Fortinet Announces Free Security Awareness Curriculum for K-12 Students Tied to White House’s Cyber Initiatives

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Aug 9, 2023 —

John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer and EVP, Product Strategy at Fortinet

“Expanding the cybersecurity knowledge and skill sets of our global community, including people of all ages, backgrounds, and life experiences, is essential to help close the cybersecurity talent shortage. Fortinet’s cybersecurity training experts partnered with educators to develop and make accessible a tailor-made Security Awareness curriculum to help prepare students to apply cybersecurity skills at school, at home, and everywhere they need it. Our goal is that this and all of Fortinet’s free training initiatives will create a future generation of empowered security professionals.”

News Summary

Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced the availability of a new Security Awareness curriculum to all K-12 school districts and systems in the United States at no cost to help build the cybersecurity workforce of the future and to keep students cyber safe. The announcement further supports the White House’s National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) and is part of the company’s commitment to helping address the significant cyber talent shortage. Today, Fortinet is also participating with the White House and other government leaders, including Kemba Walden the Acting National Cyber Director from the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, in the Cybersecurity Summit 2023 hosted at UNLV to discuss the NCWES implementation and solutions to help address the global skill gap, including such initiatives.

As part of the Fortinet Training Institute’s Security Awareness and Training service, the new curriculum was developed in partnership with educators and was made specifically for students ranging from kindergarten to high school students. This curriculum can help over 55 million K-12 students nationwide and will start rolling out in the Fall 2023. The initiative expands Fortinet’s free learning offerings, including the tailored cybersecurity awareness training for K-12 faculty and staff announced last year tied to the White House 2022 National Cyber Workforce and Education Summit.

Developing the U.S. Cybersecurity Workforce to Improve our Nation’s Cyber Resiliency

Cyber criminals increasingly use advanced threat methods, such as phishing and malware, that target end-users to obtain personal and sensitive data and/or infiltrate into organizations’ networks. At the same time, over 3.4 million professionals are estimated to be needed globally to fill the cyber skills gap, further putting organizations at risk.

Cyber awareness is critical to prevent cybercrimes, and more people with cyber expertise are needed to fill essential security positions. Fortinet’s new security awareness curriculum looks to fill these needs by instilling fundamental cybersecurity skill sets from an early age and beyond.

Fostering Fundamental Cyber Awareness Through Security Awareness Curriculum in Schools

Through the Security Awareness curriculum, Fortinet will provide K-12 teachers with resources, including a comprehensive teacher’s guide with lesson plans, handouts, and more, to help foster an engaging and meaningful interaction with cybersecurity fundamentals in the classroom while supporting existing academic standards. The curriculum was developed by former educators and reviewed by current teachers to also incorporate core competencies, including creativity, critical thinking, computational thinking, communication, and collaboration.

School districts and systems across the U.S. can take advantage of the curriculum to educate K-12 students on various topics that strengthen cybersecurity awareness and digital safety best practices, including:

• Cybersecurity landscape – Students will learn how to mitigate cyberattack risks by recognizing cyber threats and cyber criminals’ tactics.
• Digital safety – Students will be taught to recognize online risks and know how to respond to difficult situations, helping to foster safe and respectful online interactions.
• Online presence – Students will be educated on making mindful choices about what content is shared online to maintain a positive and safe online presence.

If your US school district or system is interested in learning more about how to integrate this new Security Awareness curriculum into your classrooms, visit here.

Additional Resources

About Fortinet

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs.

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