KUWAIT: Under the patronage of the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) and the Chairman of the Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), IBS honored the graduates of the 3rd cohort of the “Cybersecurity Leaders Program,” held from July 16 to October 5, 2023. It is part of the strategic cooperation between the SANS Academy (Cybersecurity Training Institute) and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

This program is part of the “Kafa’a” initiative launched by the CBK in cooperation with Kuwaiti banks to develop and qualify national cadres through the management of the Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies since 2018, the CBK said in a press release. The CBK and the Institute have commended the honorees for passing this significant program and called on them to pursue further education and qualification to keep abreast of international developments and to deliver the necessary skills for preserving and protecting networks, systems, applications, and infrastructure.

Furthermore, the institute has stressed that CBK, in collaboration with banks, shall continue to support education, training, and qualitative qualification to provide competencies and distinguished cadres needed for the growth of the national economy, whether through the institute‘s programs or the Kafa’a initiative, according to the release. The CBK is constantly seeking through IBS to collaborate with the best international professional institutions to offer training programs and activities, particularly the Kafa’a initiative programs, in line with the highest international standards, it added.

Within this framework, CBK has contracted with SANS Cybersecurity Training Institute Academy, an internationally leading and accredited training academy that offers professional certificates in the field of cybersecurity, and cooperated with BIS‘s Cyber Resilience Coordination Center, which is the most well-established global financial institution actively engaged in developing the global financial market by taking advantage of CBK’s membership to give specialized lectures and trainings on the topic of protecting and securing the financial and banking systems.

The “Cybersecurity Leaders” program comprised practical and professional training and specialized tests from SANS Institute Academy to obtain international certificates (GIAC) in cybersecurity and develop various skills in this field, including acquiring knowledge on the fundamentals of protecting and securing networks, systems, and applications, training on hacker tools and techniques, and acquiring cyber incident management skills, it said. Moreover, SANS offers insights on developments in the field of cybersecurity worldwide by providing specialized workshops with several experts in cybersecurity who work in security companies or relevant international institutions, it noted.

The program mainly included, throughout all its stages, live exercises on protecting and securing networks, systems, financial and banking infrastructure, and others (Cyber Range Exercises) and CTF (Capture the Flag) competitions. These training delivery models are the ideal ways to train and acquire the necessary cyber skills in work environments, according to the release. It is worth noting that the participants in this program work within various bodies, both inside and outside the banking sector.

Such participants are graduates and fresh cadres, with the active participation of Kuwaiti women representing approximately 25 percent of the total number of participants. Thus, achieving CBK’s strategy to qualify national cadres specialized in cybersecurity and empower women is a strategy that is not merely limited to the consolidation of the banking sector but also the consolidation of all other institutions and sectors in Kuwait.

A number of participants spoke about their experience in the program and the knowledge they acquired and expressed their gratitude and appreciation to CBK, IBS, and their employers, who believed in and invested in them. In conclusion, certificates were distributed to all participants.- KUNA