API Armenia Peace Initiative, in partnership with the French University in Armenia (UFAR), recently completed a successful spring session of cybersecurity training. For this second edition, intensive training took place from 8 April to 3 May, designed and delivered by a duo of French experts. Sébastien Barguirdjian, a lecturer at the IUT and Faculté des Métiers in St Malo and an entrepreneur in the IT sector, who gave the initial course in October 2023, was accompanied by Nicolas Renard, Cloud Architect at Orange.
The course brought together 15 participants, students and professionals from the sector, offering a complete immersion in various security techniques and practices. The general objectives of the course were to build skills in key areas such as introduction to cybersecurity, networks, system administration and security, virtualisation, digital forensics and penetration testing (Pentest).
The courses, divided into 6 modules, focused on practical application. Sébastien Barguirdjian incorporated numerous exercises and concrete examples to reinforce the participants’ skills. Trainees could test their knowledge in simulated environments, using essential tools and technologies such as VirtualBox and Proxmox, as well as distributions such as Debian and Kali Linux.
Strong team spirit and active participation feature the work atmosphere. The trainees were highly motivated and asked many questions, contributing to interactive question-and-answer and feedback sessions. Assessment methods included MCQs and graded practical work, enabling students’ progress to be measured. Overall, the results were very satisfactory, with an excellent success rate among participants.
A new feature of this 2nd session for API was a partnership with Relq, an inclusive and free digital training school based on the Simplon method. Initiated by Cyril Harpoutlian in 2021 and supported from the outset by API, Relq continues to provide coding training for particularly vulnerable groups, including refugees from Artsakh and veterans of the 44-day war, to facilitate their professional reintegration and support their psychological reconstruction. To improve the range of skills of its learners, Relq has tested an introductory cybersecurity module, sponsored by API and taught by Sebastien Barguirdjian. The courses, which are exclusively project-based, enable students to enter the job market as soon as they graduate, already equipped with practical experience. The projects cover a wide variety of subjects, including :
- CTF
- Bug bounty
- Docker
- Active Directory
- Linux system administrator
- Pentesting
- Scripting and automation
The cybersecurity course raised the students’ awareness of this issue, which they can apply in their personal and professional lives. The trainer and students enjoyed the training so much that there are plans to repeat the experience. This spring 2024 cyber session is an important step in the Armenia Peace Initiative’s ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity skills in Armenia. Working with local experts and institutions, the initiative aims to reduce the country’s vulnerability to cyber attacks, in both public and private sectors. Other training programmes are already in the pipeline to continue improving digital resilience in Armenia’s sensitive geopolitical context.