Cisco and the Ministry of Science and ICT are joining forces to expand the base of domestic cybersecurity personnel. It is noteworthy that security internship opportunities, which were previously concentrated in the capital area, have been expanded to regional hub universities, and the program is designed to operate online, allowing for practical training without geographical or time constraints.

Cisco Korea announced on the 29th that it has launched the 'Cisco Virtual Internship Program (VIP) 2026' in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Bae Kyung-hoon).

The program runs from June 29 to July 31 and was planned in conjunction with the government's national agenda to 'cultivate 100,000 cybersecurity talents.'

The target group consists of 200 students participating in the Ministry of Science and ICT's information security professional training programs, such as the Information Security Specialized University and K-Shield Junior Program, significantly increasing the scale of participation compared to last year (about 30 people).

Participants complete a total of 75 hours of online courses through Cisco's social contribution education platform, 'Cisco Networking Academy'.

The curriculum is structured with global security standard courses such as endpoint security, cyber threat management, and network defense.

Virtual network design practice using Cisco Packet Tracer will also be conducted in parallel.

Those who complete the entire course will be issued a certificate jointly certified by the Ministry of Science and ICT and Cisco, and a Capture the Flag (CTF) competition will also be held to test learning achievements.

Experts from Cisco's global threat intelligence organization Talos and the customer experience team will lead special lectures on technology trends and career mentoring.

As of July last year, the Cisco Networking Academy has produced more than 83,000 graduates in Korea.

The cumulative number of graduates worldwide is 28.3 million, and among them, those who responded that they received help with career verification or employmentThe response rate was recorded at 97%.

Choi Ji-hee, CEO of Cisco Korea, said, “Based on our collaboration with the Ministry of Science and ICT, we will foster cybersecurity talent needed for the AI era and contribute to Korea’s leap forward as a global cybersecurity powerhouse.”