- Thanks to IBM Service Corps volunteers, IBM will provide
in-kind cybersecurity support to schools across the United States, as well as Brazil, Costa
Rica, Ireland, and the
United Arab Emirates.
- The grants will focus on the need to establish programs that
help address cybersecurity resiliency in schools, including against
ransomware.
ARMONK,
N.Y., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM today
announced it will provide in-kind grants valued at $5 million to help address cybersecurity
resiliency in schools worldwide. For the second year in a row, six
school districts in the United
States will be awarded these grants. This year the program
is also expanding overseas with four additional grants in
Brazil, Costa Rica, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates. As part of each grant,
sponsor teams of IBMers will help schools proactively prepare for
and respond to cyberattacks.
In 2021, in the U.S. alone over 1,000 schools across the country
suffered from a ransomware attack, according to Emsisoft research.
Financially motivated cybercriminals are taking advantage of
schools' need for uptime, their scarcity of cybersecurity defense
resources, and lack of expertise compared to other potential
targets. Cybercriminals' focus on schools is also increasing on a
global scale. In a recent report, IBM Security X-Force observed
globally that the percentage of ransomware attacks against the
education sector more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, with most
cyberattacks taking the form of adware (33%) or ransomware (22%)
attacks.
"For schools, a large barrier to strengthening their
cybersecurity posture often comes down to constrained budgets,
which financially motivated threat actors bet on," said
Charles Henderson, Global Managing
Partner and Head of IBM Security X-Force. "By pursuing targets with
lower defenses, threat actors can reap quick rewards and yield a
higher return. In the event of ransomware attacks, the extreme
added pressure schools experience to pay a ransom to recover their
operations is a profitable wager for the bad guys. As a leader in
the security community, it's our duty to help our educational
institutions strengthen their cyber preparedness."
The grant, created as part of IBM's Corporate Social
Responsibility initiatives, will be an in-kind contribution in the
form of resources and hours performed by IBM Service Corps teams.
Through IBM Service Corps, IBMers use their professional skills to
help communities tackle complex challenges in education,
humanitarian efforts, cybersecurity, and economic development.
Through this grant program, volunteers will help schools establish
programs to address cybersecurity resiliency and will provide
services including developing incident response plans and
ransomware playbooks. The programs will address the need for
updating operating systems, providing cybersecurity training for
staff, students, and parents, and implementing strategic
communication plans to use in response to a cyber incident.
"Our access to IBM's cybersecurity professionals allowed us to
reframe our perspective on how vulnerabilities may originate, and
how to educate our school community about cybersecurity safety
practices," said Ra'Chel Ford, Chief Operating Officer at KIPP
Metro Atlanta Schools. "We thought
cybersecurity concerns were limited to sharing passwords and email
phishing, but we now realize that cybersecurity breaches come in
many forms. Cybersecurity is now viewed as part of our School
Safety Plan and Crisis Response Plan. Everyone plays a part – board
members, families, scholars, staff, and vendors. This was one of
the best decisions we made for our organization."
Last year, IBM received more than 250 applications from school
districts across the United States
seeking to strengthen their security postures in response to the
growing threats in the education space. After a careful review of
applications, IBM selected six recipients based on their
cybersecurity needs and experiences, community resources, and
potential risks: Brevard Public
Schools in Viera, Florida;
Denver Public Schools in
Denver, Colorado; KIPP Metro
Atlanta Schools in Atlanta, Georgia; Newhall School District in Valencia, California; Poughkeepsie City School District in
Poughkeepsie, New York; and
Sheldon Independent School District in Houston, Texas. This year, IBM is increasing
this program to a total of 10 grants, valued at $500,000 each ($5
million in total).
K-12 public school districts based in the United
States that are interested in applying for IBM's education
cybersecurity grant can apply via IBM.com here:
webportalapp.com/webform/ibm-cybersecurity. School districts in
the United States can apply
through June 21, 2022.
For more information about IBM's cybersecurity grants for
schools visit: https://www.ibm.com/impact/initiatives/security. For
more information about IBM Security X-Force's services and
capabilities visit: https://www.ibm.com/security/xforce
About IBM Security
IBM Security offers one of the most advanced and integrated
portfolios of enterprise security products and services. The
portfolio, supported by world-renowned IBM Security X-Force®
research, enables organizations to effectively manage risk and
defend against emerging threats. IBM operates one of the
world's broadest security research, development, and delivery
organizations, monitors 150 billion+ security events per day
in more than 130 countries, and has been granted more than 10,000
security patents worldwide. For more information, please
check www.ibm.com/security, follow @IBMSecurity on Twitter, or
visit the IBM Security Intelligence blog.
IBM Corporate Social Responsibility
IBM's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives enable
IBM's technology and talent to address society's challenges at
scale. Pro bono consulting initiatives such as IBM Service Corps,
which demonstrate the power of technology when combined with
humanity, enable employees to assist communities with
economic development, education, safety, sustainability, and more.
To learn more about IBM's CSR and companywide Good Tech
initiatives, please visit IBM.org.
IBM Service Corps deploys teams of IBM employees worldwide who
perform multi-week pro bono consulting engagements to help the
prosperity and well-being of communities, helping them apply
technology and related know-how involving projects that touch
education, environmental sustainability, and public health and
safety. Since 2008, IBM Service Corps has engaged over 4,000
employees in teams to undertake 456 projects in 54 countries.
Contact:
Estefania
Sanchez
estefania.sanchez@ibm.com
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