Udacity Launches Introduction to Cybersecurity Nanodegree Program

The program builds the right foundation for cybersecurity professionals and offers job-ready training within the domain

Aimed at addressing the rising need for cybersecurity professionals, the lifelong learning platform, Udacity, has launched the all-new Introduction to Cybersecurity Nanodegree program — offered in collaboration with SecurityScorecard — a great start for anyone interested in this critical field. With this, Udacity not only acknowledges the need for safeguarding data integrity but also envisions preparing the workforce to tackle the cybersecurity paradigm.

Leading global organizations, irrespective of their scale, industry,  geography, or technical sophistication, have seen data breaches in recent years. The work-from-home culture in the new normal has only worsened the scenario for organizations who are now grappling with end-point security issues. Even the World Health Organization has reported a surge in malicious web activities during the ongoing crisis, thereby highlighting the dire requirement for robust cybersecurity. 

The introductory training program equips the participants with the right foundational knowledge to pursue additional development in the same field. It is also well-suited for IT professionals, engineering managers or even students with little knowledge of the domain looking to supplement their existing skill set.

The project-based Nanodegree program offers four courses: “Cybersecurity Foundations”; “Defending and Securing Systems”; “Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Incident Response”; and “Governance, Risk, and Compliance.” The project-learning-led course structure designed by industry experts will allow learners to not only learn the fundamentals of cybersecurity but also get to implement and test them in a real-world context. It allows for an enhanced learning experience than the other subpar or more expensive academic or theoretical programs that do not dwell upon advanced training.

“Our goal at Udacity is to train the world’s workforce in the in-demand careers of the future, and cybersecurity is a critical industry that’s experiencing a significant gap between demand for and supply of qualified professionals,” said Alper Tekin, Chief Product Officer at Udacity. “We’re excited and proud to partner with SecurityScorecard to bring practical cybersecurity skills training to students and companies across all industries, to answer the massive demand for cybersecurity professionals.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Udacity to bring easily accessible cybersecurity education to the public,” said Aleksandr Yampolskiy, CEO and co-founder of SecurityScorecard, the global leader in security ratings. “Our company mission is to make the world a safer place. By partnering with Udacity we are making additional progress on this journey and helping to facilitate the development of future and current cybersecurity professionals. The world needs skilled security practitioners and we’re happy to join Udacity in this endeavor.”

About Udacity

Udacity is a global, online learning platform powering digital transformation and accelerated time-to-market initiatives for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises. Udacity programs provide industry-created practitioner skills through a series of Nanodegree® programs consisting of online courses and real-world projects in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, autonomous systems, and cloud computing, among other disciplines. Udacity collaborates with expert instructors and over 200 global industry partners including AT&T, Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, and NVIDIA to power technical education. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., the private company has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Germany, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Udacity has raised $163 million in funding to date from investors including Bertelsmann, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Drive Capital.

Udacity In India Launches Online Course For Flying Cars and Drone Tech

Udacity, the Silicon Valley-based lifelong learning platform, has opened applications for enrollments into its latest Nanodegree – an exclusive program on Flying Cars. This course will feature globally renowned experts as instructors, including Udacity founder Sebastian Thrun (CEO, KittyHawk and acknowledged expert in autonomous systems). Interested applicants can go to the Udacity website, where they can view a free preview of the program and apply for enrolment till February 7th, 2018.

For India’s dense urban sprawls and gridlocked streets, aerial transportation of goods and people is the most viable avenue for smart transportation in the future. The commercial potential for this sector can be seen in market projections from BI Intelligence, which expects sales of drones to surpass USD 12 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2016. The potential applications for these technologies are endless – drones have already been used to provide disaster relief, and can provide supplies or act as an autonomous ambulance in medical emergencies.

Udacity’s aim for this course is to push beyond the current generation of quadrotors and remote-controlled drones, and provide the skills to create autonomous flight systems that will be the transport technology of the future. The course will act as the first step students take into the world of this exciting and developing field. It will prepare students for jobs of tomorrow like Unmanned Aircraft Software Engineer, Guidance Navigation and Controls (GNC) Engineer, Aerial Roboticist, Software and Controls Engineer, and Autonomous Systems Engineer.

