Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
- The FCC has approved a $200 million pilot program for K-12 cybersecurity to provide services and equipment to school districts in the U.S.
- The program aims to use Universal Service Fund (USF) monies to collect data on schools’ cybersecurity needs and share that information with federal agencies.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced a new pilot program called the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, which will allocate $200 million to provide cybersecurity services and equipment to K-12 school districts across the U.S. This initiative aims to not only directly assist schools with cybersecurity needs in the short term by funding advanced firewalls, endpoint protection, identity authentication, monitoring systems, and other expenses, but also to collect valuable data on what schools require in terms of cybersecurity.
The program will utilize Universal Service Fund (USF) monies, which are derived from telecommunications fees, to support schools while gathering information on their specific cybersecurity needs. The FCC plans to share this data with federal agencies to better address the growing issue of cyber attacks in educational institutions. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted the financial and educational impact of cyber attacks on schools, emphasizing the importance of learning from this effort to provide actionable data to government partners.
This cybersecurity pilot program is inspired by the FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program, which launched in 2020 to assist hospitals with technology costs related to remote care. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks suggested that this pilot could pave the way for an expansion of the E-rate program to cover cybersecurity expenses, ensuring secure connectivity for schools and libraries.
The announcement of this pilot program has been praised as a significant development for U.S. schools and libraries by industry leaders, recognizing the crucial resources it will provide to safeguard sensitive information and maintain secure access to digital learning tools. The program is part of a larger initiative, “Learn Without Limits,” supported by Rosenworcel to ensure equitable access to technology for all students and teachers.
