MITT set to launch cybersecurity analyst diploma program By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:13 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025

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Ethical hacking, penetrating networks and defending data are on the agenda for a new cohort of Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology students.

The Winnipeg-based post-secondary will launch a cybersecurity analyst diploma program this year. It follows increasing demand from the business sector.

“We’re seeing, right in our own backyard, cybersecurity attacks that are having real world implications for customers, students and larger organizations,” said Jared Miskimmin, MITT program manager for information communication, digital technologies and skilled trades.

Federated Co-operatives Limited, the University of Winnipeg and Pembina Trails School Division are among the organizations known to be victimized over the past year.

Pembina Trails made headlines last month, after saying its student database was breached. Last week, it provided an update saying it’s searching thousands of computers for malware. On Jan. 7, it said system restoration work was continuing.

The need for a cybersecurity training program has grown over recent years, said Beverlie Stuart, MITT vice-president of business development and community initiatives.

“We’ve been hearing (it) across the board — cybersecurity is in every single sector,” Stuart said.

She pointed to a 2022 Information and Communications Technology Council report: Canada needs approximately 25,000 more cybersecurity professionals. One in six cybersecurity roles go unfilled, the report outlines.

Stuart believes demand will continue to grow as cyber threats become more sophisticated.

The first 24 students will enter MITT’s cybersecurity analyst program this fall; another 24 will begin in the succeeding winter term.

The advanced diploma program spans 2-½ years and includes a three-month work practicum.

“When you look across the Canadian landscape, there aren’t a lot of programs right now that are dedicated to cybersecurity analyst programming,” noted Miskimmin, who’s overseeing the new curriculum.

MITT has connected with industry to build its syllabi. One course will focus on penetration testing, where students penetrate networks, websites and databases, searching for loopholes.

Pupils will then exploit network vulnerabilities through ethical hacking and find ways to prevent future attacks of the nature.

“When you look across the Canadian landscape, there aren’t a lot of programs right now that are dedicated to cybersecurity analyst programming.”–Jared Miskimmin

The south Winnipeg institution has partnered with companies like Exchange Technology Services, Miskimmin said.

On some days, Exchange Technology Services will act as “red team,” actively trying to hack into the MITT cohort’s secured network. Students will form “blue team” and defend against attacks, Miskimmin explained.

The battle will occur in MITT’s security operations centre, a computer lab Miskimmin likened to an auto shop for an automotive program.

Curriculum will change to match the ever-shifting world of cybersecurity threats, Miskimmin noted: “It’s very important that academics keep … pace with what’s happening in industry.”

Content from Cisco and Hack the Box, among other software companies, will be regularly updated and used, Miskimmin said.

Already, he’s anticipating curriculum changes in future years: artificial intelligence is increasingly used to hack into networks.

“(That’s) a whole new avenue for us to explore,” Miskimmin said, noting the first cohort of students won’t be taught to train defensive AI, but such programming could be added in future years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity tied with inflation as a top issue for Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce members. Concern has since swelled amid AI advancements, greater use of cloud technology and larger digital footprints, said president Loren Remillard.

“There is local demand for this program,” Remillard stated. “The matter of cybersecurity and cyberattacks is not going away.

“We will need more people locally to help our business community combat not just organized criminal activity in the cybersecurity space, but state sponsored (activity).”

He hadn’t heard of specific state-sponsored cyberattacks locally, but acknowledged they’re a real threat.

Nationally, business spending on recovery from cybersecurity incidents doubled between 2021 and 2023. Canadian companies spent $1.2 billion on recovery in 2023, up from roughly $600 million in 2021, Statistics Canada data show.

Identity theft, ransomware attacks, scams and fraud rose during the time period.

Almost half of Manitoba small businesses had experienced a random cyberattack by 2022, a Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey found. Twenty-seven per cent reported a targeted attack.

Winnipeg chamber members have increasingly asked for cybersecurity resources, information and talent pools, Remillard said.

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce clocked a “huge increase” in companies upping their cybersecurity measures. It prompted the organization to offer technology assessment grants through its Digital Manitoba initiative, president Chuck Davidson told the Free Press in October.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has listed Red River College Polytechnic, CDI College and Herzing College as hosting information security, internet security and cybersecurity specialist programs.

The University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business plans to launch a cybersecurity program for non-tech leaders in 2025.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com