Cybersecurity Boot Camp Will Provide Essential Skills To Launch Careers
FREDERICTON – The new Cyber Bootcamp program out of CyberNB and Lighthouse Labs will run for 12 weeks and provide prospective students with all the tools they need to launch a career in cybersecurity.
A key feature of the program is that it does not require any prior technical knowledge of cybersecurity. The program is aimed at anyone looking to pivot their career, further develop existing technical skills, and former military members looking to reposition their existing security knowledge for a career in cybersecurity.
“Cybersecurity relies heavily on your creative thinking skills, your problem-solving skills, your collaborative skills, leadership, communication,” said Dillon Donahue, CyberNB’s Director of Workforce & Skills. “So, if you see yourself as a real go-getter who can solve problems and interested in cybersecurity then it’s very easy to take you into this bootcamp and then train you up on those IT skills.”
The bootcamp is available nationwide and aims to give students the knowledge necessary to work their first jobs in cybersecurity. Possible jobs for students at the end of the program include Cybersecurity Specialist or Technician; SOC Analyst Level 1; and Cybersecurity Incident Analyst or Responder.
It also aims to fill jobs in the ever-growing field of cybersecurity, whose industry has grown 350 percent between 2013 and 2021. In Canada, there are over 6,000 open positions and 3.5 million globally.
“The bootcamp’s aimed to close the gap that we’ve been seeing in cybersecurity education pathways,” said Donahue. “This bootcamp was designed to teach students everything they need to know, but only what they need to know.”
“We’re taking a two-year college course and boiling it down to exactly what an entry-level cybersecurity worker would be doing in their first role.”
The bootcamp is intensive – the first session, which begins in September, runs for 12 weeks and asks students to commit upwards of 12 hours a day, five days a week.
Each week covers one module, covering topics like network administration, malware analysis, risk management, and threat intelligence.
“This is a total 100 percent commitment,” said Donahue. “To be successful, the students are going in need to put that in because we’re also putting that effort in on our side to make sure that students are successful immediately out of the gate in getting their first job.”
The program is a collaboration between CyberNB and Lighthouse Labs. With locations across Canada, Lighthouse Labs has been running bootcamps in technical fields such as data science and web development since 2013.
“Partnering with CyberNB on the Cyber Bootcamp was a perfect fit for us,” says Jeremy Shaki, CEO of Lighthouse Labs. “Their focus on training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals aligns with our goals to empower students, launch careers, and contribute to the incredible growth of Canada’s tech industry.”
Lighthouse Labs’ similar programs in web development and data science have an impressive rate of employment at the end of the program. As of 2019, their rate of employment is 95 percent within the first six months after completing the program.
The program is conducted entirely remotely and provides students with mentorship, lectures, resources, and workshops they can use to launch their career at the end of the three months.
“If you don’t live in a big urban area it doesn’t matter,” said Donahue. “As long as you have strong Internet access and as long as you put in the time and effort you know the cyber team is going to be with you the whole way so you won’t be alone and they’ll also help you get into the industry.”
Interested students can apply to the program through CyberNB’s website.
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle. Send him story suggestions: [email protected].