Baltimore welcomes new cybersecurity training facility

Baltimore, Maryland welcomes a new cybersecurity training and simulation center, Baltimore Cyber Range. The new facility is an effort from Cyberbit Ltd., a subsidiary of the Israel-based defense technology company Elbit Systems.

“I am very pleased to celebrate the opening of the Baltimore Cyber Range,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “As the first stand-alone and hands-on training cybersecurity training center in the nation, it will provide the most-up-to date training for our cyber force, further demonstrating that Maryland is truly the cyber capital of America.”

The Cyber Range utilizes Cyberbit Range, a simulation platform that creates real-world scenarios to test and train IT and cybersecurity professionals through hands-on experience. The platform is designed to not only improve an individual’s ability to handle threats, but improve the capabilities of response teams through controlled settings. This deal was made to increase practitioners’ skill-sets in the evolving world of cybersecurity, a world that faces a shortage in labor and talent.

The center was announced during the governor’s trade mission to Israel in September 2016.

“Governor Hogan’s trade mission to Israel was designed to bring to Maryland the technology-rich capability the Israelis have developed in cybersecurity,” said Bruce Spector, CEO of Baltimore-based Electronic Technology Associates. “The Baltimore Cyber Range has done just that, bringing together their team, along with the capabilities of Cyberbit, to create a revolutionary way to train cybersecurity workers.”

A 2015 survey from ISACA, a non-profit information security advocacy group, showed that 86 percent of the 3,400 members polled said there is a global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. Only 38 percent said they felt prepared to fend off a sophisticated attack.

Maryland itself is the second highest state, behind Virginia, for employing information security analysts with over 4,440 workers in 2016 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the cyber security employment-tool Cyber Seek shows over 15,000 job openings in the state of Maryland, and almost 300,000 openings nationwide.

“We congratulate the Baltimore Cyber Range and the state of Maryland for opening the new training and simulation facility today,” said Adi Dar, CEO of Cyberbit. “We see a rapidly-growing need for hands-on cybersecurity training in private and public-sector organizations worldwide, and are excited to see the Baltimore Range pioneering this activity in Maryland.”

Source:

ASD News