EC-Council to train numerous skilled IT professionals from The Netherlands in Cybersecurity in partnership with Vijfhart IT Opleidingen, a leading Dutch IT educator (2024)

Summary: Vijfhart IT Opleidingen and EC-Council join hands to provide world-class Cybersecurity training to aspiring and current cybersecurity professionals in the Netherlands

With the shortage of Cybersecurity professionals rapidly rising across the globe, EC-Council partenered with Vijfhart IT Opleidingen, one of the Top 5 IT educators in the Netherlands to provide world-class training to aspiring and current cybersecurity professionals— in an online self-paced format, to cater to the busy schedules of these IT professionals. While the need for certified and skilled Cybersecurity professionals is increasing, on the other hand, IT professionals find it difficult to commit disciplined time in a day owing to their pressurizing billable hours at their existing jobs. Vijfhart IT Opleidingen believes that the iLearn stream of learning (EC-Council’s renowned online self-paced training format), combined with practical workshops will be the ultimate solution to this problem.

Says Bastiaan Janssen, CEO of Vijfhart IT Opleidingen, “Because of the digital transformation, every company today has become an IT company and with the fast rise of cybersecurity threats, every IT company of today has to be ready for the problems it may face tomorrow. This necessitates that organizations need to put more time and energy into cybersecurity knowledge. Especially because there is already a huge knowledge shortage in the IT and cybersecurity domain.’

Traditionally, Vijfhart IT Opleidingen offers training at various locations in Nieuwegein and Zwolle and with partners. In recent years, the company has invested in offering blended learning— a combination of classroom and digital teaching. In this phenomenal partnership with EC-Council, Vijfhart IT Opleidingen has gone one step ahead to provide entirely online self-paced learning solutions for their students of cybersecurity education.

The biggest IT companies in The Netherlands are now focussing more on security, both internally and as a service. This cooperation between EC-Council and Vijfhart is opportune and is a new and exciting step towards an essential broadening of the courses available in The Netherlands.

EC-Council’s iLearn format plays an essential role here because of its self-paced format. This format implies that once an eligible user signs-up for a course, he/she has 1 year to complete the course contents and take the necessary examination to secure their certification. The beauty here is that they can manage their time at their own convenience and draft their own strategy to make optimal use of their courseware. In the iLearn package, a user is also provided with iLabs, online simulation that accustoms a user to what a real world cyberattack may look like to prepare them against all odds. Thereby making their learning as practical as possible. Ever since its inception in 2001, EC-Council has single-mindedly focussed on delivering quality courseware to its students and the fact that EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker is one of the most sought-after courses in the world for kickstarting a career in Cybersecurity is evidence enough of that. They have always endeavoured to be present and ready whenever any organization, military, civilian government body or a Country feels the need to upgrade their cybersecurity skills.

The Cybersecurity Assessment Netherlands 2017, stated that “The sense of urgency to invest in cybersecurity is growing in the Dutch society. Nevertheless, we must continue to invest in knowledge and expertise to stay at the top level. That’s why we talk to businesses, education, and representatives from critical infrastructures. We need to work together to keep the Netherlands digitally safe and secure. This cybersecurity assessment confirms that everybody’s cooperation is needed to keep the fast digitizing world safe and secure. Companies, for example, by reserving funds to keep their networks safe and Dutch citizens by purchasing digital secure items.”

While the sentiments from Vijfhart can be described as nothing less than excited and optimistic, with the senior management at EC-Council sharing the same enthusiasm. “We’re glad that Vijfhart IT Opleidingen is now authorized to offer globally renowned EC-Council certification courses. We see incredible potential in our partnership, especially with the 35-year-old strong presence that Vijfhart demonstrates in The Netherlands. As organizations, we both believe in spreading education, attaining growth, and caring for our fellow men. With these shared values firmly grounded in our systems, we foresee a host of cybersecurity professionals in the Netherlands, protecting their organizations, the government, and the citizens of this great Nation”, says Jay Bavisi, CEO, EC-Council Group and Chairman of the Board, EC-Council University.

With a reach of over 4,000 customers, who are initially intended to be the benefactors of this partnership, EC-Council and Vijfhart are set to take the cybersecurity training industry in the Netherlands by storm.

About Vijfhart IT Opleidingen
Vijfhart was founded in 1984 by Eef Janssen under the motto ‘Do it differently’. Their mission surrounds the Dutch IT training market and focuses on obtaining the best of people, ensuring maximum performance. They offer a familiar working environment where people can develop their talents. Vijfhart offers training for both the IT professional and the IT end user. The wide range ranges from training in software development, big data, business intelligence, cloud computing, and IT security to privacy, project management and methodologies such as agile, Itil, and Togaf. The head office of Vijfhart IT Opleidingen is currently located in Velp (near Arnhem).

About EC-Council
EC-Council has been the world’s leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry in 2002. Since the launch of CEH, EC-Council has added industry-leading programs to their portfolio to cover all aspects of information security including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), among others. EC-Council Foundation, the nonprofit branch of EC-Council, created Global CyberLympics, the world’s first global hacking competition. EC-Council Foundation also hosts a suite of conferences across the US and around the world including Hacker Halted, Global CISO Forum, TakeDownCon, and CISO Summit.