The internet is part of everyone’s life, everyday. Knowing more about cyber security will help you at work and at home. The "Introduction to Cyber Security" on-line course is for anyone with an interest in cyber security!
As a Civil Servant you may be particularly interested in completing the course if you work in or with a team involved in securing our networks and the data we work with. I'll be encouraging my staff to do it since it is an important skill for us all.
"Introduction to Cyber Security" is a free online course offered by the Open University and funded by the UK Government through its National Cyber Security Programme. The Government's National Cyber Security Programme sets out an objective to improve the skills, knowledge and capability of the UK: this course is part of the Government's strategy to improve cyber skills at all levels.
The course consists of eight modules delivered over eight weeks and will cover topics such as network security, the threat landscape, cryptography, malware and risks. Each module is expected to take 2-3 hours, and you have the chance to have online discussions with other students. The course starts on 13 October.
It is available to anyone with access to the internet. No qualifications are required to enrol on the course: learners simply need an email address and an interest in the subject. The course will be offered four times a year for three years and is designed to be done at the learner's convenience.
The course is an introduction and does not lead to a formal qualification. However, it could provide the knowledge and impetus to pursue further learning in this or a related subject, and I hope many learners will be inspired to do this.
You can find out more and register for the course here:
http://www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-cyber-security
I'd be really interested to hear what you think of this course. If you do find the time to complete it, drop me a line and let me know how you get on.
7 comments
Comment by Rick posted on
This is a course that appears to have received little publication throughout Defence, that in itself is a great shame as there is an appetite for Cyber security, both in the professional and personal realms.
I feel PSyA's would be the ideal people to cascade this type of Security education down to its Sy staff for onward dissemination
Comment by Jonathan Lloyd White posted on
Thanks for your comment Rick. I’m glad you can see some advantage in taking this course. Feel free to publicise it further within the MoD if you think it would be helpful and let me know if you do the course yourself.
Comment by MarkW posted on
I've just completed the course, to see what it is like and whether or not it could be recommended to colleagues here (and maybe even Board members). Although reasonalby basic for anyone already working in IT and network security, I still found it interesting, especially the interaction with other candidates through comments and discussions.
The other candidates on the course seemed to come from all walks of life, from all over the world, so there were a lot of different perspectives on the content. I would recommend it to anyone to do, especially as it counts towards your 5-a-day. Sorry, that's 5-a-year, isn't it?
Comment by Kay Risby posted on
Thanks Mark for sharing your thoughts on the course. It's good to hear that you found it useful and interesting. And yes, it is 5 training days a year.
Comment by MichaelH posted on
I found this a very useful and interesting introduction. For me the course was very valuable as a starting point because it tied together knowledge that has been picked up from 'on the job' / workplace training, filling in gaps, providing more formal explanations and providing a skeleton for future development.
One of the great advantages was the flexibility of this course and the fact that it was realistic in terms of time committment. I wonder if it would be possible to draw together courses like this and those of other training providers (such as CPD) by giving them a points value much like CPD schemes. This could retain flexibility whilst being a quick-win in terms of recognition for security training within government.
Comment by MichaelH posted on
I should have course of said "like CPNI" not "like CPD" , para 2 line 3.
Comment by Andy Taylor posted on
This course has been certified through the GCHQ Certified Training scheme too so it must be good!
I did it and thought it was very useful. I have recommended it to many others too, both those within the security world and more general users of IT services with no specialist interest in security. Both groups have found it useful!