Udacity, Chronicle collaborate to launch Cybersecurity Nanodegree program

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9: The need for better cybersecurity in today’s digital-first, interconnected world cannot be overstated. Faced with a growing number of cyber-attacks as well a fast-evolving threat landscape, organisations are bolstering their security readiness to address the cybersecurity challenge. This has created an exponential demand for skilled cybersecurity experts across the globe – a demand which is fast outpacing the supply. Various industry studies estimate a talent shortage of 1.8 million to 3.2 million within the cybersecurity domain by 2021.

It is to help aspiring cybersecurity professionals to take advantage of this unparalleled opportunity that Udacity, the Silicon Valley-based lifelong learning platform, has launched its Cybersecurity Nanodegree program. The program has been created in collaboration with Chronicle Security, a sister company of Google, and also features contributions from leading security experts at Facebook, Microsoft, Visa, and VMware.

Speaking on the announcement, Ishan Gupta, Managing Director India, Udacity, said, “Cybercrime has become a global menace today and is exceptionally threatening given the growing digital interconnectivity between our devices, networks, and lives. Cybersecurity is no longer a luxury but has become the need of the hour. Adequately protecting themselves against a dynamic and constantly evolving threat landscape, however, will require organisations to hire skilled cybersecurity professionals. This is the skills gap that we aim to address with our Cybersecurity Nanodegree program.”

The latest Nanodegree combines Chronicle’s bleeding-edge expertise at applying planet-scale computing and analytics to security operations with Udacity’s agile and dynamic learning platform. This unique combination will provide learners on the platform with an efficient, path-breaking, and unparalleled skilling opportunity which will help them capitalise on the rapidly growing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals and accelerate their career growth.

The program is designed to deliver broadly-applicable skills valued across a wide range of domains and industries. The program curriculum is split into six courses comprising seven projects, spread over two three-month terms. From fundamental knowledge about Python, networking, cloud architecture, APIs, etc. to advanced skills pertaining to AuthN/AuthZ frameworks, VMs, serverless computing, and threat modelling, the program provides learners with the skills they need to build, operate, and secure cloud platforms. The final capstone project course teams up learners into two teams of attackers and defenders to learn how to attack and defend a cloud production environment.

Udacity will also provide video classes, programming exercises, and hands-on projects throughout the program to further help learners to fully absorb critical cloud-native security concepts and embrace a security-first mindset. Succeeding in the program will require learners to have intermediate Python experience and a basic understanding of Linux and networking.