The IT Nerd

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education company, today announced it has been named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Security Awareness and Training Solutions, Q1 2022 report. The report ranks the 11 most significant security awareness training companies based on Current Offering, Strategy and Market Presence categories using 30 criteria. Infosec was among the top two ranked in the Current Offering category based on learner content, risk quantification, reporting capabilities, security culture betterment and other criteria. 

The Forrester Wave™ states, “Infosec provides a comprehensive, customer-focused solution for today’s market. Long-established Infosec Institute bases its vision on three pillars — learner engagement, human risk measurement, and exceptional customer experience — that are all fundamental to present and future market needs…Infosec has delivered on its promise of gamification: The award-winning Choose Your Own Adventure Games complement a set of creative, engaging, and inclusive content, including animation; customer references were delighted with the quality and variety of this content.” 

The report also notes, ”The vendor has a team dedicated to customer support that displays client obsession at all points and consistently gets rave reviews from reference customers. Security leaders interested in working with a vendor that deeply understands them and which provides a quality solution should investigate Infosec.”

Infosec’s role-guided security education platforms — Infosec IQ and Infosec Skills —  help individuals and organizations protect their data, mitigate risk and empower employees through education. Today, more than five million learners worldwide are more cyber-resilient from Infosec IQ’s security awareness and phishing training, and more than 70% of the Fortune 500 have relied on Infosec Skills to develop their security talent and teams.

The report is produced by Forrester Research, Inc., a leading global research and advisory firm. Forrester’s research assessed vendors on a weighted scale that ranks capabilities across multiple categories. 

You can get a complimentary copy of The Forrester Wave™: Security Awareness and Training Solutions 2022 report via the link.

Last week I got the opportunity to speak with Jack Koziol who is the CEO of Infosec. What is cool about Infosec is that they are really invested in training people in terms of IT & Security. Because it’s super important that everyone be aware of the risks and threats that exist due to threat actors that are out there who will take advantage of any weakness that they find.

One question that I had was if colleges and universities are missing the boat when it comes to getting people fully trained up in IT security. From a Canadian perspective, there are only a handful of degree programs based on a search that I did prior to the interview. What I did find was there were courses. Mr. Koziol noted that not a whole lot has changed. Back in his day, the closest thing to information security courses was a cryptography course. Which is just math at the end of the day. I have to admit that I laughed at that because when I was in university, it was the same thing. So clearly to make the world a safer place when it comes to information security, university need to up their game.

My next question was diversity. Does information security need diversity to thrive. According to Mr. Koziol the answer is yes. The more voices that come to the table that have diverse backgrounds makes us all safer. Related to that, my final question was getting people who are under 18 into information security. Back in my day, you got into information security by breaking the law and then becoming famous. A good example of this is Kevin Mitnick. Mr. Koziol agrees that needs to change by redirecting youth into information security so that they don’t have to do something extreme to break into the industry.

While this was a quick 15 minute conversation, it was an interesting conversation. I’d like to thank Mr. Koziol for his time for this interview.

 Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education provider, today announced $225,000 in cybersecurity education scholarship opportunities to help veterans, students and underrepresented groups in security launch and advance their careers. Since its inception, the Infosec Accelerate Scholarship Program has awarded over $500,000 in educational opportunities for aspiring cybersecurity professionals. 

The Infosec Accelerate Scholarship Program was established in 2018 to encourage new talent to join our industry and close the growing cybersecurity skills and diversity gap. Each year, up to 15 scholarship recipients receive lifetime subscriptions to Infosec Skills, including access to over 1,400 hands-on courses, in-demand certification training and 100s of virtual labs in Infosec’s cloud-hosted cyber ranges.  Providing accessible training opportunities is one of the many ways Infosec hopes to fill the 3.5 million open cybersecurity roles worldwide and increase diverse representation in cybersecurity.

The Infosec Accelerate Scholarship Program includes five categories. Applications are now open to those who meet one or more of the following qualifications: 

• Infosec Accelerate Women Scholarship
• Infosec Accelerate Military/Veteran Scholarship
• Infosec Accelerate BIPOC Scholarship
• Infosec Accelerate Undergraduate Scholarship
• Infosec Accelerate LGBTQI+ Scholarship 

The 2022 Infosec Accelerate Scholarship Program application deadline is July 31, 2022. Infosec will announce scholarship winners in the first week of September. Applicants can apply for more than one category if they meet the criteria and submit a separate application for each. 

