New diploma in cyber security to address skills shortage

The Government has introduced a new Diploma in Cyber Security saying it will help address the shortage of cyber security professionals.

Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi said the new level six qualification would give students the technical skills needed for entry-level roles in cyber security.

He said the idea of a Level 6 diploma had come from the Cyber Security Skills Taskforce, in response to industry demand for junior cyber security workers that could be trained more quickly than with a traditional degree course.

The diploma was developed by cyber security experts convened by The New Zealand Qualifications Authority NZQA and the New Zealand Institute of IT Professionals. Students will be able to register for the diploma in 2019.

According to the NZQA web site, graduates attaining the qualification will be able to:

- Analyse organisational contexts from a security perspective using information management principles and terminology, data inputs, organisational strategy and processes, outputs, systems, and stakeholders' roles and responsibilities.

- Analyse an IT environment's technology stack from a security perspective and identify issues that could impact organisational performance and business risks.

- Apply knowledge of risk management frameworks to perform cybersecurity risk assessments and communicate the results to support the organisational risk management process.

- Assess, select, plan, implement and validate cybersecurity approaches and controls to support organisational objectives and operations.

- Analyse cybersecurity events, perform security incident classification, and apply relevant security incident handling techniques, whilst participating in an incident handling process.

- Analyse the legal, privacy and ethical impacts of the regulatory environment and organisational decisions, to advise decision makers on cybersecurity implications and organisational obligations applicable to a particular situation.

- Behave with integrity as a responsible IT professional, in accordance with legal and organisational regulatory requirements, applying professional and ethical practices.

- Apply communication, information design, teamwork, personal, and interpersonal skills, to enhance working effectiveness, efficiency, and quality outcomes in a variety of situations in an organisational environment.

- Apply project management tools and techniques, using knowledge of project planning, management and control, to an IT related project, to analyse and solve problems.

Detailed content of the course can be found here.