Fortinet Partners with MITRE to Further Help Build the Future Cybersecurity Workforce

It's no secret that organizations around the globe are feeling the effects of the cybersecurity skills shortage. As adversaries advance their tactics, the demand for cybersecurity expertise grows. Roughly 4 million additional security practitioners are needed to fill critical roles, and nearly 70% of business leaders say their organizations face increased risks because of this talent gap.

As part of Fortinet's commitment to addressing the skills shortage, the Fortinet Training Institute partners with public and private institutions to host programs that offer participants the knowledge and skills needed to begin a career in the industry. As part of this important work, Fortinet is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (eCTF) competition for the second year in a row.

MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag Competition Allows Students to Build Cybersecurity Skills

The eCTF competition is an embedded security competition hosted by MITRE Engenuity that "puts participants through the experience of trying to create a secure system and then learning from their mistakes." Unlike traditional CTF activities, this competition focuses on embedded systems, which present unique security challenges. Participants must design and implement systems that meet specific security and functionality requirements, and then they hand off their systems to the organizers to test each design. Finally, teams attack and analyze one another's designs to earn points.

During the 2024 event, each team was asked to design and implement a supply chain security solution for microcontrollers on a medical device. The system each team created was required to securely verify device integrity while keeping sensitive data confidential.

This year, the three-month-long competition drew nearly 800 students from 95 schools across nine countries, including France, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Togo, and the United States.

Fortinet Offers Participants Additional Opportunities for Cybersecurity Education

As an event sponsor, Fortinet engaged with the participants throughout the competition on various activities to expose them to the cybersecurity industry. In February, Fortinet's human resources team hosted a career day with competition participants. During this event, attendees learned about the company, heard about internship programs and roles for new graduates, and received resume and interview tips.

In March, Fortinet employees hosted an "Ask Me Anything" chat with competition participants, addressing topics ranging from getting started in the cybersecurity workforce to learning more about embedded systems security. "The AMA chat was phenomenal-your team fielded all kinds of amazing questions from the students and provided essential advice and guidance," participant Nicky Conus remarked.

On April 25, Fortinet hosted a threat hunting workshop for competition participants at the MIT Hacker Reactor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About 60 students applied to attend a 30-person workshop. With the high response, Fortinet accommodated and paired students on a team to create the best experience possible. Attendees gained hands-on cybersecurity experience, assuming the role of a security analyst to identify adversarial behaviors using renowned frameworks and procedures.

The entire competition culminated with the MITRE eCTF award ceremony, which took place the following day at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, MA, with more than 140 participants attending in person. Fortinet sponsored the awards day, and Douglas Santos of FortiGuard Labs presented as the keynote speaker at the ceremony.

The eCTF organizers awarded three special awards to teams who demonstrated excellence in specific areas that deserve recognition.

Special award: Best Poster to Purdue University
Special award: Responsible Disclosure to Carnegie Mellon University
Special award: Top High School to Delaware Area Career Center

And congratulations to the final winners:

First place: Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University CyLab
Second Place: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Third Place: Purdue University

Training the Next Generation of Cybersecurity Professionals

Cybersecurity professionals worldwide face more pressures than ever, and the growing skills gap is only compounding these challenges. One of the most important actions the cybersecurity industry can take is to provide cyber education to students and other untapped talent pools, such as women, minorities, veterans and their spouses. By collaborating across private and public sectors to offer these opportunities, we can collectively build the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Find out more about how Fortinet's Training Advancement Agenda (TAA) and Training Institute programs, including how the NSE Certification program, Academic Partner program, and Education Outreach program are helping to solve the cyber skills gap and prepare the cybersecurity workforce of tomorrow.

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