Commenting on the opportunities that participants will gain from this program, Ishan Gupta, Managing Director (India) – Udacity said, “Udacity’s endeavour to prepare India’s workforce for the jobs of tomorrow requires us to evolve and help create a larger pool of developers who can contribute to emerging technologies. The Flying Car Nanodegree Program will empower students to translate concepts of drone technology from the classroom to simulation and ultimately build their own self-flying drones. Flying Cars will find application in the aerospace, transportation, technology, and defense industries, and this course will help create the aerial roboticists and autonomous systems engineers that will shape this technology and how people travel in the future.”

Udacity has partnered with Quidich to be the hiring partner for this new Nanodegree in India. Quidich has been using drones in India to create extraordinary aerial cinematography, aerial visual displays, and project/real-estate surveying. Quidich will be providing internship and mentorship opportunities to the graduates of the Flying Car Nanodegree Program, in addition to sponsoring 10 candidates.

Commenting on being the hiring partner for the Flying Car Nanodegree, Rahat Kulshreshtha, Founder and CEO, Quidich, said, “The drone industry has increasingly proved that today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality. Quidich is proud to partner with Udacity for the Flying Car Nanodegree. We believe that this course will fuel the imagination of entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts; while creating a platform to propel aerial technology to new heights.”

The Flying Car Nanodegree Program is a course available exclusively on Udacity. Applicants to this program will be reviewed on the basis of their readiness for the curriculum. Students of the Self-Driving Car Engineer and Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree Programs, as well as Intro to Self-Driving Cars graduates, are guaranteed admission and the opportunity to enrol. The program will consist of two 12-week terms – the first on Aerial Robotics, and the second on Intelligent Air Systems. With the addition of the Flying Cars Nanodegree Program, Udacity now offers potential students the opportunity to embrace the coming paradigm shift in the future of transportation.

About Udacity

Udacity is democratizing education to make it affordable and accessible for people around the world to get the jobs they want to improve their lives. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with operations in China, Germany, India, Brazil and the UK, Udacity provides online education to millions of students in collaboration with top industry leaders including Google, Facebook, AT&T, IBM Watson, Amazon Alexa, Mercedes, DiDi, and more. The company’s Nanodegree certification program, a credential built and backed by industry, is designed to give students the skills they need to be in demand for the global workforce. The company offers Nanodegree programs across a range of subjects including self-driving car engineering, virtual reality development, AI engineering, machine learning, web and mobile development, and data analytics. Udacity has recently secured a prestigious spot in the CNBC Disruptor 50 list.

For more information, go to in.udacity.com.

Google Launches 'Nanodegree', A 6-12 Months Course For Android Developers

Among all the various treats that Google announced at its recently held at its Google I/O 2015 conference in San Francisco, this one takes the cake for Android Developers.

What could turn out to be a real learning opportunity for all the Android enthusiasts out there, Google, the tech giant, has partnered with Udacity to provide a six-course Android development nanodegree.

Google's aim here is to help developers learn the nuances of writing applications for the search giant's mobile operating system upto the point that they could potentially be hired by the company in the near future. Hence, the course is meant for advanced developers to horne their skills and get placed at Google.

Similar to Udacity's other degree programs, students will be able to access the videos for the Android nanodegree absolutely free of cost. They will only be required to pay a sum of $200 per month if they want to get a certificate for the degree and get help from the teaching assistants.

The student developers will be required to finish six courses and a number of projects in order to pass their program and get their degree.

The focus of the nanodegree program is to provide as much as practical knowledge regarding the field's working and concepts to the developers.

The whole program structure has been set to be completed in a period of six to nine months. While the start of the program is set, the students can finish their projects and six courses in as much as time they want, at their own pace.



In order to show it seriousness towards the whole project, the search giant has invited some fifty students to Mountain View for a three day summit by the end of 2015. The three day summit would in all its probability include a hackathon and meetings with the hiring engineers. This proves that the search giant has set plans of hiring some of the developers enrolled in the course.

In addition to all this, the search giant has also locked in a deal with the Egypt government to localise the six Android courses under nanodegree into Modern Standard Arabic. This means, for the first time in the history of Udacity, the content of the six courses would be adapted to one specific region.

The company would also provide 2000 scholarships to Egypt students and organise job fairs and sessions for them. Google considers Egypt as a great stepping stone in providing education and jobs to the students in the Arabic speaking region as it believes by providing students with alternative options, it will be able to reduce the number of wars in the area.