The course is developed by Kaspersky AI Technology Research Center and aims to equip cybersecurity professionals with the essential skills to understand, evaluate and defend against vulnerabilities in large language models (LLMs).

The advent of LLMs has revolutionised the way companies develop and interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, while simultaneously introducing new and intricate security challenges.

A Kaspersky study has revealed that already in 2024 more than half of companies have implemented AI and Internet of Things (IoT) in their infrastructure. As these technologies become increasingly embedded in corporate systems and processes, understanding how they can be targeted, what vulnerabilities can be exploited for cyber attacks and how to defend against them is no longer optional—it’s a vital skill for cybersecurity professionals.

To address this critical need, Kaspersky has expanded its renowned Cybersecurity Training portfolio with a new online course dedicated to the security of LLMs. Designed to provide a solid foundation in this emerging field, the course equips professionals with the expertise to assess vulnerabilities, implement effective defences and design resilient AI systems. Participants will engage with real-world cases and practical assignments, honing their ability to deploy robust security measures and enhance the resilience of LLM-based applications.

The course draws upon the extensive expertise of the Kaspersky AI Technology Research Center, whose specialists have been dedicated to AI in cybersecurity and secure AI for nearly two decades—advancing the detection and mitigation of a wide spectrum of threats. Led by Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky, the programme offers an engaging learning experience through compelling video lectures, practical hands-on labs and interactive exercises, enabling participants to:

• Explore exploitation techniques such as jailbreaks, prompt injections and token smuggling to understand how to defend against them.
• Develop practical defence strategies across various levels—model, prompt, system and service.
• Apply structured frameworks for assessing and enhancing LLM security.

This training is useful for those starting their careers in AI cybersecurity, engineers building or integrating LLMs, and specialists working closely with AI infrastructure.

“The rise of large language models has revolutionised the approach taken by organisations to building and engaging with AI, opening new horizons of possibility. Yet, this technological leap also brings intricate security puzzles that demand immediate attention.

For cybersecurity experts, mastering the art of spotting, exploiting and shielding against these vulnerabilities has become a vital craft. That’s why we developed this specialised course—to arm professionals with the insights and hands-on tools necessary to safeguard LLM-driven applications and stay one step ahead of the evolving threat landscape,” says Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky, together with Smart Africa and Africaines in Tech, has launched an innovative, science-backed career orientation test “Future You in Tech” created to promote professional development for young women in the cybersecurity industry and help remove potential entry barriers. The test is designed to help them discover which career paths best align with their interests, skills, and personality.

The IT industry continues to face a significant gender imbalance. While technology is one of the fastest-growing fields shaping the global future, women remain underrepresented due to systemic barriers such as stereotypes and unequal workplace opportunities.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, women make up only 28.2% of the global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) workforce.

With this new initiative, Kaspersky and its partners aim to lower these barriers by sparking interest, building awareness, and offering guidance to the next generation of women in cybersecurity.

The orientation test is designed to help young women discover which cybersecurity career paths best align with their interests, skills, personality, and values. The test guides participants through scenarios that reveal their natural problem-solving styles and strengths.

Once completed, the results highlight each participant’s top two matches out of six possible cybersecurity roles. The six cybersecurity paths covered in the test are:

• Threat Intelligence — analysing cybercriminal groups and predicting their next moves.
• Security Operations (SOC) — monitoring systems, detecting threats, and responding to incidents.
• Malware Analysis — reverse-engineering malicious code and creating detection rules.
• Network Security — protecting IT infrastructure, running penetration tests, and securing networks.
• Information Security Research — uncovering vulnerabilities, exploring new attack techniques, and designing security standards.
• Security Assessment — testing and auditing systems to identify risks before attackers exploit them.

By taking just a few minutes to complete the test, young women can gain a clearer picture of how their abilities and passions align with the cybersecurity profession and take their first step towards a rewarding career protecting people, organisations, and the digital society at large.

Alongside these personalised matches, participants receive explanations of the roles and advice from Kaspersky’s female experts who work in these fields.

They also receive suggested next steps such as recommended readings or practical activities to try, developed together with Smart Africa, Africaines in Tech, and Kaspersky Academy.

