Tag: train

  • Cybrary Lands $15 Million Series B Round to Train Cybersecurity Workforce

    Cybrary Lands $15 Million Series B Round to Train Cybersecurity Workforce

    Ryan Corey remembers when his business plan would get him and his team laughed out of a room with potential investors. Back in 2015, when the Cybrary platform for cybersecurity learning was founded, it didn’t matter that Corey had amassed over 175,000 signups in six months.

    Investors didn’t like his business model, based on attracting users with free lessons. And it probably didn’t help that his website was a work in progress. “When you give something away, they tend to cringe,” says Corey, the 39-year-old CEO. “And our look was so ugly. But users were using the crap out of it.”

    Now, his company, Cybrary (that’s cyber library) has grown to more than 2.6 million users, with 2,000 new users a day. The company claims to offer thousands of hours of courses and hundreds of hands-on learning exercises in its catalog.

    Those are numbers that investors can’t mock. Cybrary has landed $15 million in a Series B funding round. BuildGroup led the deal, with participation from Arthur Ventures and Gula Tech Adventures. As part of the deal, Gray Hall of BuildGroup and Ron Gula of Gula Tech join the company’s board of directors.

    The College Park, Md.-based company will use the new round toward hiring more employees, adding more content and improving a network of creators and industry subject matter experts that have helped populate the platform with lessons and mentorship services, Corey says. The company has raised a total of $23 million to date.

    Cybrary’s growth is perhaps partly owed to a boom in the cybersecurity field. Data breaches command headlines and can keep executives up at night. IBM and Ponemon Institute reported this year that breaches cost U.S. companies $8.19 million on average.

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects job openings for information security analysts to grow 32 percent from 2018 to 2028, faster than the average for all occupations. And online jobs board Indeed reported that the U.S. saw a 7 percent increase in the share of cybersecurity job postings from 2017 to 2018. India saw a 40 percent jump.

    Other companies have also seen an opportunity in the industry. Coding bootcamp Lambda School said it’d use a round of funding raised this year toward adding cybersecurity classes. And coding bootcamp Trilogy’s cybersecurity courses helped sell it as an acquisition for online program manager 2U in April.

    More than 60 employees now make up Cybrary, Corey says. In particular, he wants to double the number of engineers on staff to 24 over the next two years.

    The free version of Cybrary comes with introductory courses, syllabi, assessments and a live chat feature to help users. A premium license, which costs $99 per month, gives access to the entire course catalog, live online training, practice exams, scenario-based virtual labs and a mentor network.

    The company also offers a service to train teams of employees for businesses, a package that includes analytics around how the team has progressed.

    The platform’s content ranges from a single 10-minute course to a six-month program, where users are expected to commit 10 hours a week to prepare for jobs like network engineer and penetration tester.

    Corey considers the experts network part of his company’s secret sauce. In a field like cybersecurity, having the most updated lessons is pivotal to pleasing customers. “That group of people is the most valuable thing to me,” he says.

    About 1,700 experts make up a network of mentors, instructors and content creators. Course instructors are paid a one-time fee for content. Others sign up to access more Cybrary content or to build a reputation as an expert within cybersecurity.

    Before he became a member of the mentor and instructor network, William Carlson started as a free user of Cybrary, which he came across while looking for ways to prepare for an information systems security professional certification exam.

    Carlson, a 38-year-old IT and cybersecurity director in the Fort Worth area of Texas, says the exams require years of previous experience, cost hundreds of dollars and can last up to three hours. “I was not only looking to learn, but I wanted to know my blind spots—what did I know, and what didn’t I know,” he says.

    He passed the exam on his first try and used Cybrary resources to gain certifications as an information security manager and payment card industry professional. Carlson decided to pay for a subscription for the virtual labs and mentor network, communicating with mentors through Slack and Zoom calls. He decided to join the expert network to help others who are uncertain about breaking into the industry.

    Cybrary is not currently profitable, but is on its way, Corey says. He said competition isn’t much of a concern. Still, he’s open to acquiring another company. “If a piece of that network grows enough, we’d have to make a move.”

    Kaynak: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-11-13-cybrary-lands-15-million-series-b-round-to-train-cybersecurity-workforce

  • Austria-Türkiye motorail train services began

    Austria-Türkiye motorail train services began

    Ototren avusturya edirne Motorail train services started between Villach city of Austria and the northwestern province of Edirne, Türkiye. According to Hurriyet newspaper, the train carrying 80 cars and 150 passengers departed from Villach on April 19 and expected to arrive in Edirne soon.  The journey is 1450 km and takes 28 hours.

