Evolve Security Academy

I had the unique experience of participating in the Evolve Security 17-week live in structor led bootcamp, an incredible experience, the Academy team works tirelessly to incorporate feedback and improve the coursework, labs, and direction of future modules. Having one foot in the bootcamp as a student, and one foot in the office as an employee, the appreciation of seeing how well balanced this program is, and my ability to contribute raw feedback was a rewarding experience. This is a fantastic program, and I'm increasingly proud of what I've learned and my ability to speak to aspects of security, both from a policy and technical perspective, that would have been improbable or prohibitively difficult to learn on my own, and with out the infrastructure of this program. 

If you are looking for the best way to break into cybersecurity and willing to put in the work, the bootcamp is the perfect fit for you. I learned so many different tools and techniques about hacking within the 17-week period. I started the bootcamp as a novice who barely had any knowledge about networking, but after the bootcamp with a lot of practices on many different labs, I was able to comfortably run an assessment on a host or even a subnet (from initial scan for host discovery to exploitation and reporting). Besides, I really enjoyed those blue team – red team exercises where we were divided into team and started attacking on each other. These exercises really helped me get better understanding about hacking from different vantage points, both defensive and offensive sides. As a software developer, I found this experience very valuable since it helped me become more aware about security and know how to properly harden my system to prevent potential attacks. All in all, I am very satisfied with the experience I got from the bootcamp and definitely recommend anyone who has an interest in cybersecurity.

The Evolve Academy Bootcamp was a fantastic educational experience. The material and instruction were insightful and concise. While it's impossible to cover every aspect of security in 17 weeks, the course provided a holistic approach to the material and covered both overarching theoretical concepts as well as hands-on technical implementations. The instructors were also more than happy to encourage students to dig deeper on subjects they were interested in, and provided fantastic examples of principles based on their real world job experience. 

The bootcamp was intensive and the curriculum touched on every thing you need to know to start a career in cybersecurity. This is from zero to hero of cybersecurity. For those considering a change in career, this bootcamp is the way to go. It is also a good training to grow cyber skills for people who have been in the field but have limited technical exposure. The boot camp will easily replace a cybersecurity degree. The main instructor and the TAs are knowledgeable and committed to the students.​ Hands-on labs and projects were well planned out and it is a good exposure to make you ready for jobs. The career coaching sessions provide you with all you need to land a job during or by the end of the bootcamp. You can never regret going through this training.

Evolve Security Academy was the best option I researched for getting into the Cybersecurity world using my veteran’s GI Bill benefits. Throughout the whole cohort you are given ample amount of time and assistance to learn and grow. My cohort was split into 4 separate groups to make it easier to learn with a Teacher Assistance leading each group. My TA was amazing and provided so much relevant information as she was once a student through Evolve and now is working as a Cybersecurity Analyst for a Cybersecurity Firm. This bootcamp is a lot of fun, but you must be prepared to sacrifice some of your personal time to grow.
As for the veteran aspect I couldn’t praise Evolve Security Academy enough! Our cohort was online for 20 weeks that was supposed to be guaranteed paid by the VA GI Bill. The VA decided to stop funding online classes that were meant to be in person in July 2022. Evolve Security Academy tried resolving this issue with the VA but the VA didn’t budge. Evolve Security Academy helped us veterans in the cohort and did not charge us for this incident and ate the cost for the rest of our time. This was such a class act and I can’t say enough praise worthy things about how this was handled by Evolve Security Academy.

As a transitioning service member, I was looking for hands-on cybersecurity program that would allow me to use my veteran benefits. Doing some research, I came across Evolve, and WHAT A BLESSING! I am extremely happy with myself for joining Evolve AND completing the program. Evolve has absolutely changed my life, setting me on the right direction to begin a cybersecurity career. In only six months, I have a vast amount of experience, learned a ton about the industry, and my resume is on point! Evolve really takes time with their students and have the most amazing instructors, all of whom are industry professionals. I am walking away from this program with a ton of knowledge and connections. What more can you ask for? I would recommend this program to anyone looking to transition into cybersecurity and gain hands-on training.

Evolve Academy had a number of very knowledgeable instructors with industry experience, and getting that kind of up-to-date industry insight, along with networking connections, plus excellent career prep resources, was just incredibly valuable to me. Getting a roadmap of the whole industry and lots of hands-on exercises has also been amazing. It feels surreal how much I've learned in such a short period of time and how much my eyes have been opened to the world of information security and computers in general. So much more now feels within my reach.