“We recommend young women to take this orientation test — even if you never considered a career in cybersecurity. This test would provide you with an unbiased view — while cybersecurity is a field, that requires technical skills development, it also needs curiosity, creativity, problem-solving, and resilience — qualities many young women already have.

The test would help one to connect strengths with real career paths, empower to see a future in cybersecurity and to take first steps with confidence,” comments Evgeniya Russkikh, Head of Academic Affairs at Kaspersky.

This launch builds on Kaspersky’s long-term commitment to supporting women in technology. As of early 2023, women represented 25 percent of the company’s global tech workforce — a 6.9 percentage point increase over four years.

To further amplify women’s voices, Kaspersky also runs the Empower Women digital project, which raises awareness of gender-related challenges, shares expert perspectives, and offers practical advice for building fairer and more inclusive environments in tech and beyond.

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Trade and Investment has set up a regulatory committee to deepen digital market penetration and boost exportation of African products.

The committee was set up at the AfCFTA Digital Trade Market Access Roundtable organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, hosting regulatory stakeholders from Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa.

Jumoke Oduwole, minister for Industry, Trade and Investment speaking at the event said, “The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment is committed to support your expansion into African markets. To do this, we will actively steer the regulators’ working group established yesterday. This group will continue the momentum of regulatory cooperation beyond this event, creating a working channel for addressing challenges and advancing solutions.

“Also, we will explore opportunities for the passing of licenses. The goal is to create mechanisms where regulatory approvals in one jurisdiction can facilitate or expedite approvals in others, reducing barriers for firms operating across multiple markets,” Jumoke said.

The minister lamented poor exportation of Africa’s digitally delivered services globally despite the talents and resources, urging the continent to collaborate to achieve desired results leveraging enormous potentials that the Digital Trade Protocol holds.

“For digital services, the AfCFTA opportunity is particularly compelling. Africa currently accounts for less than 10 per cent in digitally delivered services exports globally. But we have the talent, the demand, innovative experience, and now the regulatory framework to dramatically transform our levels of digital trade.”

The minister added that, “Currently, only 5 percent of Africa’s digitally delivered services are traded within the continent. This represents an extraordinary untapped opportunity for intra-African digital trade and overarching digital transformation.

“The time to act is now. Nigeria has been designated as the African Union co-Champion of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade. This is both an honour and a responsibility. To demonstrate our resolve, we commenced regulatory alignment and harmonization of standards with our regional commitments with a Digital Economy and E-Governance bill currently before the National Assembly. As co-Champion, we are committed to demonstrating practical leadership.”

Jumoke said the programme is designed to gain a clear understanding of market entry rules and processes across the countries as they present regulatory categories, licensing requirements, and market entry processes and also have direct access to regulators through our clinic sessions this afternoon.

She tasked Nigeria’s digital service providers for compliance with domestic regulatory requirements at home in order to get the backup from the government at international stage.

“As the government creates these enabling structures, we also have clear expectations of Nigerian digital services providers. First, compliance at home is a prerequisite for support abroad. The Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian Copyright Commission, Nigerian Communications Commission, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Central Bank of Nigeria are all represented here today to provide consultations.

“The government cannot vouch for your credibility in foreign markets without confidence that you have fully satisfied domestic regulatory requirements. Use today’s clinic sessions to ensure you are in good standing. Second, reflect clearly and strategically on your ambitions to invest across Africa.”

The minister promised that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment will continue to support the efforts of digital services providers through targeted initiatives which will be announced before the end of the year.

Calvin Phume, director, African Bilateral Economic Relations, Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa described the collaboration as a transformational agenda crucial to harness untapped potentials in Africa’s digital market.

“This is a transformational agenda. We are trying to make sure that we take these opportunities that are derived by AFCTA. Under the digital trade Protocol, it gives us access as South Africans to collaborate with other Africans in terms of ICT and other digital services,” Phume said.

The director added that South Africa will target key areas of collaboration including ICloud, AI innovation, among other.

Elhanan Asara, deputy director, Fintech and Innovation, Bank of Ghana emphasised the importance of the collaboration describing it as an avenue to find solution to export barriers and boost market penetration across Africa.

“There is a deficit. There is a lot of I.T import to the country really formed by Europe and the western world in general compared to Ghana exporting IT services. This is also an opportunity to see if this is utilised in Africa instead of going to the western world.”