Group-IB Information Security Laboratory opened in MAI

On the basis of the IT Center and MAI Department 806 "Computational Mathematics and Programming", the pilot site of the Group-IB information security laboratory was opened. As part of the partner master's course, MAI students were the first who had the opportunity to conduct laboratory work using Group-IB Managed XDR – a set of solutions for advanced detection, response and protection against complex and unknown cyber threats. After completing the course, the best graduates will be able to complete the internship in the company.

Cooperation between Group-IB and MAI began in 2020 after signing the agreement on the development of joint educational programs. In 2020-2021, Group-IB experts and MAI professors developed partner master's program "Mathematical and software protection of information systems and technologies", and two dozen students took the course "Information security: application". The best graduates became interns at Group-IB.

During the current academic year, Group-IB tutors give the advanced course "Applied issues of information security" course for 60 students of the MAI IT Master's program, and another 15 students of the master's program will undergo a workshop "Identification and response to information security incidents".

– We are happy to open the joint laboratory with Group-IB, the leader in the area of combating cybercrime, – said Sergey Krylov, Director of the MAI Institute No. 8 "Computer Technologies and Applied Mathematics". – I am sure that the jointly developed IT master's degree program "Mathematical and software security of information systems and technologies" will allow new graduates – and every year we plan to graduate up to 20 unique experts - to join the ranks of company employees and create new high-tech solutions and products based on unique algorithms and mathematical models for proactive fight against cybercriminals.

To perform laboratory work, the students are provided with educational access to the Group-IB Managed XDR solution, which allows them to study actual cyber threats in practice: monitor all events in the network, on each device and workplace, and external events that pose a threat to the company too. Also, the Managed XDR solution allows for in-depth investigation of incidents, starting from patient zero (the first infected device on the network) to fixing malware in the infrastructure of the target company and further development of the attack.

– It is common in our industry to think that cybersecurity is not taught: only practice will provide the necessary knowledge and skills for incident response, digital forensics, cybercrime research – we want to change this," said Valery Baulin, Regional Director of Group-IB in Russia and the CIS. – The opening of the Group-IB information security laboratory on the basis of the MAI IT Center is a step towards creating a new security paradigm and training highly qualified specialists who will be able to work with the most modern solutions for detecting and preventing cyber attacks literally from the student's bench. The laboratory is a Group-IB in miniature, where students will learn how to resist cyber threats in conditions as close to real as possible. We expect that such laboratories will be opened on the basis of all key leading Russian universities in the future.