The Ministry of Science and ICT, in collaboration with Cisco, is implementing a security education program called ‘VIP’ with the participation of 34 people, including 2 high school students.

Following India, the second globally… Launch ceremony for a 6-week program at Cisco Korea on the 17th, ‘The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has partnered with global security company Cisco to start the Virtual Internship Program (‘VIP’), a cybersecurity course, from the 13th, with the launch ceremony on the 17th.’
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, ‘The VIP program is an online internship. Students complete Cisco’s cybersecurity curriculum and gain practical experience through projects addressing potential security vulnerabilities encountered in real-world situations. After India, South Korea is the second country where Cisco offers such educational programs to youth. It is conducted as part of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program.’
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, ‘The youth participating in this program are 34 students who have shown excellent abilities in the government’s Information Security Talent Nurturing Projects (Information Security Specialized Universities, Next-Generation Security Leader Training Courses). They consist of 32 university students and 2 high school students. After completing the 8-week course (from January 13 to March 14), they will receive certifications based on their project outcomes.’
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, ‘All participants receive participation certifications, and those who complete the online course and projects receive an internship completion certificate. The MSIT plans to continue working with Cisco and other domestic and international companies to expand practical education courses, allowing youth to experience various hands-on-centered education.’
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, “The MSIT previously formulated a plan to cultivate 100,000 cybersecurity talents (‘22.7) and has been operating various job-specific and stage-specific courses, aiming to nurture about 57,000 cybersecurity talents from 2022 to 2024. They also achieved a significant feat of winning the world’s most prestigious hacking defense competition, DEF CON, for three consecutive years (’22 to ’24).”
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, ‘In addition to these achievements, the MSIT launched the VIP program in collaboration with Cisco this year to provide educational courses that help solve employment-related issues for youth. Cisco is a world-leading manufacturer and developer of wired and wireless communication and networking equipment, and pursues educational projects to enhance digital capabilities globally, offering IT education in 26 languages to 4.7 million participants annually in 190 countries.’
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, ‘According to Cisco’s 2024 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, nearly half (46%) of domestic companies are unable to fill more than 10 cybersecurity-related positions. In fact, 89% of domestic companies pointed out that a shortage of talent is an obstacle to the advancement of cybersecurity.’
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, ‘Cisco’s VIP is an innovative internship model that alleviates the cybersecurity workforce gap and provides more talent with opportunities to build careers in cybersecurity through online education. It is conducted as part of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program.’
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, ‘After the launch ceremony, the MSIT held a meeting with participating students, listened to their challenges and requests, and introduced the government’s direction for nurturing cybersecurity talent. Minister Yoo Sang-eum, as read by Nam-chul Kim, Director of Information Protection Network Policy at MSIT, emphasized, “As acquiring excellent cybersecurity talent is crucial to responding to increasingly intelligent and advanced cyber threats, the government will actively discover and support solutions to the employment issues faced by youth, ensuring that excellent talent flows into the cybersecurity field.”‘
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, ‘Ji-hee Choi, CEO of Cisco Korea said, “The Cisco’s Virtual Internship Program being conducted with the MSIT will be a model case of a global company like Cisco conducting business in Korea while contributing to the expansion of Korea’s ICT technology and talent as a partner in mutual growth.”‘
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, ‘Dave West, Cisco’s regional leader for APJC, said in an online congratulatory speech, “We are very pleased to start this important collaboration with the Korean government. In an astonishingly rapidly changing technological innovation environment, creating opportunities to develop and nurture cybersecurity talent in the new AI era is crucial.” Cisco hopes this program, in collaboration with the Korean government, will serve as a leading example in accelerating the training and technology development of cybersecurity talent in Korea’s IT industry. Although the program is in its early stages, we are confident it can expand over the coming years and will do our best to ensure the success of all participants.”‘
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, ‘Pastora Valero, Cisco’s Senior Vice President for International Government Affairs, also gave an online congratulatory speech from Brussels, saying, “As a person overseeing Cisco’s international government affairs, I vividly remember discussing nurturing cyber talents with the minister when I visited Korea in October 2023. Seeing that conversation become a reality is truly rewarding.”‘