Learn more and apply for an Infosec Accelerate Scholarship. 

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education company, today announced impressive 2021 growth for its software segment of business — reporting a 62% increase in annual recurring revenue. Infosec’s software platforms — Infosec IQ and Infosec Skills — helped millions of learners make the digital world safer in 2021 by delivering 26 million minutes (49 years’ worth) of cybersecurity training.

Record numbers of cyber incidents and open cybersecurity roles in 2021 fueled the need for security education to strengthen organizations’ security cultures, upskill cyber teams, reduce business risk and meet compliance. As the only cybersecurity education provider with role-guided training for the entire organization, Infosec rose to this challenge by driving significant innovation in its security education software, investing in customer care and satisfaction and focusing on corporate social responsibility by building community.

Innovating for growth 

Two SaaS cybersecurity education platforms — Infosec Skills for hands-on security skills training and Infosec IQ for security awareness and phishing training — fueled Infosec’s 2021 growth with these innovation achievements:

• Launch of and its new cyber range environment, where learners can learn new skills hands-on and accelerate skill mastery, and release of 406 new Infosec Skills technical training resources.
• Premiere of two award-winning Infosec IQ security awareness learning series to inspire positive security behaviors and build strong security cultures: Choose Your Own Adventure® Security Awareness Games and Just the Facts.
• Partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft, Coursera, N-able and Check Point Software Technologies, expanding Infosec courses to millions of learners.
• IDC recognition of Infosec Skills as a Marketscape Leader for IT Training in the U.S. 
• Launch of 1,624 new awareness and training resources, the Infosec IQ Cybersecurity Culture Survey and business intelligence-driven analytics to help organizations quantify their human risk.
• Recognition by G2, the world’s leading tech marketplace, as a Top 100 Global Software Seller as well as the top-rated cybersecurity education provider.

Providing award-winning customer experience

Throughout 2021, industry leaders recognized Infosec for its market leadership and customer experience with numerous accolades based on more than 1,500 validated customer reviews including:

• Over 1,100 client reviews on G2 in 2021 earned Infosec Skills a 4.6 out of 5-star rating and Infosec IQ a 4.5 out of 5-star rating for exceptionally high client satisfaction, earning Infosec over 30 G2 Leader distinctions.
• TrustRadius awarded Infosec the Best Customer Support and Feature Set based on over 170 client reviews, with Infosec Skills earning an 8.9 out of 10-star rating and Infosec IQ earning an 8.6 out of 10-star rating.
• Gartner Peer Insights Reviews named Infosec a 2021 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for security awareness and training based on 477 clients rating Infosec’s overall client service and support 4.8 out of 5 stars. 

Building community through cybersecurity

Beyond business growth, Infosec focused on its commitment to corporate social responsibility initiatives, earning recognition as a TrustRadius’ TechCares award recipient, celebrating companies that have gone above and beyond to provide strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

Through Infosec Gives, the company’s 1-1-1 philanthropic commitment to sharing profit, product and time to make a lasting impact, the team has:

• volunteered  more than 850 hours to over 42 local non-profits
• donated $15,000 to over 50 organizations and 
• awarded $200,000 in Infosec Accelerate Scholarships to make cybersecurity more accessible to women, BIPOC, LGBTQI+, veterans and undergraduates.

Infosec also launched their Infosec Gives Partner Program, a collaboration initiative with industry organizations sharing Infosec’s vision to make cyber training more accessible. The program welcomed the Women’s Society of Cyberjustsu as their first partner. 

The company’s commitment to the community also shined through its employee experience with Infosec recognized as a Madison Top Workplace and Chicago Best Place to Work.

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education company, announced that it was recognized by The Software Report as one of the Top 25 Cybersecurity Companies in 2021. The award celebrates cybersecurity companies that are committed to providing the most cutting-edge protection solutions for their customers.

