Microsoft Launches Community College Cybersecurity Program

(TNS) — Microsoft launched a coaching program for neighborhood school college students on Thursday in an effort to fill 250,000 cybersecurity jobs by 2025.

The firm will make its cybersecurity curriculum accessible at no cost to all public neighborhood faculties throughout the nation and provide 25,000 scholarships. It can even practice college at 150 neighborhood faculties by way of a grant and partnership with the National Cybersecurity Training and Education Center at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham.

Many knowledge breaches corporations and organizations have suffered “may have been prevented or considerably mitigated … if they’d utilized cybersecurity finest practices,” Brad Smith, president and vice chair of Microsoft, mentioned in a information convention. But one of many greatest issues is that establishments “do not have the individuals they should fill the roles they’ve created.”

For each two individuals in America who work in cybersecurity, there’s a third place that’s unfilled, in keeping with CyberSeek, which collects knowledge on cybersecurity employment. With 464,000 cybersecurity jobs open nationally, Microsoft’s aim is to assist fill half these positions with this marketing campaign.

It provides to a rising record of investments the corporate has made to fight cybersecurity threats. In August, the corporate mentioned it might make investments $20 billion over the following 5 years so as to add additional safety for its clients. And the corporate will make investments $150 million to assist authorities companies increase protections for the general public as a part of a White House marketing campaign to associate with the personal sector to enhance cybersecurity.

Smith mentioned the common cybersecurity skilled earns a wage of $105,800. He mentioned this marketing campaign just isn’t solely a chance to get extra individuals into these high-paying jobs but additionally a technique to make the occupation extra numerous. More than 80 % of cybersecurity professionals are white, and 80 % are male, however 40 % of neighborhood school college students are Black or Hispanic, and 57 % of scholars are ladies, Smith mentioned.

The initiative comes simply days after Microsoft flagged that Russian-backed hackers have been concentrating on authorities and company laptop networks for the reason that summer season. The firm mentioned these hackers are the identical actors that in 2020 focused clients of SolarWinds, a Texas-based IT firm, which led to important federal authorities knowledge breaches.

In March, Microsoft suffered a cyberattack of its personal when Chinese hackers breached the corporate’s Exchange electronic mail server. Unlike the SolarWinds hack, which primarily affected giant corporations and organizations, small and medium-sized companies had been most importantly affected by the breach.

“We’ll in all probability … by no means get to the purpose the place we now have sufficient employees within the area” given how briskly know-how is altering, mentioned Kathi Hiyane-Brown, president of Whatcom Community College, within the information convention. She mentioned that is what makes cybersecurity coaching for brand new and present employees so essential. “It is an occupation or profession that basically promotes lifelong studying.”

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