The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) in partnership with TalentSprint on Tuesday announced an advanced certification programme on cybersecurity and cyber defence.

The programme is designed for current and aspiring professionals who are keen to explore and exploit the latest trends in cybersecurity technologies and the e-first cohort would start in early 2020, Manindra Agrawal, Program Director and Professor of Computer Science, IIT Kanpur told media.

"It is estimated that there will be roughly 200 billion connected devices by 2020.

Rapid convergence of Mobility, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing is leading to an explosive increase in security threats and the need for Cyber Defence experts to combat these threats is becoming all the more important."

About the cybersecurity program

"Our program will leverage the deep research capabilities of C3i to arm technology professionals with the right expertise to counter a wide range of emerging threats and vulnerabilities," he said.

Most recently, IIT Kanpur has taken the lead in cybersecurity by setting up the interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security and Cyber Defence of Critical Infrastructures (C3i).

Co-Founder and CEO of TalentSprint, Santanu Paul noted that the demand for cybersecurity professionals was outstripping supply and companies needed sophisticated responders to defend against the growing threat of cyber attacks.

There was a huge talent crunch and 59 percent of the companies have vacant positions suggesting a cumulative global shortfall of 1.5 million such professionals, Paul said.

Read | 5 reasons why India needs cybersecurity education

Read | 25,000 Indian students to be trained in cyber security by Cisco