PALM HARBOR, FL--(Marketwire - Aug 15, 2011) - (ISC)²® ("ISC-squared"), the not-for-profit global leader in educating and certifying information security professionals throughout their careers with more than 80,000 certified members worldwide, today announced that the organization's (ISC)² Foundation is broadening the reach of its formal scholarship program to accelerate the growth of the cyber security workforce worldwide.
(ISC)² has a long history of awarding scholarships, focused primarily on supporting graduate level research in order to advance cutting-edge knowledge. This new program expansion will allow the (ISC)² Foundation to develop scholarships and awards at each level of the academic system, including high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate.
"The (ISC)² Foundation's Information Security Scholarship Program is fully committed to cultivating the next generation of cyber security professionals by providing educational tools that support the development of critical skills in today's workforce," said Julie Peeler, foundation manager for (ISC)². "As the complexity and volume of cyber attacks increase, we will continue to offer scholarship opportunities that will further the recruiting and retaining of a new global workforce capable of preventing, detecting and responding to attacks on information systems."
Highlights of the new scholarship program include:
- The (ISC)² Foundation is pleased to announce its new Women's Scholarship Program, aimed at helping female undergraduate and graduate students around the world to achieve their dream of securing an education in information security and, ultimately, a rewarding career in the profession. (ISC)² will award two scholarships totaling up to US$40,000 every year to qualifying undergraduate and graduate female applicants.
- The Foundation will be awarding a number of US$5,000 undergraduate scholarships to qualifying students enrolled at an accredited non-profit college or university who are pursuing a course of study and/or have a declared major with an Information Assurance (IA) concentration in one of the scientific, technical or managerial disciplines related to computer and network security.
- The Foundation has teamed up with the US Cyber Challenge (USCC) and its Cyber Camps over the past month to provide college scholarships and vouchers for the Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP®) exam to the winners of the "Skills Challenge/Virtual Capture-the-Flag Competition." In addition, the Foundation supported this summer's Cyber Camps by offering opportunities for these high school and undergraduate camp attendees to participate in security credentialing processes, providing courseware and materials to teachers and schools, and other in-kind support.
- (ISC)² has partnered with Sypris Electronics, Career Technical Education Foundation (CTEF) and MITRE to provide the SSCP test to high school students during their cyber security summer session.
For more information on how to apply for an (ISC)² scholarship or for more information on the (ISC)² Foundation Information Security Scholarship Program, please visit http://www.isc2.org/scholarship.
About the (ISC)² Foundation
The (ISC)² Foundation is devoted to making the cyber world a safer place for everyone by supporting cyber security education and awareness in the community. The (ISC)² Foundation encourages community service and engagement that has a lasting effect on communities around the globe by supporting community education programs that leverage the unique skill sets of information security professionals. We are dedicated to building the next generation of information security professionals with scholarships aimed at students from high school through post-graduate work. And we support research that illuminates the information security issues facing governments, private industry, educators, our profession and society.