    The cost is around 395 euro one-way for a car plus one person in a shared 6-berth couchette compartment.

     

    Tolga Çakır

  • Turkey at 250 km/h — welcome to high- speed train travel

    Turkey at 250 km/h — welcome to high- speed train travel

    25 November 2010, Thursday / KLAUS JURGENS , ANKARA 0 1 1 0
    Whether you are already living in this fascinating nation or are a new arrival, it is recommended that you leave your neighborhood and explore, especially if part of the excitement is stepping on board of one of Turkey’s ultra-modern high-speed trains (HST). It is a real treat indeed and should be used frequently by international visitors and local residents.

    Orient Express became bullet train

    In our times of jet-setting and overused individual transportation — aka the car — few of us realize that what was once our preferred form of transport is still with us: the good old, and now revamped, train.

    Its more luxurious editions brought curious visitors ever closer to faraway places. Some scenic train rides became destinations themselves, with South Africa’s Blue Train and Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer as the league-topping examples.

    Against increased competition from (more affordable) airlines, rail operators, in order to stay in business, began to introduce of high-speed trains. Japan set the trend and France followed in the footsteps of the Land of the Rising Sun’s clever policymakers. Shinkansen (Japan’s famed bullet train) and France’s TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) became synonymous with the rekindled love between passengers and once-adored trains.

    Stateside, the Acela Express travels at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour offers hourly services during morning and afternoon rush hours, linking New York with Boston and Washington, D.C., as well as a few intermediate cities. Trains feature reserved first class and business class seating, at-seat laptop sockets, adjustable lighting and large trays as well as conference tables. There is a quiet car, a café, at-seat à la carte service on selected trains and of course WiFi. More details can be found online from all relevant train operators in Japan, France and the US.

    While most rail lines seem to connect points in central and western Turkey, it is possible to reach many more eastern destinations by rail, too.

    If you take a close look at a map and locate place names such as Adapazarı, Denizli, Kars, Konya, Manisa and Mardin you soon understand that, while many thousands of kilometers of new twin tracks still need to be laid, it is already possible to visit many fascinating towns and cities on an exciting train journey. Of course once rail lines link İzmir with Konya via Ankara, İstanbul with Kars via Eskişehir and all other planned routes, Turkish train travel will have reached not only new speeds but new heights, too.

    Seven hubs (“bölge”) make for good connections and today’s rail network has an excellent safety record, too. Central stations are very clean, often complete with bars and restaurants adjacent to the platforms.

    Suburban trains often connect the city centers with outlying areas and are a vital tool in reducing our metropolises’ road congestion. Just remember that depending on location, you have to buy either a ticket or a token (“jeton”) before boarding.

    Welcome aboard — Ankara-Eskişehir in 1.5 hours

    “Around the world in 80 days” in today’s Turkey translates to “from Ankara to Eskişehir in 90 minutes…” with many more high-speed train links to follow shortly.

    Regardless of where you begin your fast-track journey, you feel more like you are boarding a plane with ticket checks and baggage scans well before you step on board. Once you are comfortably seated, your train accelerates to reach the maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour. What makes this ride so special is not only the comfortable and safe surroundings but a chance to take a look out the window. If this is your first trip further inland, away from Ankara, İstanbul or the sunshine belt, you immediately feel the sheer vastness of this country as minute after minute beautiful countryside flies by, mountains approach and retreat into the ever changing background while green pastures are replaced by tree-lined rolling hills only to become green pastures once more.

    ‘Business class’

    While unwinding in “Business” you will be served a complimentary snack complete with tea or coffee without needing to leave your seat; however, all passengers are welcome to purchase a drink or snack in the refreshment coach found between the sections. It must be said that, as the journey is brief, no full-fledged dining car has been incorporated into the train, but the food and beverages offered in the stylish yet compact bar section are more than adequate to quench one’s thirst or satisfy one’s short-term nutritional needs.

    According to Turkish State Railways (TCDD), the first high-speed train, which was manufactured in Spain, entered the country through Kapıkule on Nov. 20, 2007.

    A standard train configuration has 419 seats laid out over six coaches in a business, as well as economy, class outfit.