The Software Report, a comprehensive source for market research and insights, selected Infosec from hundreds of nominations based on their leadership in the field and resounding feedback from industry professionals. Infosec was recognized alongside industry leaders like Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Blackberry and BugCrowd. To be considered for the Top 25 list, each nominated organization had to:

• Be a cybersecurity company demonstrating dominance in their respective category 
• Demonstrate the effectiveness of their leadership teams 
• Show an ability to establish a positive, inclusive working environment  

See the full list of 2021 Top 25 Cybersecurity Companies. 

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education provider, today announced their partnership with Coalfire to deliver hands-on technical cybersecurity training through the award-winning Infosec Skills platform. Coalfire is a leading cybersecurity advisor that combines extensive cloud expertise, advanced technology and innovative approaches to empower their clients to secure their digital transformations.

Today, more than 70% of security leaders are looking to the cloud to power their digital transformation. As cyber threats also move to cloud, cloud security measures, processes and policies must be in place to avoid misconfigurations and vulnerabilities that are currently the cause of many security incidents. To help organizations mitigate the risk of moving to the cloud, Coalfire has partnered with Infosec to equip their team with the latest cloud security knowledge, skills and certifications. 

Coalfire will leverage Infosec Skills to provide ongoing, hands-on training for the variety of cybersecurity professionals and developers that not only create their cloud security solutions, but also advise clients and protect client data. The training will complement Coalfire’s robust Learning and Development program through role-guided learning, equipping each learner with skills to combat the latest threats in their area of expertise. 

Through the partnership, Coalfire will leverage the Infosec Skills platform to provide additional training to members of their cybersecurity team. Named a 2021 IDC MarketScape Leader for IT Training in the U.S., Infosec Skills offers 1,200+ hands-on cybersecurity courses and cyber ranges where cyber professionals can upskill and reskill inside the operating environments they encounter on the job. 

Learn more about successfully technical training cybersecurity teams with Infosec Skills. 

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education company, today announced it was recognized as a Leader in the 2021 IDC MarketScape for IT Training in the U.S. The report cited Infosec’s focus on quality training content and instructors, integration of labs and role-relevant materials as strengths of its Infosec Skills technical skill development platform.

While IT training is challenging for most organizations, the cybersecurity skills gap, in particular, has left organizations vulnerable to rising cyber threats.* Infosec is among the few IT training vendors equipped to provide authoritative and relevant cybersecurity training according to the IDC MarketScape assessment that positioned Infosec as a Leader among major IT training providers in the U.S. 

The study reviewed 22 of the most well-known IT training vendors in the U.S., assessing the quantitative and qualitative characteristics that are most significant to IT education buyers and how specific training firms perform against those characteristics. Key characteristics considered include instructor quality, quality and relevance of the material, breadth of training content, content reference value and convenience. 

In the analysis, the IDC MarketScape report lists Infosec as a Leader for both its strategies and capabilities, specifically highlighting these strengths:

• Producing authoritative content and certification test preparation
• Quality of content, materials and instructors
• Integration of hands-on labs into instruction
• An easy approach to purchasing and partnerships with technology vendors 

Infosec Skills equips IT, security and engineering teams with unlimited access to over 1,200 resources to assess and close skills gaps. Learners progress from beginner to expert with training mapped to in-demand cyber roles like SOC analyst and cloud security engineer, as well as industry standards like the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity and MITRE ATT&CK® Matrix for Enterprise. Interactive cyber ranges go one step further to move learners from theory to practice through guided, realistic labs with clear learning objectives and actionable lessons.

Download a complimentary copy of the IDC MarketScape: U.S. IT Training 2021 Vendor Assessment here.

Infosec Institute, the leading cybersecurity education company, today announced the appointment of Monty Schmidt as the company’s first chief technology officer (CTO). In this role, Monty will oversee Infosec’s software engineering and product organization to accelerate platform innovation, execute Infosec’s go-to-market strategy and deliver customer value.

Monty brings over 25 years of experience leading high-growth software organizations spanning the education, media, healthcare and financial technology industries. Monty joins the organization as a proven technology entrepreneur, founding and growing Madison-based Sonic Foundry, a media software company. Over his 20 years at the organization, Monty led its products, people and business, transforming Sonic Foundry into a billion-dollar media company in the original business model and, later, reinventing the organization into the software company it is today.

Most recently, Monty served as the CTO for Welbi, a healthcare software platform, leading the organization’s product development and deployment strategy to drive growth for the company. Throughout Monty’s career, he has been an active contributor to Madison’s entrepreneur and technology community by mentoring start-ups and serving as an investor and board member for companies such as Gener8tor and TechStars.

