Microsoft Corp Gives Scholarships To 25.000 Students And Teachers To Study Cybersecurity

Microsoft Corp., is very serious about preparing its workforce for cyber warfare. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday, they plan to work with universities across the United States to fill 250.000 cybersecurity jobs over the next four years.

Microsoft said it will provide scholarships or grants to about 25.000 students and will provide training for new and existing teachers at 150 community colleges across the country. Microsoft also said it would provide curriculum materials for free to all community colleges, as well as four-year schools, in the country.

"Over the next three years, we will spend tens of millions of dollars on this effort," Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a press conference. "This is an opportunity for us to get started. It's not an upper limit to what we're going to do."

Microsoft's efforts come as the United States faces some of the broadest and most sophisticated hacks ever, including the SolarWinds attack that US officials say hit a number of entities, including many in the federal government. US President Joe Biden held a meeting with Microsoft and other major technology companies in August aimed at improving technology supply chain security.

Jobs emerged as the main concern of the White House meeting, with officials saying half a million jobs remained unfilled.

Smith said many customers who worked with Microsoft who experienced a hack could prevent or mitigate a hack by implementing better practices, but many lacked cybersecurity personnel to do so.

"We clearly need to move quickly to train people to fill what is, frankly, a great job in our view," Smith said, noting the job had a median salary of more than USD 105.000 and that for every two jobs filled, one remained open.