Cybersecurity specialists are the backbone of digital protection as they keep our data, privacy and digital society safe from new threats. With the increasing number of cyber intrusions and fraud reported that resulted in millions of losses, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin emphasised the importance of cybersecurity in every initiative at the virtual Cyber Defence and Security Exhibition and Conference 2021.

Demand for cybersecurity talents

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report 2021, there’s a global gap of over 3 million in the cybersecurity workforce, with 2 million in the APAC region alone. Not only that, organisations such as Cisco, Symantec, Cybersecurity Ventures, ISACA and Intel have expressed concerns on global talent shortage, as highlighted in the Cybersecurity Jobs Report 2018-2021 by Cybersecurity Ventures.

In tandem with this, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) aims to respond to the local and global talent demand together with MDEC and other industry partners. According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Chief Executive Officer Surina Shukri, Malaysia will need a myriad of cybersecurity talents by 2025 to support the industry demand.

“Cybersecurity is one of the central pillars of the digital economy, recording more than twice the overall ICT spending growth in the country over the next five years, according to an IDC report.  With the recently-launched Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy (MCSS) and MyDIGITAL, 20,000 cybersecurity knowledge workers are needed by 2025 to support the cybersecurity workforce demand from the industry,” said Surina.

As a result of this, Surina encourages the youth to take up cybersecurity as a viable and lucrative career option that will help the digital economy and champion Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.

APU offers specialised programmes in digital and cybersecurity

APU offers high quality industry-relevant programmes such as the BSc (Hons) Information Technology with a Specialism in Information Systems Security, BSc (Hons) Computer Science (Cyber Security), BSc (Hons) Computer Science with a specialism in Digital Forensics, and Master of Science in Cyber Security.

With an industry advisory panel consisting of experts from the cybersecurity field, this premier digital tech university has also been recognised with the Best Cybersecurity Education Excellence Award, so you can be assured that these programmes adhere to international curriculum standards and industry requirements and impart real-world cybersecurity practices while producing a successful track record of employable graduates at the same time.

Cybersecurity Talent Zone (CSTZ) fortifies cybersecurity skills 

APU's first state-of-the-art infrastructure and learning space, CyberSecurity Talent Zone (CSTZ), incorporates military-grade real-time cybersecurity monitoring systems, research centres and simulation infrastructure. The simulation centre streams live monitoring data extracted from a database of cyber-attacks worldwide, providing a platform for hands-on practice on ethical hacking and incident response to nurture security professionals.

As APU prioritises industry experience, you’ll get a certificate of completion from APU’s industry partner, TecForte, upon completion of 50 hours manning the SOC and successfully completing all activities in an assessment. In essence, the combination of qualified academic professionals, industry-relevant curriculum and world-class facilities at APU produces students who are constantly outperforming their peers at national and international level competitions.

On top of its recognition as the Best Cybersecurity Education Provider in Asia for 3 consecutive years, APU has also bagged winning positions in hackathons and cyber challenge competitions across the globe.

To boot, the latest Annual Graduate Tracer Study by the Higher Education Ministry indicated that 100% of APU graduates were employed upon graduation. This is a strong testament to the quality of APU graduates who are equipped with relevant abilities and competencies to compete with the best digital talents in Malaysia.

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