SecureSet Academy today announced the acquisition of HackEd, a provider of hands-on cybersecurity training for technical professionals, a deal which will advance SecureSet’s expansion of immersive cybersecurity education programs in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
According to CyberSeek, the metro Washington area has the highest concentration of unmet cybersecurity talent in the country, with more than 43,200 unfilled cybersecurity jobs. “There are many individuals looking for the right path to a rewarding cybersecurity career. This partnership with HackEd is the perfect complement to our existing programs, bringing more opportunity for immersive cybersecurity education to a hotbed of technical professionals,” Bret Fund, CEO and founder of SecureSet, said in today’s press release.
Understanding how to better incorporate security into their curriculums has been a challenge for many bootcamps. As they transition to a new campus under the direction of Jon Ferris, founder of HackEd, the two organizations will continue to serve the growing need for cybersecurity professionals in the region.
“HackEd has always had a similar philosophy to SecureSet when it came to delivering immersive education. By joining forces, we are better able to deliver high-quality education to a broader range of individuals and companies looking to amplify their cybersecurity skills in Washington, D.C., and beyond,” said Ferris.
Funded in 2016, HackEd has aimed to build a strong cybersecurity community that delivers the kind of hands-on-keyboard training often lacking in the cybersecurity industry and in the Washington metro area specifically. The result has been a collection of students, employers, instructors, applicants, enthusiasts, alumni and job applicants coming together over the past 18 months with the common goal of solving the issue of the cyber-talent shortage.
Headquartered in northern Virginia, which is where the new campus will be located, HackEd has made great strides with its eight-week program focused on penetration testing and network defense. Additionally, HackEd has provided students the chance to connect with local employers and showcase what they learned, better positioning participants to find employment while serving the needs of the employers who struggle to find highly qualified candidates.
To date, SecureSet has had more than 250 students go through their programs, with an average placement rate above 90% within months of graduation.