New legislation introduced in the House aims to increase U.S. expertise in energy infrastructure cybersecurity by authorizing Department of Energy (DoE) grants to expand education and training opportunities that are “the convergence of cybersecurity and energy infrastructure.”

With at least a half-million cybersecurity positions unfilled in the United States, Federal experts and educators said closing the gap on the shortage of cybersecurity professionals begins with cyber education efforts, particularly at the K-12 level.

A new report published by the non-profit K12 Security Information Exchange (K12 SIX) finds that while the number of publicly-disclosed cyber incidents at K-12 schools decreased in 2021, the actual number is “surely bleaker,” emphasizing the need for more and better information sharing about K-12 cyber incidents.

University professors and Tribal leaders are using a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop narrative technology tools to address the lack of representation of Indigenous culture, history, and stories in K-12 classrooms.

In the wake of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report encouraging the Departments of Education and Homeland Security (DHS) to update K-12 cybersecurity guidance, several Democrat senators have written to both agencies urging them to heed GAO’s recommendations, and establish critical infrastructure council structures to advance the issue.

With K-12 educational institutions increasingly targeted by ransomware and other cyber attacks during the coronavirus pandemic, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is pushing the Department of Education to update its plans – which currently date from 2010 – for addressing cyber risks faced by schools.

Two Kennesaw State University (KSU) professors have launched a program to teach K-12 students cybersecurity basics through virtual reality video games.

In an effort to close the digital divide, AT&T announced it’s opening more than 20 learning centers across the country that will provide access to free digital devices, high-speed internet, Wi-Fi, and online educational content for underserved students.

The White House’s August 25 cybersecurity meeting between administration officials, tech-sector and other private-company CEOs, and representatives of the education and insurance sectors yielded a long list of big-dollar corporate commitments to improve security, and the pledges of educational institutions to offer programs that aim to help swell the size of the U.S. cybersecurity workforce.

The City of Sierra Vista, Ariz. is partnering with the University of Arizona to help university students of develop real-world experience in social engineering techniques and improve city employees’ ability to identify cyberattacks.