    The HST operates on a wholly electrified and signaled double track high-speed line, constructed separately from the conventional line between Ankara and İstanbul. The noise level in the passenger section is less than 65 decibels.

    I recently enjoyed a ride on a high-speed train and what struck me was the variety in the demographics of my fellow passengers, who on my day of travel included students, business travelers and just a couple of international passengers. I spoke with a colleague from Eskişehir’s Anadolu University and learned that students and staff alike benefit from the improved connections between cities and extra personal and academic contacts, all at very reasonable rates. If that holds true for Turkey’s business community as well, the high-speed train may bring much welcome investment at either end.

    ‘Any more fares?’ — The how-to section

    The only catch when going by train is that in most instances it is still necessary to buy your ticket from the station at either end of your journey, although more efficient online ticketing will be rolled out shortly with a growing number of travel agencies as well as post offices (PTT) lined up to sell paper tickets, too. This implies that for the time being, it is advisable to pre-plan your journey and buy both outward and return tickets in advance from your nearest TCDD station, as some trains are sold-out well in advance. You should be able to obtain business class tickets without a reservation up until a few minutes before departure.

    Another advantage of train travel in Turkey is the option to obtain a “TrenKart,” or Train Card which allows for unlimited travel for 30 days on either the new train (TL 300 adults, TL 200 youths), all other trains and express trains (TL 150) or with a Sleeper Train Card, comprising the express trains as well as access to the comfortable long-distance sleeper cars (TL 500).

    A single business class ticket from Ankara to Eskişehir costs TL 30, with economy class tickets selling for TL 20. A split ticket from İstanbul to Ankara via Eskişehir sets you back TL 50 or TL 40, for business or economy class, respectively. The latter makes it possible to explore the HST, even if neither Ankara nor Eskişehir are your normal place of residence, as reaching either end of the current line is easy. If you want to combine urgent Ankara-based business with railroad-related pleasures, you might as well fly to Ankara and return by train, or simply take a day trip to Eskişehir from the Turkish capital, which is now a much-appreciated possibility. Return fares are 20 percent off the one-way price.

    Eskişehir’s Gar is located right in the city center and so is Ankara’s Tren İstasyon (both Turkish-language terms can be used when asking for directions).

    Comfortable hotels are to be found in abundance at either end. My personal suggestions: Hotel İbis in Eskişehir, telephone from within Turkey: 0222.211.77.00 (rooms from TL 120+), and King Hotel Güvenlik in the Turkish capital, website: www.kinghotel.com.tr (rooms priced between TL 105 and TL 240).

    A summary of recent developments in TCDD can be found at www.tcdd.gov.tr, English. Enjoy your trip!

  • Train service between Pakistan, Turkey soon

    Train service between Pakistan, Turkey soon

    Lahore—A train service will soon be started between Pakistan and Turkey whereas Turkey is taking solid steps for promotion of trade and over-coming energy crises in Pakistan which will soon yield positive results.

    These views were expressed by heads of Turkish traders delegation Mr. Turgut Puyan and Mr. Dogan Kaynak during media briefing. They said that they preferred to celebrate Eid with their flood affected brothers and sisters in Pakistan by leaving their family and country on Eid days. They said that 5000 animals were sacrificed and 2.5 lakh packets of meat were distributed among affectees and a total of 15 lakh people benefited from this meat. They told that all animals were purchased from flood hit areas and Rs. Two crore were paid to the local people.

    They told that due to this step, economic activities were boost up in flood hit areas. Turkish traders informed that MoUs were signed with Lahore Chamber of Commerce for enhancing trade between Pakistan and Turkey under which a delegation of Pakistani traders will visit Turkey next year. They said that Turkish and Pakistani Prime Ministers and Chief Minister Punjab have given a special target which will be fulfilled and both the countries will achieve the target of trade of two billion dollars during next two years.

    They said that planning has been made for opening school with the cooperation of Turkey in every city of Pakistan. Turkish traders informed that they witnessed personally that the financial assistance given for the rehabilitation of flood affectees is being used properly. They told that Turkish investors will start their business in Pakistan in near future. They also told that train service between Pakistan and Turkey will be started soon whereas Turkey will also extend full cooperation for over-coming energy crises in Pakistan. A mobile power plant has reached at Karachi Port in this regard which will provide electricity to Karachi for five years.

    Turkish traders said that they are thankful to the people of Punjab and Khadim-e-Alla Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on their warm welcome. They said that Turkey and Pakistan are two separate country but are one nation.