Today sees the launch of a 90-day interactive virtual training and mentoring program for aspiring security professionals.
Named the OffSec Academy, it is produced by Offensive Security and includes the opportunity for aspiring penetration testers to pursue their Penetration Testing with Kali Linux (PWK) certification.
According to the company, through OffSec Academy, students gain access to the PWK course material and a level of personal tutoring unmatched in the training industry. Ning Wang, CEO, Offensive Security, said: “We are committed to providing not only the most rigorous and comprehensive cybersecurity training on the market, equipping our graduates with adversarial mindsets, but also providing mentoring and support throughout the student journey.”
According to the company, due to lockdown it has been unable to provide live training, but the demand for one-on-one instruction remains.
Speaking to Infosecurity, Offensive Security chief content and strategy officer Jim O’Gorman, said the 90-day course was created so it could work directly with the students week by week, have a checkpoint in the form of a Capture the Flag event and conclude with time to focus on any weak points as identified by the CTF.
He said: “90 days was a good balance between the commitment and ensuring that students don’t get overwhelmed.
“There is a set schedule so it is not ‘on-demand.’ The students have more control over pace than they would in a live setting, but there are regular checkpoints that they have to meet. So, there is a timeline that the student has to follow.”
The company explained that the plan is to accept a certain number of students during every registration period in order to cap the class. “We try to keep the cap fairly low in order to offer the 1:1 instruction that is critical to the Academy experience; however, we may add further capacity based on demand.”
Finally, why is Kali Linux the preferred subject to teach? O’Gorman said as Kali Linux open source distribution is the most advanced penetration testing distribution in existence, and is heavily relied upon by penetration testers and ethical hackers throughout the world, understanding how to utilize Kali Linux is critical to success in pen testing. “The opportunity for firsthand instruction in the PWK course material is an attractive opportunity for aspiring cybersecurity professionals,” he said.
Registration is now open on the Offensive Security website and the next session will begin August 3 2020.