IT Resources

IBM Invites K-12 Schools in U.S. to Apply For Cybersecurity Grants of $500K Apiece

• By Kristal Kuykendall
• 05/26/22

IBM will provide resources and staff support worth $3 million to help address cybersecurity resiliency in schools to six K–12 school districts in the United States for the second consecutive year, according to a news release.

Each district selected as a recipient will have access to teams of IBM cybersecurity professionals to help the schools bolster their network security to prevent cyberattacks, and if necessary to help respond to cyberattacks, IBM said.

IBM Security X-Force recently reported research concluding that ransomware attacks against public schools more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, with most cyberattacks taking the form of adware (33%) or ransomware (22%) attacks.

Through the in-kind grants, volunteers from IBM will help recipient schools establish cybersecurity resiliency, incident response plans, and ransomware playbooks, the company said. The work may include “updating operating systems; providing cybersecurity training for staff, students, and parents; and implementing strategic communication plans to use in response to any cyber incident.”

Last year, more than 250 U.S. school districts applied for the grant program; the selectees were from Florida, Colorado, Georgia, California, New York, and Texas, the company said. Each recipient will receive $500,000 in IBM resources and staff support, IBM said.

K–12 public school districts in the United States can apply for IBM's education cybersecurity grant at https://webportalapp.com/webform/ibm-cybersecurity. The deadline to apply is June 21, 2022.

Learn more about the cybersecurity grants at IBM’s website.