Research / BUiD Cyber Security Academy / Who We Are
Cyber Attack communities operate as intelligent, multi-agent, self-organising, systems-within-systems – with tight learning loops, fast evolution, and harmonious operation. Sustaining system functionality in the face of intelligent determined cyber-attacks requires capable cyber security professionals that can adapt and evolve with equal intelligence and determination.
The BUID Cyber Security Academy is cyber security unit within the Faculty of Engineering and IT which aims to advance cyber security innovation through world class research, teaching excellence, industrial expertise and training capacity. To improve cyber security talent in the UAE, the Academy will seek to increase the number of fully prepared graduates entering the cyber security workforce by providing hands-on cyber security education, simulated training, and certification for students and professionals.
The Academy’s programme is designed to produce technically astute cyber security professionals who can weave management and leadership skills with a deep understanding of the technical aspects of cyber security. It will develop a ‘talent pool’ of accomplished Cyber Defenders with the expertise to harden critical infrastructure resiliency, enhanced cyber threat awareness, detection, and reaction skills. It will provide students with Cyber Offensive knowledge and insights to what hackers may do, how to probe systems for exploitable vulnerabilities and how to react appropriately when a cyber security incident occurs. Students will leave the Academy with Cyber Threat Intelligence skills and attributes needed to become Cyber Security First Responders (CFR) who are the first line of defence against cyber-attacks.
Just as every military or police force needs a firing range to sharpen weapons skills and battle tactics, every cyber security professional needs access to an internet-scale, operationally relevant cyber range to develop their skills and instincts for offensive and defensive actions. The BUID Academy is designed with a Cyber Range at its ‘heart’ – a hyper-realistic virtual environment and gamification platform that will enable students to simulate networks, traffic, threats and large-scale, complex cyber-attack scenarios over virtual machines in a safe and controllable environment. The Academy takes a hands-on approach to learning to create cyber security graduates who can ‘hit the ground running’. Core capabilities of the Cyber Range are: Six world-class flexibly integrated research, teaching and training laboratories; a state-of-the-art Video Wall Network visualisation system; and Three Skunk Workshop Rooms for dynamic thinking:
The goal of the Academy is to fulfil a critical shortage of cyber security professionals with the skills required to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks on the UAE economy and society. Its key objective will be to improve the cyber security talent pool through:
The Mission of the BUID Cyber Security Academy is to tackle the acute cyber security skills shortages and smart city cyber security challenges by using Dubai as a living laboratory and classroom.
Our Vision will be of a national cyber security academy, competing with the very best nationally, regionally and internationally. We will aspire to become a preeminent national and regional leader in smart city cyber security operating at the nexus of innovative research, education, training and policy. To advance this vision, we will create a distinctive institute which will act as a fulcrum of cyber security research, education and training by developing a transformative programme that addresses threats from states, terrorists and criminals and seizes the opportunities which cyber space provides for future prosperity of Dubai, the UAE and the world.
Block 11, 1st and 2nd floor, Dubai International Academic City PO Box 345015, Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971 4 279 1400
Whatsapp:
Email: [email protected]