Washington — Free medical clinics and legal aid clinics, where college students and their mentors help their communities as well as learn more about their professions, are commonplace. Google hopes to add cyber security clinics to that list.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged a $20 million donation Thursday to support and expand a consortium of cybersecurity clinics to introduce thousands of students to potential careers in cybersecurity, as well as small government offices, rural Also helped protect hospitals and non-profits from hacking.
Pichai said the new initiative addresses both the growing number of cyberattacks — up to 38% globally in 2022 — and the lack of candidates trained to stop them.
Announcing the commitment at Google’s Washington office, Pichai said, “Just as technology can create new threats, it can also help us fight them.” “Security was important in everything I did early in my Google career, including when we built our Chrome browser. Today, it is the core of everything we do, and the current inflection point in AI is helping us take our efforts to the next level.
The tech giant launched the Google Cyber Security Certificate program last month to help people prepare for entry-level cyber security jobs. It also partnered with universities in New York on a research program to create learning and career opportunities in the cyber security field.
Pichai told The Associated Press in an interview after the announcement, “Making sure that we protect and safeguard both the consumer services and the enterprise services we provide is fundamental to the company, which is why we’re doing it.” believe in the same way.” “We’ve been building security from the ground up for a long time and training to innovate and stay ahead.”
Google’s announcement was supported by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Republican Representative Jay Obernolte of California said tackling cyber threats is essential to the country’s economic competitiveness as well as national security. He said China will produce twice as many computer science students with doctoral degrees this year as the United States.
“We need to encourage students to take up careers in fields like cyber security to reverse this trend,” he added. “We should all embrace the idea of becoming lifelong learners.”
Texas Representative Joaquin Castro said Google’s initiative helps democratize cyber security, provide more job opportunities and provide more protection to those who don’t live in Silicon Valley.
“Small businesses can literally lose hundreds of thousands of dollars every year,” Castro said. “I’m grateful for Google’s commitment to supporting the development of the workforce needed to do everything from securing critical infrastructure in local communities to strengthening our national security.”
Pichai said that there are currently more than 650,000 open cyber security jobs and a diverse workforce is needed to address this issue. “We’ve seen this in the past when we went into communities and opened data centers in rural communities,” he said. “It creates a spark. It inspires more people… These are catalytic moments.”
Justin Steele, director of the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, said the initiative appealed to his team because it looks for projects where funding can make a difference on many levels.
“It’s a challenge,” Steele said. “But there’s a huge opportunity here.”
Steele anticipates that students in cyber security clinics will help smaller organizations that lack their own technology departments to conduct threat assessments and install security.
“Those students get practical experience and they get an opportunity to increase their marketability for all these open jobs in cyber security,” Steele said. “Training these students gives us the opportunity to diversify the field of cyber security and protect critical American infrastructure.”
Ann Cleveland, executive director of the Center for Long-Term Cyber Security at the University of California, Berkeley, said the clinics can help organizations “get rid of a sense of nihilism” about dealing with hackers. While many groups think there is nothing they can do against state-sponsored hackers or ransomware attacks, clinics can offer low-level solutions that can deal with a large number of threats.
“Students can really help organizations overcome 80 to 90% of the problems and give them a more flexible approach,” Cleveland said. He said that the Consortium of Cyber Security Clinics hopes to set up clinics in every state by 2030.
Mark Lupo, coordinator of the University of Georgia clinic, known as CyberArk, said demand for the clinic’s services continues to grow as more and more data is at risk. “As a society we have continued to bring more of our sensitive information online, which has only increased vulnerability,” he added. “Malicious actors understand that sensitive data can be monetized in a way that was unthinkable at any time in the past. Now that there’s money, they’ll be attracted to it.”
Cleveland, who co-chairs the consortium’s executive committee, said it takes issue with cyber security and “all practical issues”. The donation from Google.org will help the consortium set up the new clinics, as well as provide mentors to the students who staff them, he said.
“Funding is critical, especially for smaller universities and colleges and some minority-serving institutions,” he said. “And I think it will be transformative in terms of making other institutions of higher education aware of the opportunity for a cybersecurity clinic.”
Kevin Harris, program chair of the Department of Computational and Information Sciences at Stillman College, said he is open to applying for a grant from Google.org to expand the cybersecurity clinic at his school, a consortium at the historically black college. First member of or university.
“We’re still pushing to make this area more inclusive,” Harris said. “When you look at the unmet demand for 700,000+ jobs, why shouldn’t everyone be able to take advantage of those opportunities, no matter where you’re located?”
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