Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: SANS Institute, the global leader in cybersecurity training and certification is returning to Saudi Arabia with SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders August 2024 (August 18-22) at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya, a comprehensive training event designed for security managers and SOC leaders who are committed to enhancing their leadership and technical skills, through both in-person training and simultaneous live online sessions.

Saudi Arabia recently achieved the highest global ranking in the cybersecurity indicator, as reported in the 2024 World Competitiveness Yearbook by IMD. This reaffirms the Kingdom's leading role in international cybersecurity and is also a testament to its commitment towards Saudi Vision 2030. However, despite this significant growth, cyber-attacks remain relentless, necessitating that governments, organizations, and individuals stay vigilant.

“This emphasizes the importance of not only maintaining technical proficiency but also developing leadership skills to combat ongoing security threats proactively,” said Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, at SANS Institute. “And for security professionals to effectively plan, manage and execute security programs and initiatives, they require both technical expertise and strong leadership abilities.”

LDR512: Security Leadership Essentials for Managers will equip security leaders with essential technical knowledge and leadership skills to effectively manage security projects and high-performing teams, covering a multitude of key cybersecurity topics including security frameworks, architecture, engineering, application security, DevSecOps, GenAI security, cryptography, and more.

Additionally, the LDR551: Building and Leading Security Operations Centers course empowers SOC managers to develop proactive, intelligence-driven defenses against emerging threats. With hands-on exercises and Cyber42 interactive leadership simulations, these courses will help cybersecurity professionals align security activities with organizational goals and build forward-looking, fast-paced cyber defense capabilities.

SANS Institute will also hold a Community Night Talk on Tuesday 20 August, 5:30 - 6:30 PM (AST) – ‘Empowering a Modern SOC With AI: Practical Use Cases’. Traditional security operations centers (SOCs) struggle with alert fatigue and data overload. This presentation explores the transformative role of AI in modern SOCs, focusing on its application to improve threat detection, automate incident responses, and enable predictive analytics for a proactive defense strategy. Maxim Deweerdt, Certified Instructor at SANS Institute will demonstrate practical use cases to help analysts work smarter.

For more information and to register for SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders August 2024 in person or online, please visit: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events/riyadh-cyber-leaders-2024/  

To register for the SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders August 2024 Community Night Talk, please visit: https://www.sans.org/mlp/community-night-riyadh-cyber-leaders-august-2024/

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions worldwide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cybersecurity events and OnDemand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on technical certifications in cybersecurity. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master’s and bachelor’s degrees, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to manage their “human” cybersecurity risk easily and effectively. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community, including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community. www.sans.org