WINS conducted a five-day, interactive online training programme on Integrating Cybersecurity with the Security Programme in cooperation with Amity University from 22-26 September 2020.
Dr Alpana Goel, Director and Head of Amity Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology and WINS Academy Ambassador, acted as Indian Facilitator from the university as part of the local organising committee. She also coordinated with various Indian panellists to ensure the Indian context of the subject matter was highlighted. Amity alumni who work with various organisations and universities were involved to ensure the latest thinking and approach were integrated into the workshop.
The event was planned with an emphasis on practical activities to prepare participants to use the skills in the workplace. “Exercises strengthen the concepts explained during lectures. It is a proven fact that hands-on training is more effective than theoretical teaching. Rather than a unidirectional conversation during lecturing, it becomes bidirectional and interactive, ensuring the thinking and ideas of young minds are brought forward,” Dr Goel told WINS.
“In risk and vulnerability assessments, we must be able to think of the unthinkable. One of the most important outcomes was that many open-ended facts were found in the exercises, and the facility team had to think about providing finer details before putting them in front of the regulators,” she added.
A total of 57 Amity University students, alumni and members of India’s existing technical nuclear industry attended the event. Dr Goel noted that many of the participants had not completed cybersecurity training previously. “Participants gave positive responses to the training. Those who participated in the exercises made the most out of them and were happy with the way it was executed,” she said. “This event also enhanced career opportunities for our students in the cybersecurity sector. Students learned about the benefits of WINS certification and the various courses available.”
The workshop was also valuable for the university as an institution. “We have benefitted immensely from the visibility and publicity provided by the WINS event. We had many participants from the Government of India divisions, which implies they are recognising our presence well. This will benefit our students and faculty in getting more training and internships /research opportunities,” Dr Goel said.
She added that the success of the event also proved the effectiveness of online training. “This appears to be an opportunity since we can save on travel and many other costs. From the comfort of our home, with no compromise of the usual tasks, we can be involved in such ventures.”
The other organisers and leaders of the training were also impressed with the outcome.
“While cybersecurity has been a growing issue for the last few decades, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights its necessity even more. Ensuring due diligence in all areas of security, with consideration to the insider threat, is integral to any security regime. Events like the WINS Academy Training on Integrating Cybersecurity with the Security Programme provide an opportunity to highlight this issue with the next generation of nuclear security specialists. This helps to create a workforce with whom a good nuclear security culture is inherent, enabling them to be more resilient in combatting escalating cybersecurity issues in the future,” said Karen Kaldenbach, Human Reliability Program Team Lead at Gregg Protection Services and one of the subject matter experts.
“The integration of cybersecurity protections into all nuclear security disciplines has become a fundamental protection principle. Our workshop with Amity University truly emphasised the value of focusing the collective body of knowledge from the academic, industry and government communities on this very important subject. During the workshop, one thing I specifically noticed is how our younger generation of cybersecurity professionals have the capacity to teach the more seasoned security professionals aspects of cyber protection integration that are innovative and effective,” said Dave Lambert, Senior Security Specialist/Training Manager at Critical Systems Security Consulting and a subject matter expert at the training.
“We were able to deliver an engaging and constructive online training course because of the efforts of Dr Goel and her team at Amity University. Building on past collaborations between Amity and WINS, alumni now working in the nuclear workforce guided participants through the exercises, ensuring that the training was relevant and practical. The team at Amity also attracted senior government officials and scientists to share their experiences during interactive discussions with the participants. We are proud to count Dr Goel as a WINS Academy Ambassador and look forward to future joint activities,” said Dan Johnson, WINS Senior Advisor.
