Every day returning veterans are filling important roles in the private sector, including critical ones within the cyber security industry. Often this transition is made easier when companies like Mandiant extend a helping hand.

Mandiant is pleased to announce its collaboration with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, helping veterans enter careers in the cyber security industry. Through VetSec, Inc., Mandiant is providing complimentary access to cyber threat intelligence on-demand courses from Mandiant’s new training program, Mandiant Academy, for 33 VetSec, Inc. members. Through these courses, students will learn operational threat intelligence skills, including best practice frameworks, attacker tradecraft, RFI analysis, investigation lead development, and more.

“This is the first training around cyber threat intelligence being offered to our members,” explained Jacob Knowlton, Mandiant Consultant and VetSec, Inc. Board Member. “Because intelligence informs so many specialties in cyber security, this is a great opportunity for our members to learn from real-world use cases and threat intelligence analysts.”

While this is the first training of its type for VetSec, Inc., it’s not the first infusion of Mandiant expertise into the non-profit. Currently, 10 Mandiant employees can be found among the ranks of VetSec, Inc. members.

“I would certainly not be working for Mandiant today without VetSec, Inc,” said Knowlton. In 2019, Knowlton decided to leave active military duty, and started at a small information security team, but wanted to grow. He took advantage of the education and training channels within VetSec, Inc. to get a master's degree and a variety of security related certifications. He was able to use the VetSec, Inc. network to land a role as a Mandiant security consultant.

Paul Shaver, U.S. Navy and Army National Guard Veteran and Manager within Mandiant’s Operational Technology Consulting team and leader of the company’s Veterans Employee Resource Group has a similar story. After spending a good portion of his professional life working with technology in both enterprise and industrial environments, Shaver saw his cyber security responsibilities steadily escalate and decided to jump head-first into a cyber security career.

“I joined the VetSec, Inc. group in early 2019 and had no expectations for what the group would provide. The VetSec, Inc. members were genuinely invested in helping others break into cyber security and helping those already working in the field to advance,” said Shaver. “The connections I made, and the support I received through VetSec, Inc. made my career at Mandiant possible, and I am grateful that the group exists to support all military veterans in a similar fashion.”

Mandiant’s collaboration with VetSec, Inc. comes at a time when industry analysts from firms like Gartner are advising security leaders to expand where and how they look for cyber security talent.

Though we have offered expertise training for many years, the escalation of ransomware and multifaceted extortion combined with an estimated half a million unfilled cyber security jobs, further supports reason for renewed focus on equipping individuals with the right skillsets. Mandiant Academy gives cyber security practitioners the latest knowledge on the evolving threat landscape, making them even greater assets to their organizations before, during, and after an incident. By delivering these operational skills, Mandiant is helping to close the cyber security talent gap, maturing on-the-job capabilities.

Head over to our Mandiant Academy page to learn more about how Mandiant Academy training courses and certifications meet the shifting needs of today’s security teams.