School Grants

$5 Million School Cybersecurity Grant Program Now Open

• By David Nagel
• 05/23/23

In response to increases in ransomware attacks in the education sector, IBM is expanding its Education Security Preparedness Grants program, offering $5 million in in-kind grants "to help address cybersecurity resiliency in schools."

The program, which is now in its third year, will be implemented in multiple countries and will include enhanced offerings from IBM SkillsBuild covering AI and information security.

According to IBM: "Ransomware is unfolding faster than ever, with attackers managing to cut down the time required to deploy ransomware attacks from over two months to just under four days between 2019 and 2021, according to IBM's X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023. In fact, the share of cybersecurity incidents observed in the education sector more than doubled in 2022 compared to the year prior, experiencing the largest increase year over year than any other industry."

"Time and time again attackers go after the education sector, yet many of these institutions remain constrained in their security resources," said Andy Piazza, Global Head of Threat Intelligence, IBM Security X-Force, in a prepared statement. "To date, this program has helped more than 350,000 students across schools in the US and abroad, with IBM Service Corps helping them recover from ransomware attacks, strengthen their security posture against future attacks, and prevent further disruption."

For this year's program, six schools in the united States will receive grants of $500,000 each. (The remaining four awards will go to schools in other countries.) Part of the award will include services from IBM Service Corps to provide incident response plans, strategic communication plans, training and credentials on AI and information security, access to IBM mentors, teacher training, toolkits for teachers, and other services.

The application window for the program is now open. Applications are due June 23. Complete details can be found at ibm.com/impact/initiatives/security.