150 public servants trained in cybersecurity

A total of 150 public servants on Monday participated in a cybersecurity awareness training facilitated by the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal.

The training sessions focussed on equipping government employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the increasingly complex digital landscape while safeguarding sensitive information.

NDMA Assistant ICT Engineer within the Cybersecurity Division, Melissa Vandeyar, underscored the critical role that each public servant plays in securing their data, as well as confidential information vital to government operations.

“We are trying to ‘secure our world’ one employee at a time, as part of our mandate to provide training for government ministries and agencies on cybersecurity awareness. We have recognised the need to do so and wanted to conduct this training in a setting like this, where we can reach a large number of individuals at once,” Vandeyar stated.

She stated that the significance of cybersecurity training cannot be overstated, explaining, “It is extremely important because of the type of content or nature of the content that we are trying to share. It is about knowing how to safeguard your data, not just as an individual but also the agency’s data.”

Vandeyar highlighted that the aim is to secure the government’s ICT-based services, explaining that the most effective way to achieve this is by prioritising employee training.

The training initiative is not a one-off event and is part of an ongoing commitment by NDMA to bolster cybersecurity awareness and preparedness.

In fact, similar training sessions were conducted for government head officials and agencies last Thursday.

NDMA has scheduled a virtual training session on October 19, catering to public servants who were unable to attend the in-person session.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is being celebrated under the theme: “Secure Our World.”