Computers and computing are evolving and, in doing so, creating a more lucrative market for the theft and subsequent malicious use of large swathes of sensitive, cross-niche user and corporate data.

As a result, there has been a steady rise in the need for cybersecurity professionals to preempt and combat those ills. Fortinet Inc. has committed itself toward remedying the problem, according to Sandra Wheatley (pictured), senior vice president of marketing, threat intelligence and influencer communications, at Fortinet.

“Fortinet has been focused on reducing the skills gap for many years now; it continues to be one of the biggest issues for cybersecurity leaders,” Wheatley said. “If you think about it, we still need about 3.1 million professionals to come into the industry. We have made progress, but the need is growing at about 400,000 a year, so it’s something that public and private partnerships need to tackle.”

Wheatley spoke with Lisa Martin, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Fortinet Security Summit. They discussed the cybersecurity skills gap and Fortinet’s pledge last week to train 1 million people globally over the next five years. (* Disclosure below.)

Fortinet’s cybersecurity skills gap pledge

Fortinet’s pledge comes after the Biden Administration called on organizations across private and public sectors to help reduce security risks by developing more cybersecurity talent. The problem is a big one. Ransomware attack instances, alone, have risen more than tenfold just in the past year, according to Wheatley, and this ever-changing threat landscape requires swift public and private sector responses.

The skills gap permeates all demographics, with women and minorities making up just 20% and 3% of the industry, respectively, Wheatley pointed out. Invariably, improved diversity would open the door to fresh ideas and new perspectives toward increased innovation going forward, she added.

At the core of Fortinet’s efforts are the company’s Training Advancement Agenda initiatives and Network Security Experts Training Institute programs.

“We made that freely available to everybody at the beginning of COVID. It was so successful, at one point we were seeing someone register every five minutes. We extended that indefinitely. And so today we’ve had almost 700,000 certifications,” Wheatley said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Fortinet Security Summit. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Fortinet Security Summit. Neither Fortinet Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE