Jay Bavisi is the Founder & Group President of EC-Council, a corporation specializing in info safety schooling, coaching, and certification. Established in response to the cybersecurity challenges highlighted by the occasions of 9/11, EC-Council focuses on addressing cyber terrorism and associated safety considerations on a worldwide scale. The group is thought for creating certification applications similar to Licensed Moral Hacker (CEH), Laptop Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), Safe Analyst (ECSA), and Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT).
Bavisi performed a task in growing a partnership with the Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations company, by way of the Worldwide Multilateral Partnership In opposition to Cyber Threats (IMPACT). This collaboration aimed to boost info safety consciousness and capabilities throughout 194 member nations.
You launched EC-Council within the wake of 9/11 with a mission to construct world cybersecurity resilience. Are you able to share the story behind that founding second and what motivated you to dedicate your profession to securing the digital world?
Within the aftermath of 9/11, it grew to become painfully clear that safety needed to evolve. We have been now not simply guarding borders. We have been all of the sudden uncovered in methods we hadn’t totally grasped, particularly within the digital world. I noticed that the subsequent frontier of battle and resilience was our on-line world. It was a wake-up name for governments, companies, and people across the globe.
That second grew to become the place to begin for EC-Council. We noticed a essential hole. There merely weren’t sufficient skilled professionals who might shield our digital infrastructure. So, we got down to create a worldwide power of moral hackers; professionals who might assume like adversaries however act with integrity to defend and safe.
That concept gave delivery to the Licensed Moral Hacker certification (CEH).It was radical on the time. We weren’t simply educating instruments or methods. We have been instilling a mindset. We have been saying, learn to break issues so you understand how to guard them.
Over time, CEH grew to become a worldwide customary. However what really drives me isn’t just how far we’ve come, however what number of lives, companies, and governments we’ve helped shield.
What began as a response to tragedy has grow to be a lifelong dedication to constructing digital resilience. That mission nonetheless guides every thing we do as we speak.
With over 350,000 cybersecurity professionals in your community, what modifications have you ever observed within the skillsets most in demand as we speak—particularly post-ChatGPT and generative AI?
Cybersecurity has at all times been a race towards time. However with the explosion of generative AI, led by instruments like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, your entire panorama has been reengineered. What used to take hours of guide effort can now be performed in seconds with precision and scale. The accessibility of those AI instruments has democratized capabilities that have been as soon as restricted to elite menace actors. Now, anybody with a keyboard and curiosity can automate assaults, manipulate information, or impersonate identities at scale.
Let’s be clear: OpenAI didn’t create cybercrime. However its applied sciences together with these from different main AI labs have supercharged what’s potential, for each defenders and attackers. The twin-use nature of generative AI means we’re residing in a world the place innovation and exploitation transfer in lockstep.
This shift has raised the bar for each cybersecurity skilled. It’s now not sufficient to know primary safety rules. As we speak, professionals should understand how AI works, how it may be exploited, and the way it modifications the assault floor. Abilities like adversarial machine studying, immediate injection detection, and crimson teaming with AI-based instruments are shortly changing into core competencies.
We noticed this transformation mirrored within the CEH Menace Report. The info was clear menace actors are adapting quick. Our group should be taught even quicker.
At EC-Council, we’ve got constructed a tradition round upskilling. From foundational certifications just like the Licensed Cybersecurity Technician to AI specialised applications like CEH and CPENT, we’re enabling learners to constantly construct and sharpen their capabilities.
In cybersecurity, there isn’t a end line. Those that decide to evolving, questioning, and studying are those who will form the way forward for digital protection. Upskilling is now not about staying aggressive. It’s about staying related and staying prepared.
What makes the AI-powered CEH (Licensed Moral Hacker) certification uniquely positioned to deal with present and future threats?
The Licensed Moral Hacker certification has grow to be synonymous with belief within the cybersecurity business. When organizations search for professionals who can shield their methods proactively, CEH is the credential they depend on. It’s acknowledged by the U.S. Division of Protection and adopted by 1000’s of employers worldwide, not only for its technical rigor, however as a result of it represents readiness, resilience, and real-world relevance.
What makes CEH stand out as we speak is the way it has advanced to deal with a brand new class of threats powered by synthetic intelligence. In its newest model, CEH doesn’t simply point out AI as a future concern. It brings it into the center of the educational expertise. Learners work together with AI-driven adversaries in simulated environments. They’re uncovered to over 550 assault methods, a lot of which now replicate how actual attackers are utilizing automation, machine studying, and artificial content material to interrupt into methods.
CEH is designed to arrange professionals for what they may face, not simply what’s written in textbooks. It follows a full-cycle strategy: Study-Certify-Have interaction-Compete framework. That journey creates muscle reminiscence, strategic considering, and instinctive responses.
In a world the place cyber threats are evolving by the hour, CEH is greater than a certification. It’s a sign to employers that you’re not solely skilled however ready. And in cybersecurity, that form of belief is every thing.
How does EC-Council’s strategy to coaching differ when getting ready professionals to defend towards AI-generated threats or to safe AI methods themselves?
We’re coming into a cybersecurity period the place threats will not be solely extra complicated but in addition more and more autonomous. Defenders should now be able to counter assaults launched by clever methods that adapt, be taught, and evolve. At EC-Council, we’ve got reimagined our coaching to replicate this actuality. We don’t put together learners for yesterday’s challenges. We put together them for what comes subsequent.
In CEH and CPENT learners are immersed in environments the place adversaries use AI to imitate human conduct, automate breaches, and dynamically regulate their ways. These will not be tutorial workouts. They’re real-world simulations designed to sharpen instincts, not simply understanding. Professionals learn to defend methods that assume and safe AI itself.
We additionally consider that expertise shouldn’t be confined by geography. By way of world initiatives just like the Licensed Cybersecurity Technician Scholarship Program , we’re making these alternatives accessible to aspiring professionals in underserved areas. The aim is to construct a tradition of safety, globally.
This imaginative and prescient is powered by a sturdy ecosystem. EC-Council Studying , the world’s largest on-line cybersecurity library, offers on-demand entry to 1000’s of bite-sized classes, up to date constantly to replicate the newest threats, instruments, and vulnerabilities. Whether or not you’re studying counter AI-generated assaults or brushing up on SOC procedures, ECL helps professionals keep prepared; anytime, wherever.
EC-Council College (ECCU) shapes the subsequent technology of cybersecurity leaders with a powerful basis in tutorial and executive-level information. EGS gives strategic enterprise options that assist organizations construct mature cyber protection frameworks.
After which there’s the Hackerverse CTF our world cyber competitors platform the place information meets strain. Members face off in red-versus-blue workforce battles, simulating real-time breaches, defending mission-critical methods, and dealing collaboratively to neutralize threats. It’s greater than a contest. It’s a proving floor that builds resilience, creativity, and the flexibility to carry out when it issues most.
That is how we put together professionals to satisfy the long run. With information that’s present, environments which are immersive, and platforms that encourage motion. Cybersecurity is now not only a profession. It’s a calling, and our mission is to equip the world’s defenders for that duty.
Your applications are acknowledged by world businesses just like the NSA and ANSI. How do you preserve such a excessive customary whereas quickly evolving your curriculum to satisfy AI developments?
It’s one factor to maintain up with change. It’s one other to remain trusted whereas doing it. For us, high quality and agility should go hand in hand. That’s how we’ve earned and maintained recognition from world our bodies just like the NSA and ANSI.
We have now a system that retains us grounded in analysis whereas staying open to innovation. Our world workforce tracks rising threats, analyzes new assault vectors, and screens developments in AI and cybersecurity. That intelligence feeds instantly into our curriculum pipeline.
However velocity alone shouldn’t be sufficient. Each replace we make goes by way of a rigorous course of. We pilot take a look at it with seasoned professionals. We validate it in real-world environments like our cyber ranges. And we refine it primarily based on suggestions from those that stay within the trenches each day.
Take CEH and CPENT for instance. Integrating AI simulations into these applications was not only a technical choice. It was a mission-driven one. We needed to ensure professionals have been being skilled in what they might really encounter not simply what concept says they may.
What retains our applications forward is that this fixed stability of innovation and integrity. We don’t simply educate finest practices. We construct applications that practitioners, governments, and world enterprises can belief. And we plan to maintain it that method.
What position does EC-Council envision taking part in in shaping world coverage or regulation round AI in cybersecurity?
Coverage is just as efficient because the perception it’s constructed on. At EC-Council, we consider cybersecurity regulation should be knowledgeable by those that face threats each day. That’s the reason we actively interact with policymakers, schooling ministries, requirements our bodies, and intergovernmental organizations to assist form the frameworks that information the way forward for digital safety.
Our position shouldn’t be restricted to curriculum improvement. We’re a part of a broader dialogue on how nations and establishments can construct resilience, particularly as AI turns into extra deeply built-in into each offensive and defensive capabilities. We deliver to the desk frontline intelligence from our huge community of cybersecurity professionals, menace researchers, and instructors throughout 145 nations. This offers us a novel vantage level—rooted in sensible actuality and world scale.
We contribute to the event of nationwide workforce requirements, advise on rising AI competencies, and collaborate with governments to align cybersecurity schooling with nationwide safety targets. Our insights have helped outline the construction of public-private partnerships, capacity-building initiatives, and the position of steady studying in long-term resilience methods.
Whether or not by way of certifications, enterprise coaching, tutorial applications, or analysis partnerships, we’re shaping not simply how professionals are skilled, however how nations put together for the long run. As AI continues to reshape the cyber area, our mission is to make sure coverage retains tempo with readability, foresight, and integrity.
Do you consider we’re approaching some extent the place conventional safety roles should evolve into “AI safety specialists”?
The shift is already taking place. AI is now not a specialised matter sitting on the sides of cybersecurity. It’s changing into a part of each operate, from menace detection to identification administration, from crimson teaming to vulnerability evaluation. Safety professionals can now not afford to deal with AI as a separate ability set. It’s now foundational.
We’re seeing the early indicators of this transformation within the job market. New roles are rising AI safety researcher, artificial identification analyst, LLM immediate danger evaluator. These will not be simply buzzwords. They’re indicators that organizations want individuals who perceive each cybersecurity and the mechanics of clever methods.
At EC-Council, we’re embedding AI throughout our whole certification ecosystem. It’s now not reserved for superior learners. Even in foundational programs, professionals are launched to AI-driven threats and protection methods. We’re educating individuals assume critically about machine studying pipelines, detect algorithmic bias, and stop AI from being turned towards the methods it was meant to guard.
The way forward for cybersecurity belongs to those that can bridge disciplines. As AI turns into embedded in each side of digital infrastructure, our defenders should develop simply as subtle. This evolution shouldn’t be elective. It’s the subsequent chapter within the story of cyber resilience.
You’ve emphasised supporting startups past main tech hubs—how are you guaranteeing entry to this funding and coaching throughout underrepresented areas?
At EC-Council, we’re always working to develop the attain of cybersecurity innovation. We’re seeing a few of the most promising concepts come from locations far outdoors conventional tech corridors, usually from professionals fixing pressing challenges in actual time, with deep native perception and restricted sources.
To assist this momentum, we’re working a $100 M world funding initiative that actively invests in cybersecurity startups demonstrating real-world affect, no matter location. We aren’t simply providing capital. We’re offering mentorship, technical steering, and entry to EC-Council’s world platforms; serving to startups develop their options and entry worldwide markets.
We’re giving precedence to ventures led by EC-Council-certified professionals, as they convey each technical experience and a powerful moral basis to their work. These people perceive the complexities of recent threats and are constructing options that align with business wants and societal affect.
On the identical time, we’re rising entry to coaching in underserved areas. By way of our Licensed Cybersecurity Technician Scholarship Program, we’re opening doorways for aspiring professionals in nations like Nepal and Malaysia. We’re additionally enabling learners all over the world to have interaction with high-quality content material by way of our platforms, gaining the abilities they should contribute meaningfully to the sphere.
We’re constructing an ecosystem that continues to develop by recognizing expertise wherever it exists and supporting innovation that makes a distinction globally.
What impressed EC-Council to launch a $100 million initiative now, and the way do you see AI altering the cybersecurity innovation panorama within the subsequent 5 years?
We launched $100 M world funding initiative as a result of the panorama has modified. Innovation is now not confined to giant firms or tutorial labs. It’s being pushed by practitioners by individuals within the trenches who’re seeing new challenges and responding with daring, sensible options.
The velocity and scale at which AI is remodeling cybersecurity is unprecedented. Over the subsequent 5 years, we count on to see main advances in predictive analytics, autonomous crimson teaming, AI-native SOCs, and real-time choice engines. These will not be science fiction. They’re already taking form in prototypes and early deployments.
However innovation alone shouldn’t be sufficient. It wants assist. That’s the reason we created this initiative to gasoline the subsequent technology of cybersecurity breakthroughs. We’re on the lookout for startups that mix technical excellence with deep mission focus. We need to again builders who perceive the issue from the within and are prepared to unravel it from the bottom up.
Our aim is to create a multiplier impact. We offer funding, mentorship, and world visibility. In return, we assist scale concepts that may strengthen protection methods worldwide.
This isn’t simply an funding. It’s a dedication to the way forward for cybersecurity. A future the place one of the best concepts get constructed, irrespective of the place they arrive from.
What recommendation would you give to younger professionals contemplating coming into the cybersecurity subject as we speak—significantly these fascinated by AI?
Begin with curiosity. That’s a very powerful trait on this subject. You do not want an ideal resume or a standard background. What you want is the drive to be taught, the self-discipline to maintain going, and the braveness to ask higher questions.
Cybersecurity is without doubt one of the most significant careers you’ll be able to pursue. It isn’t nearly defending information. It’s about defending individuals, establishments, and the very cloth of our digital lives. And in case you are drawn to AI, that’s much more thrilling. We’re firstly of a brand new period the place clever methods will form how we defend every thing from private units to nationwide infrastructure.
Dive into how fashions work. Break them. Repair them. Perceive how attackers exploit them and the way defenders can struggle again. Experiment. Study. Collaborate. This isn’t a solo journey. The most effective cybersecurity professionals work in groups, construct communities, and develop by sharing.
At EC-Council, we’ve got constructed a path for each stage of that journey. Whether or not you’re simply beginning with hands-on labs or pushing your self in world competitions, there’s area for you right here. The world wants moral defenders who will not be solely expert, however pushed by function. If that sounds such as you, then welcome to a subject the place you can also make an actual affect.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to EC-Council.
