disciplines within the information security arena,” said Lyne, who will be running SANS Security 504: Hacker Techniques, Exploits & Incident Handling. The six-day course is aimed at helping information security professionals understand attackers’ tactics and design a comprehensive incident handling plan which also includes the legal issues associated with responding to computer attacks and Incident Handling.
Dubai will debut a new course to the region in DEV522: Defending Web Applications Security Essentials, which covers the OWASP Top 10 to help web site designers, architects, and developers understand web app vulnerabilities with tried-and-true techniques for finding them using a structured testing regime. The core skills theme is rounded off by the popular SEC542: Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking and the FOR408: Computer Forensic Investigations – Windows In-Depth courses.
“Ahead of the course, we always advise that organisations take a good look at the skill level of their InfoSec team to assess if they are equipped to deal with either an attack or the aftermath of a security breach and plan training accordingly,” says Lyne, “It is clear that the region is currently a target for cyber-attack and prevention through the establishment of solid security practices backed up by on-going skill improvement is a much more effective solution than a purely reactive position.”
Recognising the demand across the region, SANS has increased its training schedule with additional events in Oman in December, Dubai again in January and Abu Dhabi in April. SANS is also working directly with various local organisations and government departments to deliver bespoke training and advisory sessions. More information regarding the courses, including associated GIAC certifications and to register online, can be found here.
