Cybersecurity Training for Workforce Security Awareness

The Cybersecurity Training category covers training that builds skills for security professionals and the IT staff who work with them. Typical entries are technical courses, hands-on labs, cyber ranges where learners practice against simulated attacks, certification preparation, and training platforms that track skills across a security team. Network and system administration training, whose own category was retired, can enter here.

Awareness training for every employee belongs in Security Awareness Training. Degree, school and public programs fit Security Education, and programs that bring new people into the field fit Cyber Workforce Development. Exercises that test how an organization responds fit Cyber Readiness and Validation. The training company itself can enter Best Cybersecurity Education Provider.

Related categories to enter

Each category is judged separately, so you can enter a program in every category that fits, with a separate nomination for each. Tailor each nomination to that category's focus. The people who teach or run it can also be nominated in Cybersecurity Educator of the Year or Cybersecurity Instructor Team of the Year.

Security Awareness Training — for training for all employees
Security Education — for degrees and school programs
Cyber Workforce Development — for programs that bring people into the field
Cyber Readiness and Validation — for exercises that test teams together
Best Cybersecurity Education Provider — for the company behind the training

How entries are judged

An independent jury of security practitioners, analysts and CISOs scores each nomination on leadership, innovation and impact. For training and education, the jury looks at the reach of the program and what learners achieve, such as skills gained, qualifications earned and jobs found. Each nomination competes in its category against entrants of similar size and region, so a local nonprofit is not ranked against a global training company. Your entry package, any sponsorship and public votes do not affect the jury's scores.

Strong entries in this category show:

Leadership — the training's reach: learners trained, courses and labs offered, certifications supported, and organizations using it for their teams.
Innovation — a training problem solved in a new way, such as labs that mirror real attacks, skills measured rather than hours logged, or training that keeps pace with new threats.
Impact — learning outcomes: skills gained, certification pass rates raised, learners promoted or hired, and employer satisfaction scores. Give figures.

The jury awards Gold, Silver or Bronze, or a Finalist badge, and results are published on this site and announced to the 600,000+ member Cybersecurity Insiders community. Every approved nomination also enters the separate Community Choice award, decided by public votes.

How to enter

Training providers, schools, universities, nonprofits, employers and program teams can enter their own courses, platforms or programs, and a PR agency can enter them on their behalf. The nomination form has a confidential field for detail that is shared with the judges and not published, such as enrollment, completion or job placement figures. Deadlines, pricing and entry steps are on the How it Works page.