DC Tech's Newest Member

A new cybersecurity training firm entered the DC tech fray last week, this one targeting a different set of customers and not launched by who you would expect.

CyberVista, which debuted at CES, will start by offering its cybersecurity training programs to board members and senior executives. Unlike most cybersecurity education that targets IT professionals, CyberVista's first program will help upper level corporate executives navigate the ever-changing cyber and global political risks involved with running a corporation. 

“Cybersecurity is as much to do with IT and defense as understanding the global threat environments,” says CEO Amjed Saffarini (above), who spent 15 years at Kaplan.

The company is the product of Graham Holdings (which owned The Washington Post before Jeff Bezos bought it) and Kaplan, the 75-year-old education company largely known for helping students prepare for the SATs. CyberVista will eventually introduce a cybersecurity certification prep program for IT professionals and a continuing ed program for practitioners. The training will also be geared to non-IT people like the accounting team within a company. 

Tim O’Shaughnessy (above), the founder of LivingSocial and now president and CEO of Graham Holdings, says there’s an “enormous opportunity in cybersecurity education and workforce development.” Not to mention a growing cyber workforce shortage. 

Kaplan brings its expertise in personalized learning, assessment and online delivery. CyberVista, which has a core team of 12 employees, was part of a first-ever cybersecurity forum at CES, where the company was also able to get customer leads. Amjed says leads are also coming from organizations that have already gone through a breach. If anything, he’s hoping the training will change behavior about cybersecurity and teach executives the right questions to ask.