White House announces EC-Council's $15 million pledge to accelerate cyber workforce skill development

The White House announced a pledge from EC-Council, a cybersecurity certification, education, training, and services organization, to accelerate skill development in the nation's cyber workforce. Creator of the Certified Ethical Hacker credential, EC-Council announced a $15 million pledge to reach over 50,000 students and advance academic institutions with 8 turnkey, hands-on programs to build critical cybersecurity skills across the Ethical Hacking, Network Defense, Digital Forensics, Threat Intelligence, Security Operations, IoT Security, DevSecOps, and Cloud Security domains through the White House's Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD).

The pledge comes at a time when the need to close the cyber skills gap has become more critical than ever, with some estimates predicting a worldwide shortfall of 3.5 million cybersecurity professionals by 2025. In response to the ongoing trend, EC-Council's initiative will provide scholarships offering access to an extensive cybersecurity curriculum and instructional videos to academic institutions in the United States including universities, National Security Agency's (NSA) Centers of Academic Excellence (CAEs), community colleges, career schools, high schools, and non-profit organizations. Through these scholarships, EC-Council will help accelerate skill development nationwide and usher in a new cyber workforce.

"We are honored to announce this pledge in partnership with the Office of the National Cyber Director and Director Coker," said Jay Bavisi, Group President of EC-Council. "Our mission to democratize cybersecurity education and build the cyber workforce of the future is unwavering. This pledge will enhance accessibility to cybersecurity careers through the academic community and train the next generation of ethical hackers, which is crucial for safeguarding against cyber threats."

EC-Council supports over 800 Institutions of Higher Education in North America alone, with turnkey cyber programs enabling cybersecurity skill development at scale with the highest in-demand skills employers seek to reduce the threat surface, lower breach costs and probability, and better defend our nation and economy. Over half of the nation's CAEs are supported by EC-Council through its high-quality certification programs, learning resources, cyber ranges, and cyber competitions, creating highly skilled, employable graduates across the nation.

National Cyber Director Harry Coker Jr. of the Executive Office of the President said, "Today, I am excited to announce that EC-Council, a cybersecurity technical certification body, has pledged $15 million in scholarships to reach over 50,000 students, supporting them in earning new industry credentials and participating in growing their cybersecurity skills through hands-on programs."  

Those interested in learning more about the commitment to the ONCD should visit the commitments page of its website here: White House Pledge  

Academic community members can find additional information on the EC-Council website here: White House Cybersecurity Scholarship