The attacks ransomware they are proliferating at an unprecedented rate. In fact, as reported by the IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence 2023, cybercriminals managed to reduce the time to deploy attacks from more than two months to less than four days between 2019 and 2021. Notably, in 2022 the number of cyber security incidents in education it more than doubled compared to the previous year, recording the most significant percentage increase compared to other areas.
Attackers are targeting schools because many lack mature security frameworks to effectively defend against ransomware and other cybercrimes. For this reason, today more than ever it is essential to rely on the professional assistance of a company like IBM to promptly identify the most critical areas to protect.
To address the threat of ransomware, IBM will make it available to schools around the world $5 million in skills and tools to strengthen cyber resilience. A commitment that is part of the grant program, IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants, launched in 2021 and now extended globally. This year, it will be enhanced with advanced training offerings via IBM SkillsBuild on very sensitive and current topics such as theartificial intelligence and cyber security.
IBM offers expertise and tools for educational institution cybersecurity
Applications for schools are officially open until June 23, 2023. They will be awarded grants worth $500,000 eachfor a total of 5 million dollars, a six school districts in the United States and four in the rest of the world. Through IBM Service Corpsexperienced volunteers will provide their professional skills to help schools implement programs aimed at strengthening resilience in the field of computer security.
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Each selected school will have access to a range of benefits, including: incident response plans and ransomware playbooksprograms to respond to the need to update operating systems, strategic communication plans to be used in response to cyber incidents, e training and digital credentials through IBM SkillsBuild on topics such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and additional benefits such asprivileged access to IBM mentorsteacher training and toolkits and customized learning paths.
Since its inception in 2021, the IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants program has received hundreds of applications from school districts eager to enhance security in response to growing threats in education. Today, schools that have already benefited from these grants encourage other institutions to apply and take advantage of the benefits offered.
The skills gap in AI and cybersecurity requires immediate action
Andy Piazza, Global Head of Threat Intelligence, IBM Security X-Force he pointed out that hackers continue to attack the education sector, which has limited resources to devote to security and added that to date, the program has helped over 350,000 students in schools of the United States and other countries, thanks to the IBM Service Corps’ efforts to help them recover from ransomware attacks, strengthen their security against future attacks, and prevent them.
Second Justina Nixon – Saintil, IBM Chief Impact Officer, the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence skills gap is a growing challenge that requires immediate attention. To meet this challenge e promote knowledge in schools around the world, IBM awards Education Security Grants that expand this year to deliver the benefits of IBM SkillsBuild training on topics such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to all students and educators.