CONEL is to run courses in cybersecurity.
The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) is to offer courses in cybersecurity following a surge in cybercrime.
Five-week evening and Saturday courses for IT employees of small and medium-sized businesses to give them the knowledge and to better protect their businesses IT systems and data will run regularly from July 2018 to February 2019.
Ten-day courses lasting two weeks will also be available for unemployed adults from July 2018 to March 2019 to enable them to gain the skills to get a job in cybersecurity.
Figures released by the Office for Nation Statistics (ONS) in April show that ‘computer misuse crime’, which refers to any unauthorised access to computer material, rose by 36% to 22,154 offences in the year ending December 2017.
This was largely due to a 74% rise in hacking of social media and email over the same period to 7,792 offences.
The ONS believes these numbers only represent a small fraction of all computer misuse as many incidents are not reported.
There was also a large rise of 53% in computer viruses reported last year, including several high-profile attacks and security breaches on national institutions, such as the NHS cyberattack in May 2017.
Over half (56%) the frauds reported in 2017, 1.3 million incidents, were cyber-related.
The course is being funded by the Skills Funding Agency and a successful bid for a £25,000 grant from the Government’s Flexible Learning Fund, specifically for adult education.
The CONEL cybersecurity courses are one of 32 projects to receive funding from the £11.7million Fund.
The courses have received the backing of Integral Security Xssurance, risual, Rinova, Haringey Council and Jobcentre Plus.
Torcato Coutinho, Head of Teaching and Learning said: “We want to engage adults to develop their digital and cybersecurity skills. There are currently more than 2,000 cybersecurity and business transformation vacancies in London alone.”
“The course for IT employees will enhance their practical skills and knowledge of cybersecurity business practices, offered as a Level 3 accredited unit, while the other course will be offered through Jobcentre Plus to support those who need to retrain or upskill to re-enter the workplace or to progress onto further study programmes.”
CONEL runs training courses for employers in the public and private sector, including local government, professional services, healthcare, financial, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, security and travel and tourism.