Addressing what it calls a "national cybersecurity skills crisis," Microsoft has announced an ambitious scholarship and resource program for the nation's community colleges, reports Geek Wire.
According to the Geek Wire, Microsoft plans to offer free curriculum to all of the nation's public community colleges, faculty training at 150 community colleges as well as scholarships and other resources for 25,000 students. Ultimately, the company hopes to train as many as 250,000 new cybersecurity workers by 2025.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair, who touched on growing cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware attacks.
“We’ve worked with customers who’ve suffered these attacks, and in such a high percentage of the time, they could have prevented or substantially mitigated the attack and its impact if they had applied cybersecurity best practices,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair. “So there’s been an ongoing conversation in the cybersecurity community. ‘Why aren’t organizations doing better?’ And I think the answer is actually very straightforward: they don’t have the people they need to fill the jobs they’ve created."
