– With cyberattacks on the rise across schools, the IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants are already seeing many benefits. 350,000 students worldwide
– Now in its third year, the grant is expanding to give students and teachers access to cyber and AI skills through IBM SkillsBuild.
Armonk, New York, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In response to the growing threat of ransomware attacks on schools around the world, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it is offering $2000 worth of in-kind grants. $5 million Help address cybersecurity resilience in schools. Since its inception in 2021, the IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants program has expanded globally and this year will also include enhanced offerings from his IBM SkillsBuild on topics such as AI and cybersecurity.
Ransomware is deploying faster than ever before, according to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023, and from 2019 to 2021, attackers will reduce the time required to deploy a ransomware attack from two months or more. We succeeded in shortening it to less than four days. The number of cybersecurity incidents observed in the education sector more than doubled year-on-year in 2022, recording the largest year-on-year increase of any other industry.
“Attackers have repeatedly targeted the education sector, but many of these institutions are still constrained by security resources,” he said. Andy Piazza, IBM Security X-Force, Global Head of Threat Intelligence. “To date, the program has assisted more than 350,000 of his students in schools in the United States and abroad, and IBM Service Corps has helped us recover from ransomware attacks, strengthen our security posture against future attacks, and We help prevent chaos.”
Applications for the school are now being accepted worldwide.Grant valuation $500,000 each ($5 million total) are awarded to 6 school districts in the United States and 4 more around the world. Through IBM Service Corps, volunteers use their professional skills to help schools establish programs that address cybersecurity resilience. Each selected school will be awarded:
- Incident Response Plan and Ransomware Handbook,
- programs to address the need to update the operating system,
- A strategic communication plan for responding to cyber incidents; and
- Training and digital credentials through IBM Skills are built around topics such as AI and cybersecurity, with additional benefits such as enhanced access to IBM mentors, teacher training and toolkits, and customized learning pathways It contains.
“The global skills gap across cybersecurity and AI is a growing challenge that requires an urgent response,” said Justina Nixon-Santil, Chief Impact Officer at IBM. “To meet this challenge, IBM is awarding Education Security Readiness Grants to drive impact in schools around the world. We are excited to offer students and teachers the benefits of IBM SkillsBuild training on the topic.”
Since its launch in 2021, IBM has received hundreds of applications for this award-winning program from school districts looking to strengthen their security posture in response to the growing threats in education. Past recipients of IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants encourage other schools to apply. You can find that list here.
“With IBM’s help, we improved our cybersecurity incident response plan and used it to better prepare for handling future incidents,” he said. Robert LosinskiInformation Security Manager Denver Public school. “Attackers are targeting schools because many do not have mature security frameworks to effectively defend against ransomware and other cybercrime. Having professional help at your fingertips can be very helpful in identifying the most critical areas to protect.”
K-12 public schools and educational institutions/organizations interested in applying for IBM’s education cybersecurity grants can apply at IBM.com (https://www.ibm.com/impact/initiatives/security) can. The application deadline is June 23, 2023.
For more information on IBM’s cybersecurity grants for schools, please visit https://www.ibm.com/impact/initiatives/security. For more information about IBM Security X-Force services and capabilities, see https://www.ibm.com/security/xforce.
contact:
Estefania Sanchez Matus
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Source IBM
