BETHESDA, MD, October 17, 2022 – SANS Institute, the global leader in cybersecurity training and certifications, today announced that it has partnered with Microsoft to deliver a new series of computer-based training (CBT) videos to be included in the “Defender for O365” offering for security professionals utilizing the Microsoft 365 E5 Security license. The series is targeted at IT systems and/or network administrators who contribute to the overall security of an organization. The video content has been developed to provide increased awareness and reinforcement of critical issues to a wide range of IT Administrative roles and serves as an essential element in any practitioner’s security toolkit.

“We are always looking to partner strategically with organizations that offer exceptional experiences to our large enterprise customers, and this course from SANS Security Awareness delivers just that,” said Brandon Koeller, Principal Product Manager Lead of Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance. “Maintaining and securing modern IT configurations must always be front of mind for IT Administrators at every level. We found SANS to be the perfect choice to deliver the world-class security content to reinforce cybersecurity best practices for these technical roles.”

This partnership aligns with the SANS Institute’s mission to empower cyber security professionals with the practical skills and knowledge they need to make our world a safer place. This 12-module series provides task-specific training catered to the needs and experience of the learner. The program is self-paced, offering short-form, easily digestible content to build awareness specific to security engineers. This format opens the door for IT professionals to advance their security knowledge and helps prepare them for more advanced learning in future SANS coursework.

“SANS has been delivering technical training and certifications to IT professionals for over 30 years, so we recognize the unique needs of these technical users,” said Carl Marrelli, Director of Business Development at the SANS Institute. “We salute Microsoft for recognizing the requirement to direct security awareness training towards this technical group of users since our experience tells us that it is precisely these users who are more frequently targeted because of their privileged access.”

For additional security awareness training information and to learn how organizations can partner with SANS, please visit: https://www.sans.org/security-awareness-training/.