Cybersecurity Palo Alto Academy

Dr.Mohammed Al Kanhal, Dean College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS) and Mr. Mohammad Alabsi, Director, Regional Director PaloAlto Saudi Arabia signed the PalAlto Academy agreement on March 28, 2019. Palo Alto based in Santa Clara, United States is ranked an enterprise firewall market leader by Gartner in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (published July 2017). The academy provides technology and resources for use in classroom. The Cybersecurity Academy provides a comprehensive set of c​ourses that match the training needs of educational institutions to universities. The Academy curriculum is aligned with the U.S. National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, or NICE, framework and job roles. CCIS at Prince Sultan University has activated the academic alliance by signing the authorized academy centre agreement. "The strategic partnership with PaloAlto will allow the CCIS faculty and students to access academic content and interactive trainings through a cloud based platform. Virtual training labs help increase the learning experience of our students"" said Dr. Mohammed Al Kanhal, Dean CCIS. CCIS will be able to avail the below list of benefits provided by the academy: Beginner, intermediate and advanced cybersecurity curricula online via Moodle® Assistance with curriculum adoption and lab options Training on academy curriculum and next-generation security technology Free, fully bundled Palo Alto Networks VM-50 virtual firewall and licenses Discounts on select next-generation firewall hardware Discounts on Palo Alto Networks certification exam vouchers Student Lab Options: The Cybersecurity Academy provides the below listed lab options: 1. Virtual labs (preferred; visit netdevgroup.com for pricing) NDG NETLAB+ platform by Network Development Group with VMware® ESXi™ infrastructure NDG cloud-based labs 2. Palo Alto Networks VM-50s (free) Bundled with WildFire® malware prevention service and URL Filtering 3. Palo Alto Networks firewalls (Special support for Prince Sultan University, CCIS) "Cybersecurity is one of the most important security topic of the digitized future & Palo Alto Academy is paving the way for this knowledge." said Dr. Tanzila Saba, Associate Chair, and Information Systems Department. The Academy provides resources and certifications tailored to the academic year and institutions' specific needs. The goal is to provide a full complement of curriculum resources, including courseware, quizzes, assessments, hands-on labs and certifications. Figure 1 outlines the current course and certification roadmap, from entry-level through graduate-level studies. During the ceremony certified 11 faculty from CCIS were presented with their certificates as “Authorized PaloAlto Trainers. Notably all faculty completed all requirements of the training and certification exams. CCIS Dean expressed sincere thanks to Arkadiusz Kotowski, Cybersecurity Academy Manager, International Palto Networks based in Amsterdam for facilitating this collaboration with Mr.Mohammad Alabsi, Reginal Director PaloAlto, KSA.