Google and the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals Launch a Training Scholarship Program for Underrepresented Minorities

NEW YORK, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The International Consortium for Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) announced today the kick-off of a training scholarship program for more than 200 emerging cybersecurity professionals. Google has sponsored the scholarships for the six-month training and mentorship program targeting students, unemployed professionals and others looking to enter the cybersecurity workforce from underrepresented populations.

The 214 scholarship recipients were selected from a diverse applicant pool of more than 400 ICMCP members. Overall, 43% of the class of scholars self-identify as women and more than 62% of the recipients are currently unemployed. The recipients are also geographically diverse, coming from 13 different nations and 32 US states. They will participate in Red Team and Blue Team training with industry-leading training providers, Security Innovation and RangeForce, to develop essential skills for offensive and defensive work roles, which are in high demand in the industry. There are currently an estimated 3.2 million open job positions in the global cybersecurity industry.

"Google is committed to supporting and developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals while actively partnering with ICMCP to ensure this next wave of professionals is truly representative of the overall population. ICMCP is creating the opportunity for participants to not only learn, but to build a community of supporters, peers and mentors, which can be critical to success in cybersecurity," said Sarah Morales, Outreach Program Manager, Security & Privacy at Google.

"This scholarship program is working to change the face of the cybersecurity workforce," said Beverly Benson, Workforce Development Committee Chair, ICMCP, and Program Director, IT & Security, the American Women's College at Bay Path University. "Beyond that, it has the potential to fundamentally impact the professional careers of more than 200 smart and ambitious professionals through access to training, networking and job placement opportunities."

"We are grateful to Google for their support of the core mission of ICMCP," said Larry Whiteside, Jr., President, ICMCP and CTO & CSO, CyberClan. "Ultimately, we hope to work with many more of the companies in the cybersecurity community in an intentional and concerted effort to foster recruitment, retention and inclusion of underrepresented minorities in the profession."

The online training courses and hands-on cyber range events, from both RangeForce and Security Innovation, map to the NICE Cybersecurity Framework, ensuring that scholarship recipients will have marketable skills upon completion of the training. After the three-month training phase, recipients will work with ICMCP volunteer mentors on career readiness components such as resume development, mock interviews and community networking.

About ICMCP

The International Consortium of Minority Cyber Professionals (ICMCP) was created as a 501(c)3 non-profit association dedicated to the academic and professional success of minority cybersecurity students and professionals. The ICMCP tackles the 'great cyber divide' with scholarship opportunities, diverse workforce development, innovative outreach, and mentoring programs.

About the Training Providers

Security Innovation is a pioneer in software security. Recognized 6x on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for computer-based security training, its CMD+CTRL SaaS platform combines role-based courses with hands-on cyber ranges to build skills that stick. With over 3.5 million users, CMD+CTRL helps all software security stakeholders address the risk of today's tech stacks – flawed design, defenseless code, expanded attack surface, and misconfigured deployments.

RangeForce creates accessible cybersecurity training experiences for you and your team. Powered by the industry's first integrated training platform and virtual cyber range, we help customers operationalize a SaaS-based cybersecurity training program in hours, saving up to 65% over traditional training and up to $1M annually on hosted cyber ranges. RangeForce is revolutionizing cybersecurity training with its adaptive learning technology to better train and cross-train DevOps, IT, and security professionals.

Media Contact

Leslie Kesselring, ICMCP, +1 503-358-1012, leslie@kesscomm.com

SOURCE ICMCP