The Higher Colleges of Technology (the HCT) is one of the largest, most progressive and innovative places of higher learning in the United Arab Emirates. The HCT stays abreast of new developments in technologies and learning systems so as to give students the skills and attributes they need to succeed in a global work environment. The HCT strives to develop graduates who are prepared for the future, ready for the changing needs of the workplace, and trained for a life of ongoing learning and professional success.

Huawei firewall and VPN is chosen as the implementation reference for Network Security courses of the Computer Networking Technology higher diploma and bachelor programs by Abu Dhabi Men's College, under the Higher Colleges of Technology. The program will enhance students' knowledge on firewalls, packet filtering and Virtual Private Network.

There are 2 main reasons why Huawei VPN is chosen. Firstly, products used and implemented in the local industry shall be used for teaching reference, so that students can get familiar with the technology of major vendors to expand their job opportunities.

Secondly, Huawei firewall/VPN is deployed in the ISP sector, and Huawei products are easy to deploy, easy to implement, highly compatible and close to the other major vendors' products. Taking Huawei products as teaching references, students will benefit greatly and will be able to apply easily what they have learnt in a practical working environment.

"Now, there is a lot of references on network security, many industry people regard security as the first most important in networking. With the emergence of IPv6, security is linked to IP more than ever and security is the future of IT. As our network is connected globally, we need to strengthen security and incorporate it from the backbone design. Awareness of security shall be promoted now in the Middle East" said Farrukh Zaheer, Faculty of Business Information Technology at ADMC HCT. Users need to be educated on the basic security measures like "What is sensitive data and whom shall I share this data with" etc. It is critical in ensuring that the success and integrity of any network is maintained.