Microsoft Cyber Exercise pilot project starts on June 12 at Fatecs in Americana (SP) and São Caetano (SP) and at the Federal Institute of Londrina (PR)
With the cybersecurity scenario in Brazil becoming increasingly complex and the increasing shortage of professionals specialized in cyber defense, Microsoft is starting a pilot project that will teach cybersecurity concepts to technical education students in the states of São Paulo and Paraná. With a gamified format, Microsoft Cyber Exercise is an online and free initiative that started on June 12 at the Fatecs of Americana and São Caetano and at the Federal Institute of Londrina. The goal is to train students to become “good hackers” and encourage them to learn in practice how to defend companies, people and society.
Through workshops with Microsoft experts, young people will understand the actions of attackers and learn how to defend themselves against opponents in a corporate environment. To adapt to the reality of young people, the course will use gamified and online exercises, such as “Capture the Flag”, which requires students to simulate a scenario of invasion in a company with hacked data, with the objective of capturing a flag. Each team can consist of up to 5 students and must prioritize diversity. The winning team will be awarded a Microsoft trophy.
“Performing the Microsoft Cyber Exercise in these three educational institutions is another step towards increasing people's access to training in digital skills and contributing to the creation of jobs in the technology and cybersecurity area in Brazil”, comments Fábio Gaspar, director of Soluções in Microsoft Cybersecurity. According to Brasscom data, by 2025 almost 800,000 professionals will be needed to meet the demands of the area in the country, and young people will be a key part of overcoming this challenge”, concludes the executive.
“We are very excited to start this cybersecurity training program at Fatecs in Americana and São Caetano. Centro Paula Souza already has a long-standing partnership with Microsoft and this is yet another initiative that brings industry and academia together to solve one of the main challenges of today, the protection of society against cyber attacks”, Mario Longato, coordinator of the Information Security and Systems Analysis and Development courses at Fatec São Caetano do Sul.
In addition to this initiative, Microsoft still makes available the Conecta+ portal, which is the hub of all free training and retraining programs made available to the general public. In it, all Brazilians have access to different levels of knowledge in technology, from digital literacy to more advanced cybersecurity modules. The Security track includes the Basic categories, in which participants take the first steps to become an Information Security Analyst, Compliance Analyst, Modern Work Analyst or IT Analyst (Information Technology); the Intermediate level, when they begin to learn how to protect companies using tools in the cloud and define an area of focus for action, and finally the Advanced level, in which students begin to evaluate, plan and implement more complex scenarios related to identities, security, compliance and supporting technologies.
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