Albuquerque, NM (PRWEB) February 24, 2014
EC-Council has certified 90,000 information security professionals around the world and is still striving to impact the world’s cyber safety in a positive way. Over the past two years, EC-Council has been focusing on philanthropic endeavors aimed at improving the world’s cyber safety, but has lacked an official platform to do so. In late 2013, EC-Council Foundation was officially created when the IRS formally granted it 501c3 status, thus creating an entirely separate, non-profit organization for the founders of EC-Council to continue their charitable projects.
Jay Bavis, one of the founders of EC-Council, said “Cyber-security isn’t just about businesses and governments. In the end, it’s about keeping people safe,” Bavisi and his company board felt strongly that there exist cyber security issues that are best identified and addressed by the non-profit sector. EC-Council Foundation’s mission is to unify global cyber defense through programs that encourage safe on-line activities for youth and adults alike through interactive, dynamic, and immersive platforms. These programs take the form of fun competitions but have a serious objective – making a safer cyber world.
One of the most exciting programs the Foundation has created is Global CyberLympics, a fast-paced computer network defense game played in real time by cybersecurity professionals, with regional, semi-final, and championship-level games played in 72 countries, and growing. This initiative was made possible by partnering with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an arm of the United Nations, via the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) to develop sustainable knowledge and capabilities in information security awareness. Now in its third year, Global CyberLympics has grown by over 200% and is now global phenomenon. This year, the team finals will be hosted by ISACA, a global information security member group. There is currently a contest taking place on the Foundation’s Facebook page to guess the location based on cyber forensics clues posted weekly leading up to the announcement of the schedule. It’s initiatives like these that infuse fun and creativity into a serious and vitally important topic like information security.
Making this topic fun is of upmost important when working with young minds. That is the aim of the Live.Learn.Secure. program, a cyber security research and education program for middle high school students. Currently in its pilot stage in Brazil, the United States, and the Philippines, EC-Council Foundation is working to place Live.Learn.Secure.’s curriculum in schools across the world. Students learn about credit card fraud, how to avoid getting keyloggers, and how to avoid predators online. They are also taught about fairly advanced topics like malware, phishing attacks, and email hoaxes. The hope is to teach young people how to stay safe online and avoid the potential risks of living in an increasingly connected and technical world.
Another innovation of the Foundation, Code Uncode, was initially proposed as a solution to the dearth of programmers with secure coding skills. Many of the worst cyber security breaches in history were made possible because of errors by computer programmers that led to security vulnerabilities. The aim of Code Uncode is to educate college students in secure programming techniques while providing students an opportunity to showcase their skills to potential employers. The program was launched in India as a pilot for what will one day be a global competition. Even as a pilot program, the very first competition attracted over 10,000 people.
The Foundation’s events division is a collaborative, worldwide community initiative involving experts in the IT security field, security professionals, and organizations at all levels. It is designed to increase opportunities for building knowledge and sharing connections around the globe to unify cyber defense. The Foundation events seek to present live anti-hacking demonstrations, expose the latest vulnerabilities, and develop and present research related to current security threats with a strong emphasis on promoting global cyber defense, fostering global unity, and inspiring action towards solving real-world security problems. The Foundation events for 2014 include Hacker Halted and the Global CISO Forum, both taking place in Atlanta, GA on October 16-17, 2014 and TakeDownCon in Huntsville, AL on August 18-19.
Now, with its official non-profit designation recognized by the IRS, EC-Council Foundation will be able to partner and collaborate with globally influential companies and organizations that can help to further the mission and the reach of the Foundation. With the future looking bright, EC-Council Foundation is one step closer to achieving its mission of unifying global cyber defense. To help the Foundation accomplish its mission, please visit foundation.eccouncil.org to learn more about our programs and donate.
About EC-Council Foundation
EC-Council Foundation is a charitable and educational organization dedicated to educating and training individuals in security skills. Established in 2012 by EC-Council, the foundation seeks to raise awareness, build capacity across nations and ultimately promote global peace. EC-Council Foundation’s mission is to foster collaboration and participation by global digital citizens to become advocates for safe, secure on-line activities and to foster online child protection through education. For more information, visit foundation.eccouncil.org.