Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) launches a cyber security academy with UK Cyber training specialists PGI

The Jordan Design and Development Bureau (formerly, the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau) announced the launch of its Cyber Security Academy at the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX).

Jordan Design and Development Bureau's (JODDB) Cyber Security Academy (KCSA) has been developed in partnership with the specialist UK cyber security company PGI to help address the current global shortfall in cyber security skills.

KCSA provides hands-on, immersive, technical cyber security training. This will enable government agencies, armed forces, and commercial organisations in Jordan and across the Middle East to develop further the skilled workforces that are needed to tackle the growing number of cyber security threats. KCSA also operates a Cyber Range that simulates typical business and government environments. It also supports Red and Blue team exercising, enables malware simulation and security testing of infrastructure, applications, and cyber security products in different scenarios.

KCSA courses cover the range of cyber security policy and technical skills required to design and implement security regimes, strengthen and test cyber defences, and respond and recover from breaches and cyber security incidents. The courses have been specially developed for the region by JODDB and PGI. They build on PGI’s UK Government certified Cyber Academy courses. The first training programme will be delivered at the start of the September 2018 academic year. It will be taught by certified JODDB and PGI trainers at HTU in state-of-the-art laboratories powered by a custom cyber training rig.

Announcing KCSA, Brigadier General Engineer Mohammad Arajneh said:

Cyber attacks on digital infrastructure can compromise the benefits Jordan and other Middle East countries have gained from developing digital economies and smart cities. Protecting critical national information infrastructure and assets requires governments and businesses to have strong in-depth cyber defences, quick response capability and proper policies and procedures. This requires highly skilled staff. That is why we have developed our own Cyber Academy.

We can now develop Jordan’s workforce and lead the region in providing highly skilled workers and the best technical training to the region. We are delighted to have partnered with the specialist cyber training company PGI to make this happen, given their considerable expertise in developing and delivering capacity building programmes and cyber security training courses for the UK and Middle East governments.

Mohammad Arajneh,Brigadier General Engineer

Signing the partnering agreement, Sebastian Madden, PGI’s Chief Corporate Development Officer, said:

KADDB has a strong global reputation in the design, development and manufacturing of a broad range of military products, including small arms, wheeled armoured vehicles, smart systems, troops products and customized solutions to meet current and future challenges. This makes KADDB an ideal partner to develop and deliver specialized cyber security training programmes to serve the security and defence interests of the region. According to a recent survey, companies in the Middle East are targeted by cyber attacks more often than anywhere else in the world, risking the $820Bn that adopting digital technology has been predicted to add to GDP in the region.

We believe that Jordan is uniquely placed to help the rest of the region address its cyber security challenges. It plays a key role in maintaining security and stability. It has thousands of talented, hard-working and skilled individuals leaving Universities every year with technology, engineering and computer science degrees. With the specialist training from KCSA, these will become cyber professionals, protect the Jordanian and neighbouring digital economies, and help fill some of those badly needed global job vacancies.

Sebastian Madden,Chief Corporate Development Officer, PGI

For more information about cyber and information security training, please contact us.