Infosec is the only security education provider with role-appropriate training for the entire workforce. Year-to-date, the company has received many awards for its online training platforms, Infosec Skills and Infosec IQ, and announced several strategic industry alliances with organizations like Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and Coursera. 
 

Infosec Institute, the leading cybersecurity education provider, today announced free cyber education resources and special offers to help organizations and employees stay cyber-safe during the holiday season and beyond. 

With online shopping fraud doubling in the first half of 2021 and nearly 90% of U.S. consumers planning to shop online this season, cybercrime and holiday scams are expected to reach record highs this year. From gift card scams to fake shipping notifications, hackers use the holidays as an opportunity to steal personal information, hack into organizations and scam individuals amidst holiday shopping. 

To help organizations and consumers avoid these holiday cyber risks, Infosec is providing free resources, including a comprehensive security awareness and training kit, an ethical hacking training webinar for security professionals and a hands-on cyber skills challenge hosted in Infosec Skills for current and aspiring cyber professionals. Additionally, Infosec will extend its Black Friday discounts on instructor-led boot camps throughout December, making certification more affordable.  

Holiday-exclusive offers and resources include: 

• Free holiday-themed security awareness resource kit: The free toolkit makes sure organizations aren’t “Hacked for the Holidays” with seven resources to help employees identify and avoid the most common holiday scams like fake online storefronts and charity scams. Designed to make launching a successful holiday campaign easy, each toolkit comes with ready-to-use training modules, assessments, posters and more. Click here to download the free security awareness resource kit. 

• Free ethical hacking training webinar: This free webinar teaches viewers how to think like a hacker and understand key skills and resources to help them land a penetration testing role. Attendees will have the opportunity to test their new skills hands-on and leave with actionable insights on how to use ethical hacking to protect their organizations. Click here to register.  

• Free hands-on “Hack the Holidays” cyber skills training: Throughout December, current and aspiring cyber professionals will have the chance to test their skills with a hands-on cybersecurity training experience inside the Infosec Skills cyber range. Those who complete the “Hack the Holidays” challenge can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card, Infosec hoodie and 1-year subscription to Infosec Skills. Click here to learn more and sign up. 

• Discounted instructor-led certification boot camps: Infosec’s instructor-led boot camps help cybersecurity professionals earn certifications critical to advancing their careers, maximizing their earning potential and remaining up-to-date on the latest cyber skills. Those who enroll before the end of December will save up to 30% on eligible certification boot camps. Click here to learn more.  

These complimentary resources feature Infosec’s award-winning security education content hosted in Infosec IQ and Infosec Skills. Infosec IQ security awareness and training empowers employees with the knowledge and skills to stay cyber secure at work and home with over 2,000 awareness and training resources. Infosec Skills helps cyber professionals upskill and get certified with unlimited access to 1,200+ hands-on cybersecurity courses, labs and cyber ranges.

Infosec Institute, a leading cybersecurity education company, today announced their integration with Microsoft Viva Learning is now available to all Microsoft Teams clients. Infosec is Viva Learning’s first cybersecurity education partner and brings over 1,200 Infosec Skills security training resources to millions of Teams learners. 

Designed to make learning a natural part of the day, Viva Learning seamlessly integrates access to learning content into the places employees already spend their time. Infosec is one of 15 launch partners participating in the Viva Learning ecosystem to help organizations foster a culture of learning, keep pace with technology change and support professional development goals.

Using Teams, learners can build in-demand skills like pentesting, incident response, industrial control system security, security leadership and more with 1,200+ Infosec Skills hands-on labs, courses and projects. The integration includes access to the Infosec Skills cyber range, where cyber professionals can learn hands-on how to defend against MITRE ATT&CK® Matrix for Enterprise tactics and techniques, perform penetration tests and write secure code.

Infosec’s technical skill development platform, Infosec Skills, equips IT, security and engineering teams with unlimited access to over 1,200 resources to assess and close skills gaps. Its hands-on cyber ranges, projects and courses are all mapped to the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity and the MITRE ATT&CK® Matrix for Enterprise.

Learn how to access Infosec Skills content on Microsoft Teams here.