IBM has announced that it will donate a total of $5 million in in-kind services to help schools worldwide proactively prepare for and respond to cyber-attacks.
Eight schools globally will be the recipient of the 2022 IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants. Each grant will sponsor IBM Service Corps volunteers to address the selected school districts’ cybersecurity resiliency.
Now in its second year, the IBM Education Security Preparedness Grants programme, received more than 120 applications from schools across the US and will award six school districts with grants. This year the programme is also expanding overseas with grant recipients in the UAE and Ireland.
The 2022 IBM Education Security Preparedness Grant recipients are:
- Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence – UAE
- City of Dublin Educational Training Board – Ireland
- Cupertino Union School District – Sunnyvale, CA
- Rossville Cons. School District – Rossville, IN
- East China School District – East China, MI
- Newburgh Enlarged City School District – Newburgh, NY
- Goffstown School District – Goffstown, NH
- Prince William County Public Schools – Manassas, VA
IBM also expanded the programme to Costa Rica and Brazil, with recipients to be announced at a later date.
With cybercriminals continuing to view schools as compelling targets, IBM’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report revealed that the cost of a data breach averages $3.86 million for education institutions.
While the report found that 49 percent of data breaches the industry experienced were caused by a malicious attack, nearly 30 percent occurred due to human error, emphasising the need for proper cybersecurity training and education in schools.
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“Cost of breaches are often crippling for organisations but they can also have lasting and devastating effects on educational institutions,” said Wael Abdoush, General Manager & Technology Leader, IBM Gulf, Levant & Pakistan.
“A pillar of the National vision, the UAE has put education at the heart and center of its knowledge-driven economy for the post-oil era which is why it is our duty to safeguard its ambition to develop a first-rate education system. By awarding this grant, IBM commits to preparing the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence against cyber threats as we hope to expand our programme in the future to protect the most critical asset of this nation’s development.”
