Arlington’s Marymount University has a million reasons to take cybersecurity seriously, 1.5 million reasons, actually.
The school said Wednesday that it received a $1.5 million grant from the National Security Agency to build and run a cybersecurity clinic aimed at helping protect local businesses and nonprofits from cyber threats.
“After launching solely as a graduate certificate in 2008, Marymount’s cybersecurity program has blossomed into a leader in the national capital region, serving students at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels,” University President Irma Becerra said in a news release.
“These businesses are also part of the overall supply chain, and access to their systems can be used to infiltrate government agencies and larger private companies to whom they are connected.”
Cyberattacks wreak billions of dollars of economic havoc every year. Almost 43 percent of those attacks target small and medium-sized businesses, according to an Accenture study cited by Marymount.
“Hackers — whether they are bad actors or operating on behalf of a foreign government — target small businesses because they typically have weaker cybersecurity measures,” Diane Murphy, director of MU’s School of Technology and Innovation, and project lead for the clinic, said in the release.
“These businesses are also part of the overall supply chain, and access to their systems can be used to infiltrate government agencies and larger private companies to whom they are connected.”
According to Marymount, only 14 percent of small and medium-sized businesses are equipped to deal with cyberattacks. The school, citing the Small Business Administration, said the problem is three-pronged: professional IT solutions are expensive, businesses might not have time to handle cybersecurity, or they don’t know where to start.
Enter Marymount’s cybersecurity clinic, which will first serve small businesses and nonprofits in Arlington before expanding its coverage in the DC region.
Marymount students will have the chance to participate in the endeavor as well, according to the school.
“We are excited for our faculty and students to engage with small businesses and nonprofits, many of which play an integral role in our federal government and supply chain, to increase our national security,” Murphy said.
Marymount says it’s just one of four institutions in the U.S. to get the NSA grant, which covers a two-year timeframe starting in July.
Featured photo courtesy Marymount University
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