In coordination with the Development Agencies General Directorate, under the 'Cyber Homeland Program,' supported by the Zafer Development Agency, Manisa Celal Bayar University provided White Hat Hacker (C.E.H), Penetration Testing, Malware Analysis, Reverse Engineering, and Web Security training to its students to prevent cyberattacks, which cause billions of dollars in damages to companies with the advancement of technology.

Following the completion of the training, a certificate ceremony was held at Manisa Celal Bayar University TEKNOKENT. In his opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eser Yeşildağ stated, 'In collaboration with Manisa Celal Bayar University and Zafer Development Agency, we provide cybersecurity training within the scope of the Cyber Homeland Project to train the cybersecurity experts our country needs and to provide employment. The aim of this project is to increase awareness of cybersecurity issues among our students, identify potential talents, support them in career planning, and promote young entrepreneurship to contribute to meeting the demand for cybersecurity experts in our country. 170 students registered for this training, and 45 students who participated in the competition earned the right to attend this training.'

Kutlu Eser, Deputy Secretary-General of the Zafer Development Agency and a member of the Agency's Board of Directors, said, 'This project starts as a project of the Western Black Sea Development Agency. Behind this is the Presidency Administration. Our Ministry and General Directorate support this project, and everyone supports it both centrally and locally. It's important to look at the economy of this issue. The Cyber Homeland Project is a value-added project for us, and we will always support such projects. Perhaps in the coming years, we plan to continue this with a project at the secondary education level. There are an average of 4 cyberattacks per day. They cause incredible costs due to the damage they inflict. In 2023, $8.4 trillion in damage due to cybercrime was detected. It is expected to reach $10.5 trillion in 2024 and $20 trillion by 2030. A tremendous economy. There are many legal problems related to these. Looking at the money spent to take precautions in this field, it has increased from around $3.5 billion in 2004 to $1.745 trillion now. Therefore, while 1 million people were needed 5-10 years ago, now there is a need for 3.5 million cybersecurity personnel worldwide.'

Manisa Celal Bayar University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Çetin emphasized that technology has become capable of seizing everything with a glance, not just with a click, and stated, 'In this regard, the awareness work we are conducting today with Zafer Development Agency creates a great potential for our students here to inform people to prevent possible damages.'

After the speeches, the students who received their certificates had the opportunity to meet with representatives of TEKNOKENT and 7 other companies working on cybersecurity and related topics in the region.

The event, where one-on-one meetings were held, aims to enable students to get to know the business world related to cybersecurity and contribute to their employment in companies working in this field in the future.