Closing the Gender Gap in Cybersecurity: Circadence Provides Training to 100 Women in 100 Days — Circadence Corporation

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BOULDER, Colo. – Dec. 16, 2020 – PRLog — Circadence Corporation (https://circadence.com/demo/), a market leader in hands-on, gamified cyber training and education, announced a partnership with Inteligenca (https://leadmind.inteligenca.com/100womenin100days/) for the 100 Women in 100 Days Cybersecurity Career Accelerator Program launching in December 2020. Circadence will provide fast-tracked hands-on cybersecurity education to 100 women participating in the program in preparation for the CompTIA certifications for IT Security Fundamentals and Cybersecurity Plus courses. The goal of this program is to help minimize the gender gap (in 2019, women represented 20% of the global cyber workforce) and increase the talent pool.

“We are thrilled to be involved in a program with Inteligenca to provide women an increased level of cyber skills to prepare them for a future career in cybersecurity,” said Laurie Webb-DesJardins, Director of Global Partnerships at Circadence. “There is a strong need for women in the field, and by making training more readily available, we will hopefully encourage more women to join the industry.

Inteligenca (https://leadmind.inteligenca.com/100womenin100days/) created the 100 Women in 100 Days Cybersecurity Career Accelerator to inspire, train, certify and provide opportunities to women interested in a cybersecurity career. The women in the program have little to no cybersecurity knowledge, but through training, they will gain the skills they need to pass the CompTIA certification course. Circadence will provide the women with remote, hands-on training through their signature immersive, gamified cyber training platform, Project Ares. Project Ares (https://circadence.com/demo/) will help develop the needed skills and fundamentals to complete the CompTIA certification. There will be two course tracks offered to the women participating in the program that will augment learning from CompTIA Security and IT Fundamentals Certification Training classes. The Cybersecurity Basics Course featuring Project Ares will be taught by Michael Kaplan  of  Phase2Advantage, who will instruct participants and help them build the knowledge needed for future cyber internships, apprenticeships, and ultimately, a career in cyber.

The International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC²) reported world-wide employment in the cybersecurity field would need to grow by 89% to meet security requirements (https://www.isc2.org/News-and-Events/Press-Room/Posts/2019/11/06/ISC2-Finds-the-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Needs-to-Grow–145). The need to increase the cyber workforce and cyber skills continues to grow due to the persistent rise in cybercriminal activity, especially since the start of COVID-19.

The 100 Women 100 Days Program addresses some industry-wide cybersecurity issues like the gender gap and talent shortage. The program is designed from a hiring managers perspective so participants can prepare to enter the cyber workforce with confidence and competency, minimizing the skills gap and diversifying the predominantly male-populated industry. Unlike other programs, 100 Women in 100 Days includes training for desired industry certifications, so students can hit the ground running on day one of employment. It will offer hands-on workshops facilitated by local cybersecurity experts, giving students the opportunity to get a firsthand understanding of what is expected knowledge in a real cyber job. The 100 Women in 100 Days Cybersecurity Career Accelerator Program will provide a comfortable environment for female students to learn and advance in cyber skills at a higher rate than if they were in the class setting. This female-focused learning environment also benefits companies that are strategically hiring more women technologists, as studies have shown they perform better than their male counterparts in similar positions.

“We are very excited to partner with Circadence because of its platform’s ability to provide additional simulated hands-on experience to our program’s participants,” said Carmen Marsh, CEO and Managing Partner of Inteligenca. “We look forward to enhancing our student’s learning journey with this great opportunity to build hands-on cyber skills.”

The goal of Circadence’s Project Ares (https://circadence.com/demo/) solution is to keep learners engaged while building skills and it does this via gamified, cyber-range-as-a-service technology to deliver cybersecurity learning scenarios. Authentic virtual machine-based exercises make cyber preparation for professional development as close to the real cyber threats and scenarios that learners will experience on the job.

ABOUT CIRCADENCE

Circadence^® Corporation is a market leader in next-generation cybersecurity education and training. Powered by a culture of innovation and the demands of an evolving cyber landscape, Circadence offers cyber range solutions and cybersecurity training platforms that leverage artificial intelligence and custom content to address critical security challenges for enterprise, government, and academic institutions. Circadence’s Project Ares solution delivers persistent, immersive and true-to-life experiences that match and adapt to contemporary threat environments. Circadence is a Microsoft Gold Partner. For more information, visit www.circadence.com.