Chandigarh gets its cyber fortress

To address the acute shortage of cyber security professionals in India, Mumbai-based Institute of Information Security has opened a state-of-the-art cyber security training centre in Chandigarh. The institute will offer basic-, mid- and advanced-level training courses to students and information technology (IT) professionals in Chandigarh. Currently, the company has centres in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.

Speaking to Business Standard, Principal Consultant K K Mookhey said, "Cyber crime is a major issue affecting organisations and individuals in India today. Recently, the minister of state for communications and IT, Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, "Taking into account the requirement emerging for protection of IT infrastructure in the country, as well as to serve the export market, a demand for 470,000 cyber security professionals has been estimated by 2015."

"In such a scenario, it is extremely important for training institutes to be set up that and impart the right knowledge and skills to youngsters, such that they may be ready to participate in this battle against cyber criminals and unfriendly governments,"said Mookhey.

He said the centres in other parts of the country have trained not only students, but professionals, too, from organisations such as Defence Research and Development Organisation, Infosys, Symantec, Indian Navy, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Ernst & Young. The institute gives training in ethical hacking, web application security, network security, penetration testing and forensics as also certification courses in India, West Asia, Malaysia, Singapore and Africa.

Mookhey added, "We believe information security is exciting because it is evolving and challenging."