CISA Eyes Grants to Boost University Cybersecurity Clinics

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is exploring ways of prompting state and local governments to count university cybersecurity clinics as funding candidates under the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program that the Department of Homeland Security initiated in 2022. 

The awarding of the grants is among the proposed steps in a guide CISA published to inform the academe’s cybersecurity clinics on available resources and services. The clinics can help solve the cybersecurity challenges of small and local organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks, CISA said Wednesday.  

The agency described the university clinics as force multipliers for its mission of strengthening cybersecurity in resource-poor targets, while at the same time acting as a potential source of vital field information and new CISA recruits.    

CISA cited as an example the dozen-plus members of the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics organized in a forum to share cybersecurity knowledge and expand their reach across the United States. 

The agency disclosed that it will initiate more engagements with clinics at the local level through its regional cybersecurity advisers.