Poughkeepsie city schools among six districts nationwide receiving IBM cybersecurity grants

IBM announced on June 2 that it will award $3 million in funding to six school districts in the United States through its IBM Education Security Preparedness Grant.

The Poughkeepsie City School District was one of the ones selected, in addition to districts in Florida, Georgia, Texas, California and Colorado.

The grant program was announced in February and more than 250 school districts applied for the funding to strengthen their level of security against cyberattacks, particularly those involving ransomware.

Almost 1,700 schools, colleges and universities were impacted by ransomware in 2020. Of the districts that applied for the funding, more than 40% experienced a ransomware attack, and 50% had a budget of less than $100,000 for cybersecurity spending for the entire district.

More than half also reported they are operating without cybersecurity training.

Each school will receive $500,000 in security services through the grant. It will also include the deployment of IBM Service Corps teams to each district.

“It’s extremely encouraging to see how many school districts are taking an active role in trying to better their cybersecurity,” said Christopher Scott, director of security innovation for IBM’s Office of the CISO.

“This is not only an important decision as schools continue to operate remotely, but also as students look to get back to the classroom.”

For all of the applicants, IBM will hold interactive cybersecurity preparedness events, including a security assessment with experts and a virtual cyberattack simulation.

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